September 24, 2011 End of a vacation

From our hotel room you could see part of the New York skyline

Saturday morning we decided to just drive in to New York. We wanted to go to the Statue of Liberty and decided to park near that. It was expensive parking, but that way we didn't have to take the train around as much.

You can see the new World Trade Center building under construction

     Luckily the weather cooperated for us and it didn’t rain. We couldn’t go up in the statue as they only let a limited amount of people in it, and those tickets where already gone. We did eat breakfast/lunch on the island before returning to the New York side.

     Then we took the subway up to NBC studios where we took a tour. It was really cool. We got to see where Brian Williams films the Evening News, and the set of the Dr. Oz show. The coolest part though was they took us down to the Saturday Night Live set, and they were rehearsing for that night’s show. Apparently that is a very rare thing to get to see them rehearse. Alec Baldwin was the host and it was the season premier. We got to watch them going over an entire skit. We couldn’t really hear them, but it was fun to see the difference between what’s on TV and what you see live.

     After the tour we had to rush back to our car and then the airport. We had to return our car and go through security. Once on the other side of security we had a couple hours to kill, so we ate dinner at a sit down restaurant, which happened to have really slow service.

As I was eating dinner in the airport I had to stop and go take a picture of the beautiful sunset

     The plane that we were going to be using was late coming in so we boarded the plane a half hour late, then we sat on the tarmac for a hour before taking off. The flight home was nice though, I sat next to a really nice lady, and Nate was on the other side. Plus they had free Satellite TV, so we got to watch Saturday Night Live and see the skit we had seen earlier in the day. It was interesting that there were several things that I noticed they had changed to shorten up the scene.

     It was definitely a whirlwind trip, trying to cram as much in as possible in a short period of time, but still leaving a ton of things to do if we ever go back.

     Thanks to Mom and Dad for picking us up and bringing us home, thanks to Matt and Amelia for letting us stay at your house and Rachel and Nivaldo for a nice evening and dinner.

September 22 & 23, 2011 New York

When we got to our hotel in East Rutherford, NJ we learned that they had a free shuttle to the Secaucus train station. Then from there it was a 10 min ($8 per person round trip) train ride into Penn Station in New York City.

     It was very hot and humid in the city and we were having to carry around our jackets. We wanted to walk up towards Time Square and the Rockefeller Center. We were both really hungry when we got up by the Rockefeller so we ate in the mall below. Then we found the NBC store and they told us where to wait in line for the Jimmy Fallon tickets the next morning. Plus I found the studio for the Today show, which I like to watch. Also near the Rockefeller Center was a huge Lego store, they had really cool things made out of Legos throughout the store, as well as any Lego set you could ever want.

Inside the Lego Store

Bins of Legos

Even though there were signs posted not to honk, they were still honking away.

The Naked Cowboy was in Times Square

Times Square

Mounted Police in the city

Outside of NBC Studios. The few people camping out on the side where waiting in line for standby tickets to SNL

Empire State Building

   We thought about going up to the Top of the Rock (Rockefeller tower) but there was an hour wait. We were going to get up early so we decided we would just do it the next day.

     When we got back to our motel we were trying to figure out what we wanted to do the next day and how early we needed to leave. We decided we needed to get a taxi at 5:45 AM to the train station as the free shuttle didn’t start till 9 AM. So we called and arranged for a cab in the morning, but when we came down the next morning our cab was not there and after waiting for 10 min Nate called them, finally at 6:10 AM the driver shows up and we tell him we are trying to catch a 6:15 train. Well he was a crazy driver but we did get there in time. The train as it turned out wasn’t leaving till 6:20. Once in New York we had to figure out how to buy a subway ticket and where to go. Our plan was originally to be up at the NBC studios by 7 AM, but we didn’t get there until closer to 8 AM.

     We stood outside the Today show first where I got to meet Al Roker (the news anchor) and I even got on TV for a few seconds as they panned the crowd. Nate stood in line for Jimmy Fallon tickets and we ended up with stand-by tickets #11 & #12.

Meeting Al Roker

     After that we walked up through Central Park where it started raining. Luckily I had brought an umbrella and Nate ended up buying a larger one from a vender as well. We decided to go to the Museum of Natural History, even though it was getting close to lunch time.

Central Park

 

One thing we didn’t think about was the long line that we would have to wait in to get tickets. Knowing we had limited time we went first to the dinosaurs. Nathan had always wanted to go to that museum since he was a boy and learned about it in a magazine. The dinosaurs were really cool, and huge, they also had skeletons of animals that are still living today like elk, and monkeys and so on.

Nate with his friend T-Rex

Bones of a Dimetrodon

A giant turtle

Triceratops

Edmontonia

Raptor

     We also wanted to swing through the rock and mineral exhibit because Kristie (Nate’s Mom) loves rocks, and so we wanted to get some pictures for her.

     After that we were both famished and needed food. I had been texting Rachel, Nate’s cousin who works at the Rock Café and she said she would serve us if we came to eat. So we hopped on the subway and headed that way.

     When we got to the Café they asked if we had reservations and we said no, but that we were Rachel’s cousin. They said “Well then you do have a reservation, follow me.” They seated us at the only open table and the food was amazing, we got spoiled. Rachel was just getting off work when we were done, and it was pouring outside so we wandered around the NBC store some more. We had to be there around 4:30 to see if we would get in for the Jimmy Fallon show.

     Rachel invited us over for dinner that night, so we planned on going there after the JF show if we made it in. The night before they had taken more than 20 people, but they only took nine and we were 11 and 12. Probably didn’t help that his guest that night were Taylor Lautner from the Twilight movies and Beyonce was the musical guest.

     So Nate and I headed over to Rachel’s, which is a half hour subway ride. It was during rush hour so we had to stand in the very crowded subway train. Then Rachel met us at the station and we walked the very short distance to her house. Rachel made us some very good burgers and we enjoyed visiting with her and Nivaldo. Around 9 we had to leave in order to catch the last shuttle

Hanging out with Rachel and Nivaldo at their house

September 21, 2011 Philadelphia

     Wednesday morning we got up and said goodbye. We stopped by a race shop on the way to Philadelphia for Nate to try on racing shoes. After arriving in Philadelphia we decided to head into town to try find something to eat. We had Tom Tom directing us but the restaurant didn’t exist where it took us, so we decided to eat at a Qdoba since we already paid to park, and traffic was a nightmare.

     Thursday we got up and headed to the Liberty Bell Center, to see the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. We did the tour of Independence Hall first which is where we got to see the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed. Then we went into the Liberty Bell Center where they have all kinds of information on the Bell as well as the real thing. We left shortly after because it was getting close to lunch time and we still had a bit of a drive to get up to New York.

A template for making quarters

Independence Hall

Picture of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence

a human Liberty Bell made up of 25,000 people

     The amount of tolls we paid to get from Virginal to Philadelphia was $17.70, and then from Philadelphia to New York we avoided toll roads which took us a little bit longer to get to our destination. Finally to get to the airport on Saturday was $12.50 and that’s was only 1 toll!

September 19, 2011 Washington DC

     Monday we drove into Washington DC with Matt and his girlfriend Amelia. As they had already been to DC many times we thought the Duck Tour would be different and fun. As our tour started out our driver told us you have to watch out for the 3 P’s; potholes, pedestrians, and politicians. First he showed us the C-span building that has several rooms on top with clear windows. He told us that if the news was reporting from Capitol hill and you could see the capitol building behind them, then that is where they are reporting from. Then as we drove by the carpenter unions building he asked if we noticed anything funny about it . . . there is no wood on the building. Apparently there is a city code that doesn’t allow the exteriors of buildings to have wood, because during the revolutionary war the British army came into town and tried to burn the city.

C-Span Building.

Japanese American War Memorial

     We passed the old post office, which has a tower you can go up to get a nice view, since the Washington Monument was still closed from the earthquake they had a few weeks before. We did try to go up it, but unfortunately it was closed for the day when we tried.

     As we turned onto Constitution Ave, our duck driver asked if we knew what the original road name was, which was a trick question, because originally it was the Washington City Canal. There was a small stone building that he told us was the Lock Keepers House. He also told us that the lock keeper lived there with his wife, 12 children and mother-in-law.

Lock keeper's house

     After the Civil War the canal was quite dirty and smelly from all the soldiers who protected the capitol, so they decided to build the tidal basin. They planned on opening the lock gates 2 times a day at high tide and they thought that it would wash the crap out of the canal, but after that failed to work they just filled in the canal leaving the tidal basin. What was built to clean up crap is now one of the prettiest places to visit, especially during the cherry blossom festival.

The edge of the tidal basin and the Washington Monument

     Next our driver took the duck down into the river where we got to see the Pentagon as well as the skyline. He also took us directly under where the planes fly over as they land. Planes are not allowed to fly over the city, they have to follow the river, so when they come into land it looks like they are going to miss the airport, and then the last minute they turn into the airport.

The Pentagon

Airplane flying over our heads to land

     At this point our duck master handed out duck quackers and encouraged us to quack at anyone we passed who was talking on a cell phone or looked like they were having a bad day. Which was quite fun, although after you get off the tour you have to fight the urge to quack at people on cell phones as it probably would get you a black eye.

Matt with his duck quacker

       After driving past the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, the Washington Monument and Smithsonian we drove past the capitol. We learned why there are also no skyscrapers in DC. There is a building code that nothing can be taller than 210 feet so the view of the capitol and other monuments are not obstructed. The Capitol building has a statue of freedom on the top that stands 288 feet high, and nothing stands taller than freedom.

Thomas Jefferson Memorial

Money, Money, Money

The US Capitol

     After our duck tour we set out of foot to take a closer look at the sights. We walked through part of the arboretum, that has trees from all 50 states, on our way to the Capitol building. Then we went to the Castle Smithsonian which is pretty small, but gives you an idea of what kinds of things you can see in the other buildings. Then we rushed over to the Museum of American History. Inside we only had about 30 min before they closed, but we got to see the original United Sates Flag. It was huge and really cool to see. They also had on display different dresses from Presidential wives from Martha Washington all the way to Michelle Obama.

Matt and Amelia

The Smithsonian, the Castle

Ivory sculpture

Kristi Yamaguchi's 1990 figure skates plus more

James Smithson was born in Italy and he loved the idea of America, so when he died he left his money to the US if they used the money for the advancement of learning. He never visited the US while alive, but he is buried in the Castle.

A dress belonging to Mary Lincoln

Inaugural gowns of Nancy Regan and Barbara Bush

Inaugural Gown and accessories of Michelle Obama

Martha Washington's gown

a very early machine gun

A racist pistol of someone kicking an Asian man's butt

Dumbo

Dorthy's ruby red shoes

George Washington's clothes

A steel beam from the 17th floor of the South tower of the Worlds Trade Center that fell on 9/11/2001

The Treasury Department

The White House

The Lincoln Memorial

Part of the World War II Memorial

Part of the World War II Memorial

The Washington Monument

     When the Smithsonian kicked us out, we went and found a place to eat for dinner called Old Ebbitt Grill, which was really good and reasonably priced for where it was at. Maybe $2-4 more than Olive Garden but much better. After eating we decided to walk all the way down to the Lincoln Memorial since we were already half way down the Mall. So we went past the White house and down to the Memorial. By the time we got back to our car it was probably 9 PM at night and my feet felt like they were going to fall off.

     Tuesday we slept in, since we were all tired from so much walking the day before. After getting up Nate, Matt and I went up to a go-kart track where the guys did a couple of races. Later that evening we went mini-golfing which was quite fun, and I’m not just saying that because I won!

track map

Nate

Nate in front and Matt following