Manhattan, First Post

The ferry trip over was great as we could see so much without having to navigate around all the huge ships or worry about currents.  Everyone in Manhattan had us pegged as rubes, I'm sure, because the first few hours were spent with our necks craned up or taking hundreds of pictures just hoping they turned out. In that first day in the city, we walked over 12 miles, most of it randomly, and saw most of the streets in lower and midtown Manhattan.  I know we couldn't have seen everything but we saw the highlights.  It was a wonderful, if tiring day.

This building looked as if designed by a slightly off kilter artist got hold of the plans.

The Columbus monument honoring one of the world's greatest navigators
and certainly a courageous explorer no matter what the PC crowd says. 

The statue shows a regal bearing.  After months at sea, I doubt he looked that good
or maybe we're just jealous that we are closer to what the cat dragged in than regal.

Loved the color and variety of Chinatown.

I have a much smaller version of one of these hanging in our house.

The ferry terminal where we landed.  We chose to start in the middle of the island
then depart from the dock in the lower part.  It was nice having the option.

Again, I really enjoyed all the flowers.  Due to good weather (as opposed to snow)
so many of the building were wrapped in scaffolding as maintenance was done to their
facades.  That caused us to miss a few things we were looking forward to such as the
lions outside the main library.  You could see some buildings where the cleaning had
been finished next to the one still needing attentionl.

Grand Central certainly lived up to it's name.  It was a work of art on
a truly grand scale.

One of the many hallways leading to the main chamber. The chandeliers alone
were worth the stop.

One of several boards showing times, destinations and track information.

The grand room.  So many movies scenes feature this area.

The ceiling was the constellations in the zodiac.  The stained glass windows were fabulous
as well.  We entered the building on a lark, not having it on our list of must-see places.
We are both glad we spent the time here.

Not sure what this globe was for but it looked nice and caught the sun.

The architecture of the building never ceased to amaze in variety.

A mural from the entrance to the Rockefeller Center.

Radio City Music Hall.  Not as fancy on the outside as we thought.

This is a monument to General Worth.  I'm form Fort Worth which was named for him.

One of the crowded, narrow streets in Manhattan.

More tall buildings. This one was topped in shiny brass.

The entrance to one of the tunnels leading into the island.

Times Square was fascinating in the array of colors

                                                     and commercials

and even more commercials.  Broadway with all its theaters ends here.

This was a monument to sailors who lost their lives in the early 1900s.  It wasn't
a particularly famous shipwreck so the survivor's families must have had some
pull to get this built.

Wall St.  is where our ferry departed to head back to New Jersey.

David had envisioned himself standing next to the raging bull of Wall St.
but apparently several other folks had the same idea.  Even after waiting a while,
we could never get close so he climbed on a traffic barrier to get this shot.