This mini tour begins as the 737 flies past LaGuardia Airport as we begin a long extended downwind leg. You can see that Runway 22 extends into Flushing Bay.

We’ll be flying northeast over Long Island Sound.

This photo shows City Island, a picturesque and vibrant neighborhood located in the eastern Bronx.

The restaurants in City Island are noted for fresh and tasty seafood.

Here we are passing by New Rochelle, my childhood home.

We’re now flying over Long Island Sound, an extension of the Atlantic Ocean.

The island to the left was known as Fort Slocum. It used to be an army base.

In the background, you can see another body of water. This is the Hudson River and is about 7 miles from the New Rochelle shoreline.

On the aircraft chart, this location is referred to as “amusement park”.

Its name is Playland. As a youth, we spent many evenings there.

Enlarge the photo and you’ll see the ferris wheel, roller coaster and mini-railroad (my favorite).

Playland is also known as Rye Beach.

With its large white sand beach and adjacent boating area, it is a popular recreation area.

It is located just to the west of the Connecticut state line.

Here’s a view of City Island again as we continue the approach southwestward toward LaGuardia.

It is a small island.

In my younger days, I dined often at the seafood restaurants that line the narrow streets.

New York City is composed of five boroughs: Manhattan, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Bronx and Queens.

This is the Throggs Neck Bridge which connects the two boroughs of the Bronx and Queens.

The Whitestone Bridge also connects the Bronx with Queens.

LaGuardia Airport is situated on the northeastern shore of Queens along Flushing Bay. The Whitestone Bridge is very near the entrance to LaGuardia.

Touchdown.

After landing at LaGuardia, we’re greeted by a familiar sign.

Here is another place that I used to hang around when I was younger. You can see its location in Photo # 3.

From my childhood home, I would walk four blocks to Hudson Park where we would go to the beach.

This is New Rochelle High School.

With its castle-like towers, it is one of the prettiest high schools in the U.S.

I graduated in 1967 and the following year NRHS suffered from the nation’s biggest fire. For the next few years, students attended classes in portable classrooms.

The high school has since been rebuilt to pre-fire condition and as you can see it is very attractive.

This is another photo of New Rochelle High School.

The school entrance is flanked by two lakes making the campus magnificent.

Thanks to classmate Stu Soloway for this photo.

My visit to New Rochelle lasted only two days.

Upon departing New York, I snapped this photos of a squadron of F/A-18s.

These military aircraft were positioned on the tarmac at LaGuardia Airport, most likely to provide for the security of the New York’s air space.

My time travel turned out to be very enjoyable.

I reconnected with most everyone that I expected; there were only a few faces from the past that I would have liked to have seen. But the reunion gathering was great. And so was the time afterwards when I was able to spend more time with so many friends.

To the left are some of the happy classmates that attended our 40th high school reunion.

With the advent of email – something that wasn’t available to us in 1967 – I am now staying in contact with many of these friends.