Thanksgiving in New York

Our Thanksgiving holiday was filled with adventure. We visited our son in New York City! We stayed in a fantastic bed and breakfast in Harlem. The kitchen was stocked with breakfast food. Other amenities included a flat screen TV, computer and sumptuous bed.

The manager greeted us with a bouquet of flowers and Godiva chocolate!

After getting settled in, we connected with Jacob's friend, Jini, and then took the subway to meet up with Jacob near his work. It was great to see Jacob! He was excited to show us his city. He loves living and working there. We did a lot of walking that first night. We ate dinner at a fabulous Italian restaurant. We visited the beautifully renovated Grand Central Terminal and....

...saw the glowing Empire State Building.

After a much needed good night's sleep, we took photos on the front steps of our bed and breakfast....

...and then headed to Central Park with Jini to ride bicycles. We explored the whole park trying to find landmarks from the movie "Enchanted". We were amazed at the fall colors still evident.

We discovered a statue of Christopher Columbus, the Bandshell,

Bethesda Fountain and Terrace,

an Obelisk (erected in Egypt in 1500 BC and moved to the US in 1881),

the original compost pile (according to Jim),

the beautiful Harlem Meer and, surprisingly, rock cliffs,

Jim's smile,

the Ravine in the North Woods, several cathedrals....

...and stunning buildings on the perimeter of the park,

an ornate bridge,

a marionette theater (the Swedish Cottage) in the Shakespeare Garden (dedicated in 1961, the 300th anniversary of his death),

the Belvedere Castle (belvedere means the lookout)....

...from which the views of the Turtle Pond and Great Lawn in Central Park and of New York were breathtaking,

and the beautiful Bow Bridge over The Lake. A light rain started falling as we concluded our tour and made our way back to the rental place (a parking garage). What a grand adventure our bicycle ride through Central Park had been!

Lunch at a delicious bakery revived us and we continued our tour. We saw Carnegie Hall where we stepped in the foyer to let Jim sing. Now he can say that he sang in Carnegie Hall!:) We found the Metropolitan Opera....

...giant pumpkins at the entrance to a bar, and the LDS Temple.

We discovered an ancient church with red doors.

We walked back through Central Park--taking a short cut to our destination, the Apple store, to run an errand for Jacob.

It was interesting to watch the carriage drivers texting and talking on cell phones!

The Apple Store was actually underground. The entrance was covered by a glass box. I wish we had gotten a picture! We completed our errand and returned to our accommodations to prepare for a night out on the town. Our Mexican dinner was fantastic! As we made our way to the Gershwin Theater on Broadway to watch "Wicked", we stopped for photos in Times Square.

What a great way to end a perfect day. "Wicked" was FANTASTIC!

We couldn't wait to see what the next two days of our stay in New York would bring.