Chelsea Market

Chelsea Market in New York City not only has lots of restaurants and shops, it’s also a great place to take photographs.  Natural light flows through the high windows and the old brick is really nice.

I had three daily itineraries for my time in New York City and I chose this one… Greenwich Village (yesterday’s post) — Chelsea Market — Highline Park – Times Square – N.Y. Public Library – Bryant Park – Grand Central Station.  I also went to Gantry State Park in Queens to meet a fellow blogger (that will be a future post).  So my first day I was in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens!

I walked most everywhere (except to Queens) and have holes in my boots and had a blister on my foot to prove it!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Continue reading

Greenwich Village

Greenwich Village in New York City is very similar to what I had envisioned through the years it might be like.  Artsy and colorful with beautiful old buildings!

Having arrived in the City the night before, with only four days to explore, I got an early start the following morning walking the 3/4th of a mile to the train, from the home of my Couchsurfing hostess–Maria and her parents–in Brooklyn.  The train ride into Manhattan took anywhere from 35 – 50 minutes, depending on where I was headed, and if I needed to transfer trains.  My experience taking trains in Europe was good practice for the subway here.

I had purchased a book about New York City and tore out the walking tours to have some type of map and plan.  Even with the map, the streets in Greenwich are a bit confusing, because they wind around and connect here and there.  As you can see, It was an overcast day.

This grouping of sculptures is very creative.  I like that they’re devoid of color, except for the one pair of tennis shoes.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Continue reading

Couchsurfing New York City and Salsa Dancing

After my 2-day whirlwind walking tour of Philadelphia, it was time to catch a $10 Boltbus to New York City!  Upon my arrival, I knew to take the N train from Penn Station and what stop to get off of, but I didn’t even have the address of my Couchsurfing host…Maria.  She was picking me up at the train station at 9:00pm, so I had to have faith and trust.  It was a short drive to her family’s home in Brooklyn, where she is staying temporarily.  They are Italian and although her father is a Chef, her mother made some outstanding meals!  And she has a to-die-for Cappuccino maker!

I did most everything on my own in New York, but one evening, Maria and I went out Salsa dancing and to a neighborhood bar.  This is Maria…

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Continue reading

The Time Machine

The Kimmel Center in Philadelphia has a very creative exhibit in their foyer known as “The Time Machine“.  I didn’t have time (no pun intended) to see their free musical called “Flash of Time”, but just stopping in to take photos of this installation was interesting!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Continue reading

Spunky South Street Philadelphia

The area known as South Street in Philadelphia is approximately 10 blocks long and has a fun bohemian flair!  With over 300 shops and 60 restaurants, it’s a great place to people watch, wander into eclectic shops, have a famous Philly Cheesesteak, or listen to music!  I had read when I returned home, that the area has been known for being a bit seedy or perhaps even dangerous…but I didn’t sense that and felt perfectly safe as a solo female traveler!

As I passed this colorful bar, I knew I had to have a photo…

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Continue reading

Independence Hall, Graveyards and Art in Philadelphia

My second day in Philadelphia began with an absolutely delicious egg, bacon and cheese biscuit sandwich at the Metropolitan Bakery near Rittenhouse Square.  The biscuit was so flaky and yummy!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Continue reading

Philadelphia Beauty

Philadelphia has so much natural beauty!  Not only its architecture, but all of the small Squares, Parks and Gardens.  This is one of the small parks…

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Continue reading

Elfreth’s Alley, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

There’s a magical street in Philadelphia called Elfreth’s Alley that has colorful and quaint townhomes dating back to 1736.  It’s a short street, but full of charm and history and is our nation’s oldest residential street!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Continue reading

Lovin’ Philly

With just two days to explore Philadelphia by foot, I saw some beautiful architecture, flowers and scenery.  I don’t remember the name of this park, but it is beautiful!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Continue reading

What to See in Philadelphia

There is so much to see and do in Philadelphia!  I started walking towards the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Boathouse Row.  This domino sculpture is pretty cool!  I like it sometimes when there is someone in my photo, because they become an actor…like in this photo…it’s almost seems this lady was posing for me!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Continue reading

City Life in Philadelphia

I arrived in Philadelphia Monday evening to the home of my lovely Couchsurfing hostess…Claire.  She was still at work, so I had detailed instructions on where to find the keys to her beautiful City apartment that is located near Rittenhouse Square.  All of the lights were on when I arrived to welcome me.

This is her living room.  I love window seats!  She is a voracious reader and just outside of this photo on the left is another built-in bookcase with books!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Continue reading

Philadelphia and New York City…Here I Come!

I can’t believe I’m leaving in 10 days for Philadelphia (2 days/3 nights) and New York City (almost 4 days/4 nights) on a jet plane!!  Frontier Airlines had a special for $32 round trip flying out of Columbus, Ohio.  I’ll have to drive from Cincinnati, but from my house it’s only about an hour and 40 minutes.  Parking at the airport is only $4 a day!  I’ve been around the world…but never to these two Cities.  I’ll be Couchsurfing with a lady in each City and they’re really cool!  They’re both about 40 years old, beautiful, and fun!

I’m in the process of researching.  I’ll fly into Trenton, NJ which is about 40 minutes from Philly and a little over an hour from NYC by train.  I’ll have to pack in a lot in a short period of time (especially for NYC)…but I’m thinking for Philadelphia of doing a 3 mile self-guided walking tour called The Constitutional Walking Tour and it includes 33 sites such as The National Constitution Center – Liberty Bell Museum and 13 other non-constitutional sites.  I’d also like to make it to the Museum of Art – Longwood Gardens – Boathouse Row – Magic Gardens – South Street.

And for New York City–possibly the free Staten Island Ferry (if it’s not too cold) – from Battery Park you can take the free Downtown Connection bus to South Street Seaport – walk across Brooklyn Bridge – Ground Zero – Chinatown – Little Italy – Washington Square Park – Greenwich Village – Highline – Chelsea Market – Midtown to include — Times Square (a 1.5 mile walk along 42nd street to see architecture such as The Candler Bldg., W. R. Grace Bldg. – New York Public Library, Grand Central Station, and the Chrysler Building) – Rockefeller Center – Radio City Music Hall – Museum of Modern Art – St. Patrick’s Cathedral – Central Park – Brooklyn (possibly the Apollo Theater and Lennox Lounge in Harlem and/or some sites in Queens).

I’m not planning on going up to the top of the Empire State Building because I’ve read that it’s less crowded to go up the Rockefeller Bldg. and that way you have a view of the Empire State Bldg.  I won’t be able to go in the Statue of Liberty due to repairs.

I thought about renting a bicycle in NYC.

If anyone has any “must see or dos” please let me know.  Of course, the ladies I’m staying with are locals and will be able to give me lots of good information.

One of the ladies does pole dancing in a studio to keep in shape and wants me to join her…I’ll be so busy, you’ll have to wait until I return for a recap!

Oh…the people I’ll meet, the places I’ll go, and the things I’ll do!

Free Music through Freegal

Recently I discovered Freegal Music, an online site offering free music through your library.  I love anything free!  I’ve been downloading free book rentals from the library to my Kindle for a while.  Anyway, you just log into your library online with your card number and pin…and if your particular library offers the service, it will be listed on their website.  Once you’re in the site and you’ve clicked on a song to download, it will go directly to your iTunes account.  My library allows three downloads per week and the week starts over on Monday.  So…tomorrow I get three more.  They don’t offer all of the songs I’d like yet…for example…Bruno Mars “When I was your Man”; Ed Sheeran “The A Team”, The Civil Wars “Billie Jean”, or Red Hot Chili Peppers “Scar Tissue”.  They add songs frequently, so I’ll check back soon on those.

Today I downloaded Sara Bareilles “Love Song”, Ella James “At Last”, and Wild Belle “Keep You”.  I have over 3360 songs so far on my iTunes.  My iPod is almost full, so eventually I’d like to purchase one that has a larger capacity.

I like most genres of music except rap and some country.  I lean towards soft rock, R&B, some pop, etc.  I love Adele, but who doesn’t?  I went out dancing Friday night with girlfriends and had a great time!  It’s great exercise also!

I can’t remember if I posted this photo recently, but I think it’s the only one of me dancing.  I was in Lisbon, Portugal

SS850650

If you can dance to accordion music, you can dance to anything!

 

A Word A Week Challenge – Hats

As you can easily surmise from looking at these photos…I love hats!  This is the challenge at A Word in Your Ear!  I didn’t really feel comfortable wearing hats when I was younger.  I was a bit shy and felt it brought more attention to myself.  Being almost 6 foot tall demanded enough attention as it was.  As I’ve aged and become more comfortable in my skin…I realize hats are fun and they protect your face from the sun!

Sherryhats

Continue reading

Travel Theme: Roads

There are so many types of roads!  Flat..hilly..curvy..straight..paved..dirt..rocky..steep!  Where’s My Backpack’s Travel Theme this week is….Roads!

The first three road photos were all taken in Namibia, Africa.  The terrain, at times, seemed alien and made for some great photographs!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Continue reading