All photos by Colby, Marci and Sheila
Experiencing traveling through the eyes of your child and your grandchild has no words to describe the visceral experience. It comes instinctual rather than thinking, or emotional rather than mental reasoning. I have tried to explain something grand and rewarding. Something enchanting. Something we all need to strive to experience and when we have, share it. When we go out to eat, our twelve-year-old grandson orders steak and lobster, shrimp, hamburgers and chicken Caesar salads. Our daughter swells up from bouillabaisse, enjoys chicken, deep green salads, a gourmet hamburger here and there, but mainly keeps it low fat. I can sit in a chair all day and watch them enjoy their new experiences, which is new and rewarding travel knowledge for me.
We were able to inhale most of the tourist’s sights, bask in the crowds in Times Square and shop, as well as enjoy two plays, Spiderman and War Horse. It was thrilling to see both of these performances. Spiderman flies all around the audience several times and if you have the right seats, he almost flies into your lap. The horses in War Horse were beautiful and their handlers made you feel they are real even though they are exquisitely crafted puppets. It is joyous to spend evenings in the theatre.
Visit to the Main Library and Bryant Park
Visited the Top of the Rock this day.
God Bless America!
We also enjoyed having dinner with our friends. J & A. Your apartment high above the crowds is a lovely oasis and your new parquet floors are so authentic. Keep them uncovered, and put some dazzling rugs in the right places; you’ll be happy with the look.
I was able to chat and have dinner with beautiful Joy, a former student of mine, a number of years ago. When we first met: I asked, “ Joy, are you old enough to share a drink before dinner?” She said, “Sheila, and I can call you that now because I am thirty-three years old.” See time flies and yes, we are having fun. Hopefully your move to Brooklyn was gentle on you. This reminds me when we retuned home from our trip, there was an old movie I got sucked, and I mean sucked into: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I cried non-stop through nearly all of it. To our friends in Brooklyn, the next time we have the good fortune to come to New York, we are going to plan some time to STAY in Brooklyn because I feel I need to be there. There is something in Brooklyn I need to know, something that has been waiting for me for a long time.
All and all we had an “I Love New York Experience!” Skip wants to follow his dream and rent an apartment in Manhattan for a month. I will follow him, because home is anywhere he is…so all of you in the vicinity, let’s us have fun.
On to Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Look, making Smores on the lawn amidst high heat and even higher humidity, but oh so good.
In lieu of sounding like an ad for Hershey, Pennsylvania, let me tell you it is booked as “The Sweetest Place On Earth.” Well, not for me. Remember age plays a factor in this equation. They also advertised that they have a world-class amusement park and they do. Families would depart the hotel soon after breakfast and not return until after ten o’clock when the park closes. They have a wonderful water park associated with the theme park and certainly a relief for the hot and humid weather that greeted us. They also have a Hershey Museum and Chocolate World where you learn about how the candy is made and the day we arrived they were setting up for a huge concert that night. I wish I could be more descriptive of the park, but I can’t because I did not go there. I did experience the Pennsylvania countryside on the drive from New York City to Hershey and the charming ride into Philadelphia. Let me tell you, driving out of NYC is a challenge, but the countryside awaiting you is a lush and green everywhere as far as the eye can see. You can travel countryside’s all over the world and not see anything prettier, greener or heartier. I noticed that there are opportunities for “Farm Stays,” which are similar to B&B’s only located on a working farm allowing you an opportunity to be up close and personal with the workings of farm life and the people work and live there.
Days and nights of fun at Hershey Park.
You do eat chocolate during your stay in Hershey. The hotels received a bad name in the past and were considered cheap and stingy with chocolate in various write-ups, so I noticed a lot more candy is provided for hotel guests to enjoy. I would not call it generous, but not stingy either.
We continued on to lovely, historical Philadelphia.
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