Back to NYC

This past weekend Kyle and I headed back to New York City, NY for a long weekend with friends.  I have now been there three times in three years!  I cannot believe it took me so long to first visit the city, but now that I have fallen in love, I just cannot seem to get enough.

On this trip we took the train from D.C. to Penn Station.  I love the train.  It was super easy, short (3+ hours), relatively cheap ($49/each way), and fun.  We ate and played cards on the way up, and ate and napped on the way home.  I still would not count on the cafe car providing an excellent lunch, but we brought our own snacks.

The main reason for going to NYC this weekend was to catch the New York Yankees vs. Colorado Rockies baseball game.  Our friends, Evan and Heidi, are fans of the Rockies and since we all became friends when we lived in Denver, we thought it would be fun to catch a game.  We went to the game Friday night and the Rockies won!  I am sorry to say that is the only game in the series they won. 

Yankee Stadium was pretty amazing.  I have been to ten major league baseball stadiums now (Detroit, St. Louis, Atlanta, Houston, Kansas City, Denver, Milwaukee, Chicago (Wrigley), New York City (Yankee), and Washington, D.C.) and the energy at Yankee Stadium was by far the best.  It is the only stadium I have been to that actually sells out their regular season tickets!  It was really fun and I found myself clapping along with the crowd, even though I was supposed to be rooting for the Rockies.

We spent the rest of the weekend enjoying the city.  We ate pizza, bagels, cheesecake, and really good Italian in Little Italy.  We walked through Summerfest Festival, checked out South Street Seaport, walked through Central Park, and visited the World Trade Center Memorial site and museum.  I am really excited (if that is the right word) about the new memorial, it should be beautiful (again, if that is the right word).

I *heart* NYC.

New York on Dwellable

Back to Maui

My Dad turned 60 this year, and for his birthday he took the whole family to Maui, Hawaii!  So, Kyle and I got to experience more of the island life.  No complaints here!

On this trip to Maui we...

Took a tour of the pineapple plantations.  I have mixed reviews of this adventure.  The bus trip was extremely bumpy and motion sickness inducing, but the pineapple tasted delicious (I did not even like the fruit before this trip, but now I am addicted).  The historical facts were ehh, but we got to pick our own pineapples right out of the ground.  Overall, I liked the trip, but I still have red dust on my shoes.

Took the road to Hana.  We paid for a guided bus tour to Hana, and although it was a really long day, I would do it again.  We saw things you just would not see otherwise and I would be way to nervous to drive the long way myself.  On the trip we say the seven sacred pools (really beautiful but really scary!  there are seven different ways you can be sucked out into the ocean!), black sand beach (rare!), caves, trees with tie-died bark, and a winery (yum!). 

Took an airplane to Oahu for the day.  We wanted to check out another island, so we checked out Oahu.  We saw Pearl Harbor, snorkeled in Hanauma Bay, swam at Waikiki Beach and noticed that everything was in Japanese.  Oahu is much larger and more commercial than Maui, so I have to say I like Maui better.  However, Waikiki Beach is now my favorite Hawaiian beach.  They put up breakers, so the waves are not as big and you do not have any undertow to worry about.  Also, there is more beach on Oahu, most of the beaches we went to in Maui had very little room to lay out and relax.

Finally, we went to a luau (have to do this at least once), shopped in Lahaina (watch out for cruisers), and went to the Maui Ocean Center.

Thanks Dad, for a great trip.  Happy Birthday!

For more pictures, click here.

Hawaii on Dwellable

Oklahoma City National Memorial

I recently visited the Oklahoma City National Memorial and found it, surprisingly, to be a very peaceful place.  The memorial covers a lawn where the building that was bombed used to be.  There are two walls at each end of a shallow reflecting pool.  One of the walls had the time 9:01 carved out, to represent the minute before the bombing, and the other wall had 9:03 carved out to represent the minute after.  Then, there were chairs on one side of the lawn; a chair for each person who died and smaller chairs for the children that died.  On the other side of the lawn was the Survivor Tree.  This is a tree that made it through the bombing, although it does have its scars.  Finally, I walked passed the Memory Fence, where loved ones can place items to remember those lost.  This was a little overwhelming for me, but I hope it brings comfort to those that lost family and friends. 

As recommended, I went back to the memorial at night and found it to still be a calming place.  It was also amazing to photograph!  I am no professional but I did follow them around and try to copy their pictures.

The memorial was so thought out and so well done.  I am not sure what is going on with the 9/11 memorial in NYC, but I think they should get it together.   It only took five years to put the OKC memorial in place and it gives people a chance to remember and learn.

Oklahoma on Dwellable