Our Trip to New York, Part One

Our younger daughter had to be in New York City for a conference, and she graciously invited her father and I to join her. We had not been there together in about 14 years; I was there in 2006. We left on Saturday morning, just after depositing Moppet at the kennel for the first time. We were traveling in a small rental car; our daughter and her husband had been rear-ended a few days before and her car had to go into the shop. The other person's insurance covered a rental, but not a large one. So I wedged myself into the back seat of a small SUV and Jim got the coveted front seat. 

The trip to NJ (where Jim's brother lives) took nine hours. We had been invited to dinner at his favorite Asian place, Cheng Du 23, 

in Wayne. He met us in the parking lot, with a six-pack of Ching-Tao beer. I was surprised to hear that you can bring your own beer and wine into restaurants there - even though they serve those items. Brother-in-law has traveled extensively in Asia, and is very familiar with the foods, so we let him order and he did an outstanding job!!  We had fish and bok choy, chicken and green beans, pork with bok choy and a beef dish, as well as spring rolls, shrimp toast, and fried dumplings. All the food was fresh, not overly salty, perfectly cooked and ample.  It was a perfect way to unwind from the trip and relax, and it is always a treat to see BIL.

We stayed in a hotel in Secaucus that night, and left the next morning for Manhattan. I discovered later that day that I had left my favorite bed pillow in that hotel. When our daughter called about it, of course, "no one saw it" or turned it in to lost and found. Lesson learned.  We went through the Lincoln Tunnel, which now costs $14. The first time I went to NYC, in 1959, it cost about 50 cents. 

Our daughter is the best tour guide and chauffeur in the universe. She drove us all over Manhattan (she used to live there)  and was able to find parking nearby every site we wanted to tour. It is amazing to see! The first thing we wanted to do was tour the new World Trade Center tower observatory. Daughter found tickets on line that allowed us to bypass the long lines of people waiting to buy tickets there. Blogger is not being cooperative with pics, so I will post them and hope they go in some semblance of order. The new building is very striking in appearance and dominates the surrounding area. The second pic is looking down to the reflecting pools on the ground below. In my next post, I'll show you the photos of the scenery from the top of the tower.