Granddaughter’s First time in New York

While I’ve lived in Michigan since 1972, I still consider myself a New Yorker. I grew up just outside of the city in nearby Westchester County where I spent my formative years learning and enjoying the exhilarating pulse of the Big Apple.

One of our granddaughters wanted to travel to New York to see the sites that she’s heard about from her family for so many years.

We drove from Grand Rapids to the New York area about 750 miles. Here we are on the Ohio Turnpike about half way to our destination.

We’re crossing Hudson River over the Mario Cuomo Memorial Bridge where we will take up residence for a few days in Tarrytown, NY.

Tarrytown is a small village north of NYC along the Hudson River. Historically it’s famous as the setting for Washington Irving’s story about the headless horseman in “the Legend of Sleepy Hollow”. As a teenager I spent time exploring the cemetery in Sleepy Hollow.

We took a short drive from our hotel to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.

The cemetery is filled with many interesting gravestones. Some of them date back to the 1600s.

The following day we took the commuter train from Tarrytown to New York City. The ride to the city takes about an hour with stops at towns in Westchester county and the Bronx with familiar names – Irvington, Dobbs Ferry, Hastings-on-Hudson, Glenwood, Yonkers, Riverdale, Spuyten Duyvill, University Heights, Yankee Stadium – before the final stop at Grand Central Station.

Here we are after getting off the train from Tarrytown. This is the iconic Grand Central Station.

We walked out to the street and found a bite to eat from one of the food vendors.

The walk from Grand Central to Central Park takes us through mid-town Manhattan. During the day the streets are filled with workers, pedestrians and visitors. It’s takes about 30 minutes to walk the mile to the park.

This is a popular section of Central Park known as Bethesda Terrace.

Here we have two locals having a chess match in Central Park

Across ftom Central Park is the Time Warner Building with its impressive window that looks out over Columbus Circle.

Walking a short distance south let us view the golden statue that adorns Rockefeller Center.

A cab ride to westside Manhattan took us to Hudson Yards.

Edge Building at Hudson Yard district

We enjoyed a fantastic dinner in the newer Hudson Yard district. This area is close to train yards and was recently redeveloped for residential, office and commercial use.

Afterwards we hopped on the subway to Grand Central and then the commuter train back to Tarrytown.

The next day we wanted to take in some culture. So it was a car ride into NYC to visit the MET – Metropolitan Museum of Art – which is adjacent to Central Park.

We drove to the city to visit to the MET – the well-known Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Here we see a wall sized artwork on Washington and soldiers crossing the Delaware.

One last visit before the long drive back to Michigan. We wanted to visit New Rochelle , the city where I grew up.

This is the house in New Rochelle where we lived for many years. We wanted to see how much it has changed since we lived there.

So then we’re on our way home with this sticker on the car.

Written by:

Arnie Lee