Big Apple cont'd: a 4-hour slice

Before I recount more of the NY trip, I must put in a plug for Dave Carroll and Sons of Maxwell. This recent article explains how Carroll's guitar was mishandled and broken by United Airlines employees, and this video is the creative means whereby he retaliated. I adore men who don't get mad, but get even.

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A week ago today we were just finishing up a half-day tour of NY on our Travac bus with our Travac driver, our Travac guide accompanying us, but with a local guide calling the stops. Linda pointed out many landmarks along the way to our first stop: Central Park West & 72nd St., the same corner on which stands The Dakota, the apartment building that has housed many celebrities, including John Lennon.

In fact, Yoko Ono donated money to Central Park so that the section of it nearest The Dakota would serve as a memorial to Lennon. Within that section, designated Strawberry Fields, is the "Imagine" mosaic.

That's just a tiny slice of the park. There are also lakes, fountains (the one below's the Cherry Hill Fountain), and trees.

There are buildings, bridges, and ducks.

These buildings appeared in Ghostbusters. The bridge appeared in Highlander. The family of ducks is still waiting to be discovered.


There are plazas (Bethesda Terrace shown here), saxophonists named Rakim, and sometimes a handful of crazy Canucks who will dance on demand.

Additionally, there are lots of beautiful, intricate details to be found in the tunneled halls of the terrace structure.

We got back on the bus and circled the park, traveling up the Upper West Side, past Grant's Tomb, through Harlem and East or Spanish Harlem, down the Upper East Side, through Greenwich Village, past the one street of Little Italy that hasn't been crowded out by the expansion of Chinatown, through the Financial District to the World Trade Center Site. There was no shortage of fascinating things to see.

We made stops at Grand Central Terminal, St. Paul's Chapel at Ground Zero, and Battery Park.

The "cross" found at Ground Zero.

From that point onward, we were on our own. I'll let you digest this post before I cram the next one down your throats.