Friday

I took a trip to New York City for the Jan 17-18 2004 weekend, to visit my cousins Peter and Susan! I saw my cousin Susan in a play on Saturday night, and had lunch and dinner with them on Sunday, but much of the rest of the time they were working and rehearsing, so I spent the rest of my time there exploring by subway and by foot. I got around all weekend on 22 dollars. It was really enjoyable just walking around. I stayed in midtown at the Best Western President.

Friday I flew into LaGuardia, then took the bus into Manhattan to Broadway and 116th, where I caught the subway downtown, per my cousin's instructions. After checking in at the hotel, I walked over past Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, then north to Central Park South, and then south again on Broadway past Carnegie Hall.

Then from my hotel window Friday night, I experimented taking some long exposure shots of the street below.

Saturday

Saturday morning I got up and headed south, walking down through Times Square and then over to the New York Public Library, where I saw the Gutenberg Bible they have on display there. I was struck with how good the condition of it was seeing as how it's around 500 years old.

After the library, I continued south on 5th Avenue past the Empire State Building, past the Flatiron Building, and all the way down to Washington Square Park. Then I walked west to Greenwich Village, and took the 1 9 Subway uptown to 59th St. at the corner of Central Park. So I then walked through Central Park to the Met, where I spent 3-4 hours. Then I got on the subway back to my hotel, and then to Hunter College where Susan's play was.

Sunday

Sunday morning I had plans to go to church at Brooklyn Tabernacle, and I was on the subway to Brooklyn, when a message came over the loudspeaker that the tracks ahead were closed and that to get to Brooklyn, there were several transfers involved. I did not build in extra time for getting lost, so I bailed, got off and headed up to Redeemer Presbyterian, another church that friends had recommended to me before I left home. So this was where I went to church. The pastor there is Dr. Timothy Keller, and the sermon was very good.

From there I went to meet my cousin Susan for breakfast / lunch at Josie's on 37th and 3rd, where my cousin Peter was working. It was a nice snowy, foggy day. Here is Grand Central Station and the Empire State Building in the snow.

From there I headed uptown, walked through Central Park over to the Natural History museum. I went in but the lines were too long so headed back to the hotel. Then in the evening I went out to eat with my cousins at a little Italian place near my hotel.