Weekending and Two Girls New to New Jersey- Going into NYC and seeing Central Park.

Linking up with Holly and Sarah for Hello Monday:

Not a super exciting weekend but not a bad one at all. Friday- I got things done! I stayed in almost the whole day which is the best way (for me) to ensure that things get done. I washed a bunch of items that I don't wash with a lot of regularly including bags/backpacks that can go in the washing machine. I decided to hand wash my weighted blanket. Instructions on the tag said that the blanket could be washed in the machine but I didn't want to risk the weight of the blanket damaging the machine. Our washing  machine is fifteen years old and knock on wood, has not given us any problems. Will hand wash a weighted blanket to avoid problems...

I was able to catch up with a friend whom I hadn't seen since before Abby and I left for New Jersey which was great. And speaking of friends, my blog friend Jennifer returned to the blogging scene after a nearly three month break. Jennifer writes with humor, alacrity and wisdom whether the subject is a deep one or a fun one. She had been on my mind and I was so pleased to read a post from her and hear a little update. 

Saturday, the weather forecast called for gloomy and rainy weather almost all day. It was a good day to be inside for most of it. I did get a run in first thing before the rain and then I read and made a treat with Alyssa for Sunday. Donne and I went to nearby Lebanon to see The Sound of Freedom movie. The subject matter was so tough- the kidnapping and sex trafficking of kids but the movie was done really well.

Sunday was a run followed by church followed by going to the grocery store. In the evening, we met some of Donnie's family in West Chester to celebrate my mother in law's birthday. The food and company were good! 

So my photos are... lacking. I took a picture of the apparatus I rigged up outside so that my weighted blanket could dry in the sun (without touching the dirty ground...). When I looked at my camera roll, I had to laugh. Is showing a picture of a blanket drying just one step up from showing (literally) paint dry?

Due mostly to a paucity of photos from this weekend, I decided to include part of a post that has lots of photos in it- those of Abby and my sister and me in Central Park in NYC. Abby and I were in New Jersey the entire month of June. For a variety of reasons, after our first weekend of being there, I decided against blogging in "real time." I've written two posts of our time in Jersey and now am including a trip to NYC that we took during the month that we were gone. 

Abby and I stayed in Teaneck, New Jersey which is very close to New York City. When I'd type in "restaurants near me" in the search feature of my phone, it brought up places in Jersey but also places in NYC. Our place was three miles from the GW bridge which takes drivers (and walkers!) over the Hudson and into Manhattan. Another route into the city was the Lincoln Tunnel which goes under the Hudson River. 

Driving into the city seemed like something that would not be good for my nerves and it definitely wouldn't be good for the pocketbook- fees for crossing the GW and the Lincoln Tunnel were $17 per car and parking prices in the city were outrageous. I took a picture of one parking garage's fees- don't know if this particular one was higher or lower than average. But one hour of parking in this garage was $36.33, three hours was $53.22 and overnight was $63.36. Don't forget about the taxes- that rate was 18.375% added to the aforementioned prices. YIKES! 

Fortunately, there was a much cheaper and less daunting than driving alternative and that was public transportation! The NJ Transit operated an impressive fleet of buses that picked riders up from an impressive number of stops in our town alone and I'm sure in other towns near the city. There was a bus pick up stop about a two minute walk from our place in Teaneck and that is the one we used to take the bus into NYC. The cost was only $9 round trip. There were monthly and weekly passes available 

When my sister came to town to visit us (all the happy faces!!), we knew we wanted to go into the city which we did. Abby and I had already gone into the city once and I'll write about that later. This post details our sister/ mother/ daughter trip to Central Park. 

I will let the pictures do the talking (mostly) with of course plenty of commentary.

At the bus stop! My sister and I hadn't ridden in public transportation together since we were in high school...

The three of us at the bus stop- Jersey Girls about ready to become New Yorkers if just for the day ;).

The bus dropped us off at Port Authority in Midtown Manhattan. It was near Times Square. Our destination was Central Park so we headed there. But first, photos...

We had to walk about a mile and then we were in Central Park. Port Authority is south of Central Park so we knew we'd arrive at Central Park South. We knew we wouldn't see nearly all of the 800 acre park; we were hoping to see the highlights of the south portion of Central Park.

We couldn't help but notice that there were various modes of "public transportation" within the park (we didn't see any cars or buses but rather horse drawn carriages and bike type rides). At one point, we had stopped walking and were trying to determine where to go next in the park when a guy on a bike with a carriage type apparatus attached to the back asked if we'd be interested in a tour of of the park. Tour guide? While we could sit and not walk (our legs were tired at this point and the sun was enervating)?  Cover more ground than we could on our own? Yes, yes, and yes. The price seemed high (perhaps it was negotiable?) but seeing as how we'd likely never be in Central Park again, it seemed like the best course of action. We liked our tour guide so much- he spoke with an Eastern European accent and we didn't quite catch everything he said but he exuded bonhomie and we understood plenty. 

He pointed lots of things out to us and had us get out at certain points while he took our picture. He shared where many movies were filmed in the park like Billy Madison and Home Alone 2. He also pointed to buildings in the distance and told us what famous/ rich person lived there. 

The white building in between the blue buildings is home to Someone Famous. I don't remember the name. Speaking of blue, when I look at these pictures, I can't help but notice how blue the sky is. I didn't know it but this would end up being the last blue skied day that we'd have when we were in the area. I'm glad it appeared on a NYC visiting day. The next time we'd visit the city would be a rainy day...

When the tour was over, I tried to talk our guide into pedaling/ propelling us (the bike was partially electric?) over to other parts of the city. But he had to stay in the park :(. He dropped us off near the Plaza Hotel. 

Those stairs looked inviting.... I wanted to see the lobby of the hotel.

That face you make when you realize your circa 2012 Vera Bradley backpack may be a dead giveaway that you aren't a Plaza guest. 

Gosh, it was pretty inside.

I'll write more about our NYC adventures in another post... or two.