Category: traveling

Misc trip photos

I am finally posting the last of my photos from my trip. They are just the odds and ends, so they are all out of order.

Frankie guarding my stuffEvery time I put my sweatshirt down, Frankie warmed it for me.Famous place for cheese steakRival place for cheese steak. We didn’t go herePrinceThe Rocky statueI thought the dragon was unusualChinatownThe top of city hallA different color to the 7-11Not quite the Liberty BellI was surprised to find these here, in such a large store.Inside the Art museum. I was exhausted by the time we got here, so I stole Michelle’s photos.Prince informed me that it was nap time

Oh so sad. The next photo shows why…

He can’t get at Michelle’s dinner.

Monday’s adventures

On Monday, I was on my own, since Michelle was working.I woke up and checked in for my flight. I showered and dressed, but didn’t hurry because I would end up in rush hour traffic.I called for an Uber and he arrived four minutes later… In a Tesla with a full sized tablet in the front.I decided to go to Reading Terminal Market as a starting point. I played good tourist and had a half of a cheese steak for breakfast. It was too messy, so the other half went into my bag for later.I stopped at the donut shop and got doggie donuts to bring home for Molly and Doris, and one for Frankie. And I got my coffee.I started walking toward a bookstore. I passed some beautiful architecture along the way. City Hall was huge and I saw several sides of it.I found the bookstore and poked around in it for a while. Two blocks away was another bookstore. I poked around in that one for a bit, too

After this bookstore, I popped over to Barnes and Noble to use the restroom and get coffee.

I went to Rittenhouse Square, but couldn’t really too many photos because they were filming a movie. We weren’t allowed.

This pool is about two feet deep, at most, but someone needed to add the sign.

This little guy wouldn’t leave me alone.

I went to the library, but couldn’t get a card. Well, I could have but out of state people need to apply online and pay $50 a year. I passed.

I started to call an Uber, but found that the museum was about a half mile from the library, so I walked.

There was a dinosaur exhibit going on at the museum, so I paid a little extra to see it.

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I then went to look at the diorama exhibits. While i was looking, they announced that there was going to be a keeper talk at the butterfly exhibit, so I planned on going there.

I got to the butterfly exhibit a little early, so I sat and made my next plans.

I caught a ride to Christopher Columbus Blvd and ate some lunch.on a bench.

I walked down the road and looked at the the ships that were turned into restaurants. Because it was a weekday, the little vendor stalls weren’t open.

I called Uber and headed to a movie. I managed to put my bag into a puddle of melted buttered made a mess.

I got a drink at the bar in the theater and got carded. The bartender laughed when she saw my age, since she.was so far off. I saw Maleficent.

Penn station to Times Square

When we arrived in New York City, it was at Penn station. I couldn’t believe how many tracks went through the station. It was too dark to take photos or video, though.

When we got upstairs, we were right under Madison Square Garden.

We started walking toward Times Square. We bumped into the garment district’s walk of fame.

We finally made it to Times Square.

We took this photo for a friend.Along the walk, there was a couple in front of us. The woman turned to the man and said “we’re at 42nd street” The man said “yea.” She said “42 nd Street!!!” Then she said under her breath, “ya moron.” From that point on, there was a moron on 42nd Street. I wonder what the conversation was about, but the reaction was funny.

Grand Central Terminal

After the library, we grabbed lunch.We took photos of the Chrysler building.then, we walked to Grand Central Terminal.I had no idea that it was so large.

We walked to the Empire State Building which was taller than I anticipated.

We caught Uber and headed to the statue of liberty, passing the Williamsburg Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, and the Brooklyn Bridge on the way.

Headed home

Michelle dropped me off at 445 am at Philadelphia’s airport. We were worried that my bag would be over the fifty pound limit. I checked in with a 47 pound bag. My carryon and boarding bag went with me to security.

There was a long, long line to get to security. They had a dog sniffing shoes, so we didn’t have to remove them going through the actual security portion. I wish that I’d had my phone with me, instead of having it go through security, because I would have loved some photos of the stuff going through.

A woman shoved past me to get her bag through all of ten seconds faster than me. She reeked of fresh vodka at 5 am. Maybe she needed to get rid of the liquid in her bag?


One of men in front of me had one of those security bins full of bags of potato chips and the other with a loose oatmeal cookie and his cell phone.  The cell phone was confiscated, but not the cookie.  I didn’t stick around to find out why.


I had moved my seat when I checked in, so I knew I didn’t have anyone next to me on the first leg of the flight. When I boarded the plane, I put on my headphones and immediately fell asleep. I woke up for breakfast, pictured below, and then I went right back to sleep.

I woke up at touchdown. I grabbed my bag and wandered down to the next gate, at the opposite end of the terminal. I found a seat and almost right away they called for volunteers to gate check bags. I am headed home, so there’s no reason to not do it, and I’d packed it, expecting it, since I was going to board in group E anyhow.

I ended up seated next to a man who had taken a sleeping pill.   At least I wasn’t required to try to chat most of the flight.  I slept on and off. 

Eventually, we got to the end of the flight, and the guy decides he wants to chat.   He’s on his first vacation with his boyfriend of three months.   I gave him suggestions about what to see.   The part I didn’t know about, I told him where to find the info.

My suitcases came out fairly quickly and I headed to lunch before going home to nap.   I had to rest before going off to class.  

Bryant Park and the library


The Sales Force building
The statue of William Bryant in Bryant Park.Unfortunately, most of Bryant Park was closed to prepare for the winter festivities.  The carousel was open, though.The carousel at Bryant ParkThe side entrance to the library, and the Chrysler buildingI was disappointed that I didn’t get to see the lions.The architecture in the library was amazingly beautiful.  I can see why people do wedding photos, etc here.  We had the option to do a docent tour, but I didn’t want to spend two hours there.A painting of Truman Capote.  It was the only one done in the early 1970s, so it kinda stood out.I gota NYC library card!Bags in the library gift shop.The outside of the library.

Statue of Liberty

We weren’t supposed to go onto the ferry to see the statue, but we were earlier than expected and decided to try it. We arrived and were approached by a ticket seller who assured us that we were right on time for the last ferry.   Sure we were, but we were in the wrong place. 

We got to the right place, but had to exchange the ticket for the ferry ticket.  We found out that there was no guarantee that we’d make it onto the ferry, unless we went on the 7 pm night tour.  Sold!  Plan C.  This meant that we’d miss the 911 memorial and we would be returning to Pennsylvania late.  We also had two hours to wait.  We checked out the stores and looked into happy hour at the block party that was nearby.


The shoes in here were amazing, but there’s no way I could ever wear them.Of course, we found a bookstore.  After the ferry returned, we walked by and realized there was an upstairs to the store.  I missed it.  Oh well.  Next time.There was an art store.   This particular piece was $1150.  I don’t think I need anything like this, though.  My goal was to get through this without breaking anything.  Goal met!We got in line for the ferry.  The view was amazing.I took several photosThis is my attempt at a panoramic photoThis is actually a museum we didn’t get into.I didn’t forget my ticket! We hadn’t taken any photos together at this point.The ferry went under the bridges.  Brooklyn, Manhattan and I never found out what this is. The views were just beautifulThe World Trade Center nowThe Empire State Building and the Chrysler buildingThe bridge where the NYC Marathon starts.This cracked me up.  The water was rocky, so it bounced us a bit.The beautiful lady libertyA woman on the ferry offered to take our photo.   Her husband got nosy and photo bombed us.  All four of them were awful, but they entertained us and gave us a good laugh.Michelle’s camera takes better photos than mine.  I hope she’ll blog her version of the day, too.