My New Toy

This my new toy ( which I am still trying to figure out). It is a Garmin Forerunner 305. I mainly wanted it because I am training for a half marathon soon and I wanted a good way to track my progress and to push me a bit too. This "watch" has a GPS satellite installed in it and keeps my pace, my heart rate, and time in it's memory until I get home and transfer it to my computer. It keeps track of where I go for a run and if I choose to run the same route it will compare the two and show which areas to work on. I love this watch. Thanks ebay!! You made it more affordable for me.

NYC Day 2

On our second day here we were happy to have my Aunt show us around some of her favourite areas in New York City. So again we took the train from NJ to Penn Station followed by a subway to Greenwich Village and walked over to Washington Square Park. There was an area where people could go and challenge each other to a chess match. I did see a few people playing. We walked next down through the SOHO area where there were lots of artistic people and the main reason (I think) was so my sister could go to Anthropologie. Ever since my Aunt wrote about it in her blog, my sister's had an attraction to it. I actually enjoyed going there as well and saw a few things I liked as well. There was a huge bird cage in the middle of the place.

Next we made our way over to Little Italy and had some lunch at a little restaurant there called Da Nico Ristorante Italiano. We all felt much better after some food in our systems and then we could explore some more places. So our next area was Chinatown and we went down one street that was full of fish at every store. Some of the fish were still alive and the sellers would bring them out when someone was interested in buying to show how fresh they were. The smell was unbearable at times. I even found a vendor selling frogs in a bucket I couldn't believe that people actually ate frogs. It was definetly an interesting experience.

Our next stop was the Brooklyn Bridge. We were not exactly sure on how to get there but there were lots of helpful people pointing out the way and sometimes giving us more info then we really needed. First we had to walk under the bridge to be able to walk over the bridge. Again this day was a super hot day and you could really feel it walking up the bridge. We walked to the halfway point to look around a bit then came back down the same way. It was quite a walk and called for a Starbucks afterwards for a cold drink. Next we walked down to the Fish Market, now it is not a fish market, I think it used to be but now it is a shopping area on the pier. It was quite peaceful and there was even a woman doing mime.



Next we made our way towards the Staten Island Ferry where we waited forever to board the ferry along with everyone else. The announcer came on and said that the ferry we were waiting for was cancelled and we had to wait for the next one. So we did, along with all the other people. Once we got on we were packed on the boat with barely enough room to move so I couldn't really see too much. On the way back over was a little nicer plus I decided to stand near the edge of the boat to get a few photo opportunities like this one of the NYC skyline.

Then we took another subway up to Grand Central Station. What a great place that was. So full of people and we were able to do few fun pictures there too. This is my picture of Cheryl among all the passengers running to their destinations or so it looks that way.

Finally before heading back to NJ for the

night we went back to Central Park because my Aunt wanted to show us this amazing fountain known as Bethseda Fountain. Unfortunately, they do not light the fountain so it was a very dark place, but kind of enchanting. This water lily was in the fountain and I didn't realize how big it was until I took the photo.

New York City

Our first full day in the area we took the train from NJ to Penn Station and set off on our adventure. We headed to Macy's and browsed all 8 floors of this huge department store. We had to first get me a coffee so we found a Starbucks inside. Then on one of the many floors I found and bought a nice summer shirt. Next we walked up and had some lunch at Bryant Park. We had some hot sandwiches (I don't know why since it was the hottest day ever) and some water. Afterwards we walked around and went inside the New York City Public Library. It was a huge building and just beautiful inside (and air conditioned). We were not sure if we were allowed upstairs but apparently we were so maybe next time I'll have to check that out.


Then we worked our way up to Central Park stopping at some other landmarks like Rockefeller Plaza and Centre where we stopped and tried to get a tour of the studio but found out we were too late for that day. It was a good thing we stopped there because before we were going to leave it started raining, so we waited it out. Then we continued on our way to the park and I had to stop at F. A. O. Schwartz, the huge toy store, they had some of every kind of toy you could think of, even an actual nursery where you adopt a child (doll) from a hospital and the worker is dressed as a nurse too. We walked up Fifth Ave admiring all the high fashion shops wishing to be able to go in. Finally, we make it to Central Park and we were planning on visiting the zoo there but yet again we were too late for that day. So we just walked around among all the tall trees. We sat down to rest our tired feet before the long walk back and just enjoyed the view.


We were starting to get hungry again so we set off to find some place to eat heading down Fifth Avenue and passing by the Radio City Music Hall towards Broadway and Times Square. There was so much going on along Broadway maybe it just seemed that way because of how busy it was. We tried to get some food at the Olive Garden but the line up was an hour and a half wait so we went across the street to another little place and had a huge meal and some martinis. Then we finally made our way back down to Penn Station to get the train back to NJ. I don't think I've walked that much in quite a while and my feet were definitely feeling it. But after some rest I was ready for another day......

NJ

Me and my two sisters have just returned from a weekend in NJ/NYC. My Aunt lives in NJ and was kind enough to allow us to stay with her. It took us about 8 hours to drive there and we were very happy to get out of the car. After taking all of our luggage up to her place and figuring out where we would each sleep we went off to the beach (Sandy Hook Beach). From the parking lot to the water was such a distance especially since we had to walk through such soft sand full of little shells. Once we got to the water it was so refreshing and calm. You could hear the waves coming in and crashing, there were children playing in the water too. So because we were at this spot we had to get some pictures taken, and it was so beautiful as the sun was setting just over the way. As the sun was setting we walked along the shore and got splashed by the waves. Before leaving I saw a crab that had been washed up from the Ocean trying desperately to get back to his home in the water. Finally the waves took him back right before I was able to get a picture of him. I was able to bring home a piece of the beach though, a big shell left on the side of the beach. Next time I will have to go for a swim in it. This is my favourite picture of the beach here on the right.