New York City, the first week

We spent some time at the 9/11 Memorial.  It was a moving tribute with the two pools and the little lawn area. 

The new towers are being built, and the first one is almost to its height, which will be the tallest building in NYC, and the Western Hemisphere. 

In the museum they had memorabilia from that day, such as fireman hats, personal effects that were recovered, and crumpled pieces of aluminum from the buildings.

What was sad to see was the fire stations nearby with tributes on the walls to the men who were killed that day. 

We drove past the New York County Courthouse where many movie and TV shows are filmed

then over the Brooklyn Bridge, to Grimaldi's for some Brooklyn style pizza.

The next two days we spent on a hop on/ hop off tour bus seeing the sights of the city.  We took 4 tours:  the downtown loop where we saw all the major buildinngs and districts of the city, the uptown loop which included Harlem and the Apollo theater, the night loop which included the lights of the city, and the Brooklyn loop which included the major sights there.

Junior's Cheesecake

United Nations building with every country represented's flag

Chrysler Bldg

Grey's Papaya Hot Dogs

Statue of Liberty

Ellis Island

the John Lennon tribute in Strawberry Fields in Central Park

Pastrami Sandwich at the famous Katz's Deli

the Guggenheim

the view from the Empire State Building

the Empire State Bldg

Can you see us in the jumbotron at Times Square?

Finishing Connecticut, and on to New York

We wanted some johnny cakes, a regional specialty that is a kind of cornmeal pancake, so we headed back into Rhode Island and stopped at a nice little place for breakfast.  They were delicious with syrup!

Back in Connecticut we went to the Trolley Museum where we saw some old trolleys and firetrucks,

even a little red caboose!

They had a lifesaving trampoline on an old firetruck!

We rode on a trolley through the Connecticut forest too!

Our next stop was a sweet one!  We went to the Pez Visitor Center and saw Pez dispensers, from the first one, to the most recent productions.  There were hundreds on display in rows of cases.  We bought a small bucket full of Pez candies and an old model dispenser to enjoy them.

In Connecticut, fireworks are legal, so we bought some sparklers and went to a park!

Then it was time to head to New York.  We stopped in Tarrytown to see Washington Irving's home along the Hudson River.

There is a sculpture in the middle of Sleepy Hollow depicting his most famous story.

We drove past the Old Dutch Church to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, where we saw the famous bridge,

his gravesite,

and the gravesites of Elizabeth Arden and Samuel Gompers, as well as the mausoleums for the Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Carnegie, Chrysler, and Helmsley families.

It was time to drive to the Bronx to see Yankee Stadium,

and on into New York City for our first look at the city.

We saw kids playing on a corner basketball court,

George Washington Square,

 the flat iron building,

people and traffic,

taxis everywhere,

and finally a stop at Joe's for our first slice of NYC pizza.

From Yale to the Sea

Our next stop was New Haven, Connecticut, where we saw a neat, old covered bridge over the river.

Then we drove all around Yale University.  We loved how many of the buildings look like a castle or a fortress.

It was time for some regional food!  We headed to Pepe's for Apizza.  They are famous for their "tomato pies".   We had three small: the original "plain" pie (no mozzarella!), margherita, and white clam.  I never had thin crust so crispy and delicious before.  I also never had a clam pizza before, but I really enjoyed it!

Next we headed to East Haddam to see the Gillette Castle. William Gillette was an actor who portrayed Sherlock Holmes for many years, and is credited with giving Holmes his characteristic hat and many of his often quoted sayings. This was a fascinating place.  The castle was built overlooking the Connecticut River, which he was cruising up when he spotted the place where he decided to build his retirement home. Having spent many years on a boat or on trains, he built his castle in a similar style, utilizing every nook and creating furniture to fill unusual spaces.  He also built a scale model railroad that traveled around his property, and a beautiful lily pond.

 

While in New Haven, we ate at Louis Lunch, where the first Hamburger was created.  They serve it on toast with onions and tomato, and absolutely no ketchup! It was thick and tasty, and we enjoyed every bite.

Then we headed to Mystic Seaport, where we spent a day in the seaport village. 

We toured old ships,   

visited a shipyard where they were restoring an old ship,

saw village shops,

visited a ropemaking shop to see rope being made,

visited a sailmaker's shop,

 saw a collection of ship mastheads, listened to some sea shanties, and had fun!