Saturdays in the City

One thing we will greatly miss about the living in New York City is that every weekend there is always TONS of stuff to do. There is no excuse for staying home when you have a city full of exciting and new things to do.


This Saturday we explored SoHo. SoHo is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is more south on the island. Originally associated with the arts, it has since become famous for both destination shopping and its downtown scene. The name is a blend of "South" and "Houston" from "south of Houston Street."



Destination #1: Chelsea Market
This Market is an enclosed, urban food court and shopping mall. It was built within the former Nabisco factory complex where the Oreo cookie was invented and produced. It also provides standard office space for tenants, including media and broadcasting companies such as Oxygen Network, Food Network and many others.

The architecture of the whole building was quite remarkable.

The market was full of "high-class" bakeries and eateries. Scattered throughout were various samples that we could test out.



Among some of these samples was a bakery call "Fat Witch Bakery." There specialty is making brownies. However, the claim to fame is that they make OPRAH's favorite brownies! I tested it out and it seemed a little too "high-class" for me. I am more of a boxed Betty Crocker fan.



Destination #2: Washington Square Park
After we explored the clean streets of SoHo we started walking up the island and came across more cool stuff, such as Washington Square Park. New York City Parks throughout the weekend are ALWAYS packed, especially if it is good weather. We believe this is due to the small living environments of the city. No one has backyards or space to relax in their small studios.



In 1889, to celebrate the centennial of George Washington's inauguration as president of the United States, a large plaster and wood Memorial Arch was erected over Fifth Avenue just north of the park.


The inscription on the arch reads:

Let us raise a standard to which the wise and the honest can repair. The event is in the hand of God. - Washington

Destination #3: New York Pizza, Times Square
After all the walking we did that day we were hungry for New York's famous pizza.

Pat found this place when he came for his interview in March. It was near his hotel, tastey and inexpensive. Surprisingly enough, it also is rated as one of the top 10 pizza restaurants in the city.

New York pizza is famous for it huge pizza slices.

So big are the slices that you have to fold them. This is me being all "New Yorker."

Destination #4: Movie in Times Square
After that long day walking half way up the island we were excited to relax and see the new Star Trek movie. It was good but there was too much hype.

Book Review: Uglies

I just finished this book and it was highly entertaining and an interesting concept.

It's about a world in which everyone has an operation when they turn sixteen, making them supermodel beautiful. Big eyes, full lips, no one fat or skinny. This seems like a good thing, but it's not. Especially if you're one of the uglies, a bunch of radical teens who've decided they want to keep their own faces.

I don't want to say too much because I hate knowing what happens in a book. But take a look at this movie trailer that will come out in 2011 and give the book a try.

Apollo Theater

This past Wednesday night was a night that will go down in history as one of the most fun nights of my life! Yes, that is right! We went to the Apollo Theater right here in Harlem, only few blocks away from where we are living.

The Apollo Theater is one of the most famous music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with African-American performers. If you want a genuine Harlem experience, with all the "black-culture" that is associated with it you must attend the Amateur night at the Apollo.


In 1934, the Apollo introduced its regular Amateur Night shows; "where stars are born and legends are made." This night is like a hyped up "American Idol" with an extremely enthusiastic black crowd. It was so funny to see all the black people going absolutely crazy dancing, screaming, and singing along, while the white people just sat there gently clapping with the beat (if that).

The point of Amateur night is that the audience decides who stays and who gets kicked of the stage. It was hilarious to see how if a person missed one note, the crowd would go crazy "booing" which would get them kicked off before they even got started!


This was my favorite group of the night and for some reason they got kicked off! They sang a hip hop song called "Do the Hula Hoop." It was so catchy and they even had a catchy dance that I could see sweeping the country. As you can gather from the title, the dance is like you have an imaginary hula hoop around your waist. We are displaying it in the photo.



The Apollo became famous for launching the careers of artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, James Brown, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Gladys Knight & The Pips, The Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Frankly, Mariah Carey, Lauren Hill, and MANY more.

This theater is a MUST see when you come to New York City, especially on Amateur Night.

Columbine Book Review

Last week I finished the book "Columbine" by Dave Cullen. I bought the book excited to show Pat my next read. I thought he would be interested in the truth behind "Columbine" as he grew up in the very town it occurred. However, I was disappointed to find that Pat had absolutely no interest in the story, as his high school years were overloaded with the event—he was through with hearing about "Columbine."

This almost deterred me from reading it, but for some reason I wanted to know the truth behind the stories I had heard as a sophomore in high school. I think we all remember the day were heard about the attack; and as I began my teaching career, I saw how this event would forever alter how teachers viewed teaching and their students. If I ever did teach again, I wanted to know what lead these kids to commit such horrible acts and if anything could have been done to prevent it.

I found it interesting to read about the true character of the murderers and the true stories of their victims. Of course at times it was hard to read the events of that day; however, what they had planned was far worse than what happened. I believe Heavenly Father was there looking out for his children; and yet still allowing these boys to have their agency.

Coney Island

This past Saturday we headed on down to Coney Island in Brooklyn.

Coney Island became a resort after the Civil War. When the Brooklyn Rapid Transit electrified the steam railroads and connected Brooklyn to Manhattan, Coney Island turned rapidly from a resort to more of an amusement park in the early 1900's.

Coney Island really did feel like you were going back in time, especially with the exhibits.

The first main attraction we attended was a "Freak Show." It had a 1920's feel and featured some "freaks" along with some "talent."

The cast shown above wowed us with swallowing swords, a lady dancing with a snake who had a snake tounge, escaping from a straight jacket while hanging upside down, being born with lobster claw hands and feet, being born with one leg that is very short, and much more! That's entertainment...CONEY STYLE!

As you can tell, Pat and I didn't know how to feel about the whole experience.

Then, we headed to the beach to check out the waves and ocean. I love the ocean! I don't know what it is but I could just sit on a beach for hours.

Scott Meyer taking a picture of Johnny and Joanna Galbrith.




I just happened to catch this candid shot of Pat as he relaxed on the beach.

Left to Right: Scott's friend Spencer, Scott, Lindsay, Pat, Johnny and Joanna.

After a relaxing time at the beach we needed to end the day with a BANG! We did this by riding the famous "Cyclone" roller coaster.


When the Cyclone opened on June 26, 1927, a ride cost only twenty-five cents compared to the $8 we paid.

"Fun" Fact: On July 31, 2007, a 53-year old man broke several vertebrae while riding the cyclone and died 4 days later. YIKES!!!

Just when we thought our adventure at Coney Island had come to an end, we stumbled upon this "bumpin" place. The boys seemed to enjoy it.

Don't worry it was just Bumper Cars.