New York City State of Mind

Hubby and I spent a recent weekend in New York  City.  Despite all my traveling, I have only been in Manhattan one other time. While only 8 or 9 years ago, that trip seems like a lifetime ago - I was such a different person, out of shape, not likely to venture out and explore on my own. On that trip, I was in the city for a meeting, and went from hotel room, to meeting room, to bus with a large group to take us to restaurants or a show. I hadn't yet discovered how even in a large city like New York or Chicago, biking or walking to explore a city brings it all down to scale. Makes the city more human, more accessible.

 And so on this trip we did all the touristy things, but for the most part we walked. A lot. My pedometer said I walked nearly 6 miles on Thursday, over 11 miles on Friday, another 9 on Saturday, and 7 on Sunday. The Trump SoHo hotel was our home base, putting us in a pedestrian friendly spot. On Friday morning, we ventured out with the group on Liberty/Ellis Island tour.

Rather than sticking with the group and riding the bus back to the hotel, we cut out of Ellis Island on an earlier ferry, walking through Battery Park to catch a subway uptown. A subway ride complete with entertainment.

From the subway station it was a short walk on a beautiful spring day to our destination of Central Park with a planned stop at the Boathouse. Our path to the boathouse took us past the Central park Zoo. I was surprised and fascinated by the rock outcroppings within Central Park. 

After lunch at the Boathouse, we headed to the Mall area of Central Park, and south towards Columbus Circle. 

Naturally, I was drawn to the flowers, particularly the flowering trees.

From Columbus Circle, we wandered south down Broadway past the Ed Sullivan theater (where close by Mario Lopez was filming for Entertainment Tonight), through Times Square, by Madison Square Garden to Greenwich Village.

Shed a few tears at the Tiles for America Memorial

I wish on this trip we'd had time to rent bikes and explore New York by bike. I'd really like to bike the New York City Waterfront Greenway which makes a 32 mile circle around Manhattan. All through the city, I saw bikes, and evidence of a surprisingly good bike infrastructure.  Loved the bike specific traffic lights, and was especially impressed with the re-design of Broadway with the separated bile lanes.

The Trump SoHo Hotel made a great home base for the weekend. Slick, modern lobby. Outdoor pool deck on the 7th floor. Location was great for shopping, restaurants and exploring. For New York the rooms seemed huge. Bathrooms had a separate two headed shower and water closet. But best of all, the bathtub overlooking the city, and the construction of what will be World Trade #1 was such a great touch.

Of course, all this exploring works up an appetite and makes one thirsty. And since eating and drinking is kinda what we do, I'll cover the food and drink portions of the trip in part 2.

San Antonio Botanic Garden

I'm a huge fan of garden touring, be it private gardens, urban gardens or official Botanic gardens. I work this into my travels whenever and wherever possible. On my late March trip to San Antonio, I spent the afternoon at the San Antonio Botanical Garden. When I left Milwaukee we still had snow on the ground, so spending a few hours wandering around plants with flowers and trees with leaves was a much needed tonic for my soul.

The Botanical Garden is laid out on 38 acres with the most formal areas closest to the entrance. You enter through a carriage house, which includes an interesting looking restaurant and a nice gift shop. Restrooms are in the carriage house and in locations around the gardens.

Looking at the garden map, I decided on a clockwise circle around the garden, allowing me to explore all areas. Immediately on entering I was wowed by a stand of poppies in full bloom. I am a huge fan of poppies, but have never been successful in establishing them or growing them from seed in the masses I saw here.

Past the poppies were the formal gardens and the rose garden. Early roses were blooming, but I'd guess I was about a month early for peak spring bloom. I was quite taken with one unmarked rose with multi hued flowers (changing from a red bud through multi to yellow mature flower). Reading the label on  'Zephrine Drouhin' (in bud, not flower) I was reminded of how much I loved this nearly thornless, sweet scented beauty in my old garden.

 Just past the formal garden was an area called the Watersaver Lane. An exhibit of 6 small "houses" each landscaped in a theme with notes about water and fertilizer required to maintain these. I loved the concept, but wish the wording on the waste of water and chemical need of a typical American lawn was spelled out even stronger.

Continuing around the path were more wild, natural areas planted in natives designed to mimic the East Texas piney woods and the South Texas hill country. Once past this area was the Childrens Vegetable Garden. This was one impressive teaching garden.

 The Botanical Garden has a series of conservatories which surround a sunken garden area. 

 Next up was the fountain area and the Japanese Garden. I smiled at the rubber duckies in the fountain, but was told by an employee there were only there for spring break. In fact, she was removing them while I was there.

Interesting sculpture was doted all through the gardens, the most memorable being the chair tree.

The Botanical Garden is about 4 miles from the downtown/Alamo area. Timing forced me to take a cab out to the gardens ($18), however, the garden is easily accessible via the number 7 bus which runs hourly to and from the Alamo area. I was able to take advantage of the bus ($1.50) for the ride home. So glad I made it to the garden, and hope to visit again in another season.

This is the second part of my San Antonio trip report. The first part focuses on the Riverwalk area. It can be found here.