Mister and Lady: Bermuda Trip - Day 1 New York City

Vacation Day is here! We have a SUPER early flight and are thankful that a Lyft person wanted to pick us up at 4:30 a.m. Whew. We made it in plenty of time and are now up, up, and away.

After a quick change in Philadelphia, the second half of our flight begins and ends with a blink of an eye. Super short flight. Hello, New York. We're back!

Gotta say, love it here. I'm ready to hit the ground and have a special few days in The Big Apple.

We're trying a new method to get into town from LaGuardia. After taking the shuttle to the trains, we have tickets on the Long Island Railroad. We've found the platform and are eagerly awaiting our ride.

Not yet -

Mind/Watch The Gap - something you see and hear all around the city.

Patiently waiting --- ohhhh, here we go.

Pretty dang comfy for 10 bucks a piece.

Upon arrival, we are in a whole different area of Grand Central Station. Take a peek around. All the things you think about "massive people crowding everywhere" will be questioned. It has been by me on several trips now.

We are quite a long ways down ---

Out on the street and only 3 blocks to walk. What a deal. We are back at the same place we stayed last visit as it is perfectly located for our method of travel.

Firs things first - I'm hungry. One of the places we wanted to stop at last time is the Lexington Candy Shop, which is a cafe. When we arrive, the line is soooooo long and after about 20 minutes of no movement, we move on to Thai restaurant across the street.

Ahhh, I'm better. Now what? Let's just wander a bit and see what we can see. We find ourselves around Park Avenue and spot this church. The Park Avenue Christian Church, 1911.

LOVE the red doors. Inside, the simpleness is nice.

Another church, St Ignatius Loyola (not open) has these immense doors - crazy.

LOVE the decor on this apothecary.

We ae always in awe of what plants can do. Notice where this tree/vine originates.

And where it goes.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art - busy day there.

Across the street, this is something I love to spot. So very cool.

Fountain in front of The Met.

THIS!!! Just this. Love the creativity.

Another vendor with a flock of admirers.

Embassy Row

Into Central Park - a different section than last trip.

They have a walk of trees that is pretty dang cool - European Beech, European Hornbeam, London Plane. Unique, right?

Sculpture of Alice in Wonderland. Atypical of most sculptures, children are invited to climb, touch and crawl all over Alice and her friends. In fact, through the decades thousands of hands and feet have literally polished parts of the statue’s surface smooth.

Inspired by the model boat ponds of late 19th century Paris, Conservatory Water is a place where children and adults alike can experience the pleasure of model sail boating.

A memorial bench and sundial near Conservatory Water honors Waldo Hutchins (1822–1891) who was one of Central Park’s first administrators and also a lawyer, congressman, and assemblyman. At four feet tall and 27 feet wide, it’s the largest bench in Central Park.

Just inside Inventors’ Gate at 72nd Street and Fifth Avenue, stands a monument to the American inventor and artist Samuel F.B. Morse (1791–1872).

The monument was unveiled on April 27, 1871, on the occasion of Morse’s 80th birthday in 1871, making him the only person to have a monument erected in the Park while still living. Soon after, Central Park’s administrators adopted a series of guidelines for monuments, one of which required that any commemoration occur posthumously.

Morse began his career as a portrait painter but became famous for the invention of the single-wire telegraph system, which was a primary mode of communication across long distances before the invention of the telephone. He also contributed to the invention of Morse code.

The telegraph operators of America submitted thousands of small donations toward the creation of the monument, which was sculpted by the American artist Byron Pickett. The monument depicts Morse with his inventions, with one hand on a telegraph and the other holding a strip of Morse code. On the day the monument was unveiled, Morse sent a telegraph from New York City to every telegraphic office in the country.

The monument to the American architect Richard Morris Hunt (1827–1895) is located along the Park’s perimeter wall at East 70th Street. One of the most important architects of the 19th century, Hunt designed several buildings along Fifth Avenue, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s main entry hall and facade. The Hunt monument once faced one of his most well-known buildings, the Lenox Library, which was demolished in 1912 and replaced with Henry Clay Frick’s mansion, now a museum.

The 107th United States Infantry memorializes soldiers who died in World War I. Located along the Park’s perimeter wall at the East 67th Street entrance, the monument realistically depicts soldiers in the throes of battle. In the years following the American Civil War and World War I, parks and public plazas across the City became popular sites for sculptural memorials. This is one of two monuments in Central Park to the soldiers of the New York’s Seventh Regiment. The Seventh Regiment Memorial, on the west side of the Park near 67th Street, honors soldiers lost in the Civil War.

Dedicated on September 29, 1927, the monument’s location was chosen because of its proximity to the Regiment’s Armory just to the east on Park Avenue. The soldiers of the Seventh Regiment’s 107th Infantry helped to break Germany’s Hindenburg Line of defense at the conclusion of World War I. The sculptor, Karl Illava, was a sergeant with the infantry. His realistic representation of soldiers in battle contrasts with the formal and stoic solider depicted in the Civil War monument across the Park.

The armory - and LIFE FINDS A WAY!

I've shared this one before, but during dusk. On the north side of Grand Army Plaza is a towering monument to Union Army General William Tecumseh Sherman (1820–1891) by the American sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens.