Labor Day weekend in New York and Philadelphia. It was my first trip to New York City in the daylight! (I went nine years ago for dinner and an evening wandering the magical Christmas decorations.) This time Alyssa led a well-planned walking tour through Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Cutting through Washington Square Park to catch the train from Philadelphia to New York.
Changing trains in Trenton.
From the train station we headed to the High Line, an elevated trail/park that used to be a railway to the Meatpacking District.
Some remarkable condos along the High Line. This is 520 West 28th Street, Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning Zaha Hadid’s only residential building. (Zaha Hadid is the first woman to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize.)
The High Line also showcases art installations. This is the oft-censored (as she’s not afraid of female sexuality) Dorothy Iannone’s “I Lift My Lamp Beside the Golden Door,” named for the last line of the poem “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus, about the difference between the warrior of ancient times and the woman currently welcoming exiles through New York City’s gates.
If you walk the High Line long enough, the crowds start to thin and you can see the rail.
Lunch at The Butcher’s Daughter. Occasionally you find dishes where the vegan version is better than the regular version, and this waffle is a good example. It’s made of rice flour and served with fresh fruit, local berry compote, and revolutionary vegan whipped strawberry-butter.
This is the building in Greenwich Village used as the exterior of the apartment in Friends.
More Greenwich Village homes.
Broadway!
One World Trade Center.
The 9/11 Memorial and Museum. Each pool sits in a footprint of one of the towers and has names of the lost inscribed in the bronze panels on the walls.
Some names from Ladder 61. The attack resulted in the greatest loss of rescue personnel in American history.
A Manhattan mall.
The Statue of Liberty! I’d never seen her before and was not disappointed.
We finished our day by crossing the Brooklyn Bridge (slowly, due to the crowd), and it was awesome. We grabbed a Brooklyn smoothie, and then recrossed the bridge so we could catch the train back to Philadelphia. We walked 15.5 miles total.
Brunch at Ants Pants Cafe back in Philadelphia.
And finally, a post-brunch snack at Dottie’s Donuts.