The Big Apple is: A Great Place to Start

Here we go y'all!  Time to get into the nitty gritty of our day in New York City.

We did SO much in just one day!!  Being our first trip to the city, and having only one day for sight seeing - there were many things we wanted to be sure we saw.  Just to be able to say we had at least seen it.  Hopefully, soon we will go back and spend more time exploring landmarks, visiting museums, seeing a show, etc.

I am not exaggerating when I say we covered a LOT of ground.  Because there's just so much, I feel compelled to break it up into bite sized pieces for blogs sake.  So...  let's get started!

The morning was cloudy, with the promise of clearing into a beautiful day, as we caught an early train from Ronkonkoma to Penn Station.  As soon as we emerged from the station, we were able to check one thing off our sightseeing wish list - Madison Square Garden.  From there it was an easy stroll over to the Empire State Building, passing THE Macy's (as we having been referring to it) along the way.

We got ourselves acclimated to city traffic habits by walking north along 5th Avenue. Along the way I paused outside the New York City Public Library.  Yes, I wanted to go in.  No, we did not.

We turned off 5th Avenue just south of St Patrick's Cathedral; heading west toward Rockefeller Plaza.

I have to say, it was smaller than I thought it would be.  And of course, being the beginning of June - no ice skating.  (duh...)

From there, we walked around 30 Rock, down past Radio City Music Hall toward Central Park.

I loved the park!  It was clean, green, and very pretty.  A little piece of country right there. It was easy to forget you're in the city until you look up just past the treetops and see all those buildings poking up everywhere!

I also marked off what I considered a touristy New York "must experience" thing - I got a big ol' pretzel from a guy with a cart.

I also wanted to be brave and get a sidewalk cart hot dog, but that one will have to wait until our next visit.

We emerged from Central Park at Columbus Circle.  (Yes, right there at Trump International Hotel and Tower - if you're interested)   Then it was time to walk down Broadway to Times Square.

And that's where we'll pick up in the next post...

by the way: my youngest sister tried to convince me to entitle this "Beckey bites the Big Apple".  So, you're welcome for not going that route.