Here is are driving in Ohio. This is the halfway point from Grand Rapids to New York City.
We arrived in Tarrytown, NY by crossing the Tappan Zee Bridge (actually the Mario Cuomo bridge). Locals refer to the bridge as the Tappan Zee. The bridge crosses the Hudson River about 30 miles north of New York City in Westchester county. I grew up in New Rochelle which is close to Tarrytown. During our visit we stayed in Tarrytown since the hotel rates are way lower than in New York City.
The easiest way to commute into the city is by commuter rail. The Hudson North line conveniently takes us from Tarrytown to Grand Central terminal in about an hour. This is the station in Tarrytown.
The commute from Tarrytown passes by several small villages and cities along the Hudson RIver. Here we are crossing the Harlem River between Bronx and Manattan.
Here is my wife Kris and tree of the grandkids in the iconic and spacious Grand Central terminal.
Our first stop was at nearby Bryant Park where the city sets up a skating rink for the winter.
In addition to the winter skating rink, Bryant Park is filled with dozens of small vendors selling holiday decorations and gifts.
While our granddaughters are past the doll stage, they wanted to visit the American Doll store.
Here are the skaters that braved the cold at the famed Rockefeller Center rink. Unfortunately we didn’t see the Christmas tee lighting that took place a few days after we visited.
Some of the nice holiday decorations at Rockefeller Center.
We visited St Thomas Church on 5th Ave
The peacefulness of the church is such contrast to the hustle and bustle of the city.
This “look” stopped us with curiosity. It’s the Louis Vuiton building being restored with a suitcase covering.
Here’s another striking storefront belonging to Louis Vuiton. Amazing showmansip.
This spiral staircase take you down from 5th Ave into the Apple Store. The store was crowded with holiday shoppers.
Outside of the Apple Store was a mirrored sculpture. Like many others, we wanted to get a selfie.
This colorful storefront is Dior. It seems like many of the stores are trying to outdo one another with creative and amazing designs.
Just a few blocks away is Central Park. It was filled with visitors and locals enjoying the sunny (but cold) weather.
This area in Central Park is known as Bethesda Fountain. As you can see from the crowds, it is a popular gathering place.
Across from the south entrance to Central Park is Columbus Circle and the Time Warner Building. This is photo from its wall-to-wall windows.
The Time Warner Building as many full service shops. Upsatairs is The Tintinary a nice lunchs spot which we often frequent.
You can find a cool gingerbread house in the building’s shopping area.
The next day we drove a few miles from our Tarrytown hotel to the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. This place is noted for the fictional story of the “Headless Horseman”. BTW, we didn’t catch a glimpse of the so-called person.
Sleepy Hollow was originally settlled by the Dutch. Many of the headstones date back to the 1600s and are difficult to read due to the aging.
The subway took us from midtown Manhattan to Chinatown.
The windows of Chinatown are filled with roast duck, chicken and pork ready for purchase.
We walked from Chinatown to Little Italy where we met family and friends for a small celebration. The food and service at Il Cortile was fantastic.
Outside of the restaurant was this wooden soldier to help decorate the holidays.
The MET is New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, which houses one of the largest art collections in the USA.
One of the Met’s many paintings from the 17th century
A statue in the Met’s Asian collection
The next day we crossed over from New York City to New Jersey. This is the George Washington Bridge.
We wanted to visit the Statue of Liberty and took the ferry from the New Jersey side to Liberty Island.
From the docks in Jersey City we had a great view of the Manhattan skyline.
One of our granddaughters plays for Stevens Institute in Hoboken, NJ. We finally were able to see her play that evening.
Here we are after her game saying goodbye before we were on our way home back to Grand Rapids.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been in New York during the Christmas Holiday Season and the first time for three of the granddaughters.
While the weather was cold, it was clear and sunny the whole time we were there. We had a short but enjoyable visit.
