The Big Apple

There she is..."Lady Liberty".  I took this picture from the Miss Liberty, a New York harbor tour boat.  None of us, with the exception of Stacey, had ever been to New York City.  What an experience for all of us! 

You might be wondering where the heck we would camp and see New York City!  Well, we found a place about 15 minutes southeast of West Point Military Academy near the town of Croton-on-Hudson.  As the name implies, we were right on the Hudson River.  You may be able to see the river in the picture above.  Across the bridge was the Croton Harmon regional rail station.  If we wanted, we could've walked there from our campground.  We simply took the train and about 45-50 minutes later we would arrive at Grand Central Station! If you're interested in the campground, you can read about it here: Croton-Point-Park

Just up the road from our campground we stumbled upon the Croton River Gorge Dam and park.  Very nice!  You can read about it here: Croton Gorge Park

Hailey is psyched to catch the train at the Croton Harmon regional train station, that will take us into New York City's Grand Central Station.  If your interested in reading more about the train that runs from here into NYC, you can read more here: Croton–Harmon_(Metro-North_station)

Hey, it's "Grand" and it's "Central"...must be Grand Central Station!  Wow! What a cool place!   It is amazing how clean and efficient this place is considering the volume of people coming and going.  Very impressive! Check it out here: Grand Central Terminal

Of course, what visit to NYC would be complete without a yellow taxi ride!? 

Hailey let's ya know where we are!  Uh, no we did not get arrested!

Heidi and Hailey are amazed at the hustle, bustle and HUGE T.V. screens in Times Square.  Truly a sight to behold! 

Hailey in the entry foyer of a NYC iconic art deco building, the Empire State Building!  I have always wanted to go atop this building and take in the view!  

Well...here it is...the view from the 86th floor of the Empire State Building...improved with Heidi's smiling face!  Ain't the view pretty?!  And the city isn't half bad either!  You can read all about the famed Empire State Building here: Empire State Building

Heidi poses with another famous icon of NYC...the Brooklyn Bridge.  Before the Brooklyn Bridge was built, Brooklyn and New York City were two entirely different cities.  You can read about the Brooklyn Bridge here: Brooklyn Bridge

The gals with the Manhattan skyline behind them.  You can see the new One World Trade Center towers rising behind them.  You can read about Manhattan here: Manhattan

Beautiful!  And the city is nice too. 

The girls pose in front of the Statue of Liberty.  Unfortunately, we could not stop and visit her due to storm damage from Hurricane Sandy.  You can read about Lady Liberty here: Statue of Liberty

Hailey and Stacey at the World Trade Center 9/11 Memorial.  Hailey was born in October 2001 and did not know much about the events of that day until we visited here.  And Heidi was only two years old at the time of the attacks.  They both learned much here.  You can check out the memorial here: 9/11 Memorial

I took this picture from within the 9/11 Memorial site.  It is of the new One World Trade Center building.  It and Two World Trade Center building are both under construction and will be taller than the original World Trade Center twin towers.  

 A Hudson river view of the new World Trade Center building complex.  When completed, the very tip of the tower will measure 1,776 feet tall.  Does that number ring a bell..."1776".  You can check out the One World Trade Center here:  World Trade Center

When we were in Chicago, we had to do the deep dish thing and now in New York we naturally have to try the NYC "style".  Sorry, New York, good stuff...however,  Team Breitmann is a Chicago-style family!  

Window shopping in NYC!  Hailey loves all the good stuff...like....CHOCOLATES! 

Of course we had to visit the famous FAO Schwarz toy store!  Here the girls ham it up with the door man! You can read about FAO Schwarz here: FAO Schwarz

Big store...BIG treats! 

Holy huge Snickers bar, Batman!

Hailey, our Star Wars fanatic, loved the Clone Wars Storm Trooper made entirely of Legos!  

Hailey loved dancing on the "Big Piano".  We could've had it sent home for only $250,000.  What a steal, eh?!

Heidi and Stacey pose in front of the center of the financial world...the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street.  You can read a bit more about this famous street here: Wall Street

Oiy, vey!  Another must do in NYC is to eat a a kosher deli.  We ate dinner at the famed Carnegie Deli near Broadway.  Wow!  It was AWESOME!  You can check them out here: Carnegie Deli

With our bellies full of kosher food, Stacey takes Heidi to see Phantom of the Opera on Broadway!  Heidi was blown away!  You can check out the Phantom here: The Phantom

And I get the honor of taking Hailey to see the Broadway production of Annie!  We had a blast! You can check out Annie here: Annie

I thought this was a cool picture I took that encompassed a few NYC images...a yellow cab whizzing past, Grand Central Station and the Chrysler building. 

Team Breitmann in front of Rockefeller Center.

What a great treat to meet up with my former Vice Commander, Col "Vinnie" Barberides (Ret.).  I owe much to this great American!  And it was awesome to have dinner with him in the "Big Apple".  Team Breitmann, salutes you, Sir!

A classic NYC scene...the Rockefeller skating rink! Check out Rockefeller Center here:Rockefeller Center

Holy high rise, Batman!  Heidi poses next to a model of the Empire State building built entirely of Legos.  We saw this in the largest Toys R Us store I have ever seen!  It made FAO Schwarz look small!  

Heidi says, a picture is worth a thousand words....this is how we can some up our visit to NYC! Look out Philadelphia, here we come!