Tag: Statue of Liberty

New York City

September, 2025

Life has been busy so we need to catch up on our adventures since we returned from Italy! We made a quick trip to see our two youngest grandkids. Then it was off to “The Big Apple”, New York City for a few days. We took our dog sitter (our sister) as a thank you for keeping our dog during our long trip in Italy!

Flying into LaGuardia

We had an early morning flight, took a cab to our hotel where we stored our luggage and set off to explore the city. We enjoyed lunch at the Stardust Diner where the help sings while you enjoy your food. It was quite entertaining.

The Ryder Cup was telecasted live at the Rockefeller Plaza. We stopped and took in the festivities for a while. Then we went to the “Top of the Rock” because it was such a clear day. The views were spectacular.

Ryder Cup Live at Rockefeller Plaza
One of our many views from the “Top of the Rock”!
Looking out at Central Park

Late afternoon we headed to our hotel to check in and clean up for our first Broadway show, Maybe Happy Ending! We understood why it received six Tony awards!

We’re ready for the show!

On our second day in the city we had 2 shows, Death Becomes Her and MJ: The Musical! This morning we walked through Central Park. The matinee performance of Death Becomes Her was wonderful. We experienced the show with the lead actors and it was very entertaining!

After the matinee we found a bar to watch the Ohio State Buckeye football game. In the bar we met other fans!

Watching the game after our show and before our next show!

This evening we saw MJ: the Musical! The singing and dancing was outstanding! The audience was into the show!

On our third day in New York City we visited the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. It was perfect weather to take the first ferry over to see her.

Statue of Liberty Ferry
The Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty was gifted to the United States by France to commemorate their alliance. It was dedicated in 1886 in New York Harbor. The French sculptor, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi designed the statue and it was built by Gustave Eiffel’s company. After our visit to “Miss Liberty” we took the ferry over to Ellis Island.

Ellis Island had more than 12 million immigrants pass through its doors from 1892 to 1954. Inside were exhibits about the immigration process that happened here.

We explored more of the city and this evening we had tickets to see & Juliet. It was a musical that looks at Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet with Juliet not dying but lived and took control of her life. The musical featured existing music. It was another enjoyable show.

After the show we visited Lillie’s Victorian Establishment that went all out for Halloween! It was a fun place to have a drink! Below are just a few of the decorations around the bar. There was so much more to see!

Lillie’s Victorian Establishment

On our last day in New York we took the “Big Bus” to see more of the city. It gave our tired legs and feet a rest!

Brooklyn Bridge
9/11 memorial cross
Just a few of the skyscrapers in the city.

From our hotel the Garment District was a short walk. It’s a historic neighborhood. We saw many fabric stores, design shops, sewing machines and trimming stores. It was great window shopping.

We went in Mood Fabrics. My sister watched Project Runway and knew about this fabric store. It was an amazing store with 40,000 square feet over 3 floors of fabrics, trims, notions, and much more.

This evening we saw an Off Broadway show called “Singfeld! A Musical About Nothing“. It was in a small theater and was a parody of the popular TV show Seinfeld. If you hadn’t watched the TV show then this musical would not have made much sense.

Singfeld!
The set for Singfeld!

The next morning we said goodbye to NYC!

Goodbye New York, until next time!

France Odyssey: Seine River, Reims, & Paris Day 8

Tuesday, October 10th, 2023

This morning we are docked back in Paris! Our morning was spent with a city tour of Paris. Our first stop was the Eiffel Tower. It was built for the International Exposition of 1889. The tower stood 984 feet and was constructed of wrought iron.

Another stop was the Notre Dame Cathedral. Building began in the 12th century and it took 300 years to complete the cathedral. The upper part of the cathedral was severely damaged in a fire in April, 2019. We could only visit the outside of Notre Dame. It was planned for reopening in December, 2024.

Notre Dame with scaffolding

More sites of Paris that we passed on our morning tour.

Court of Cassation- Supreme court for civil and criminal cases
Musée d’Orsay
French National Assembly
Hotel de Ville- City Hall with Paris Olympic decorations.
Seine River

After our Paris city tour the rest of the day was on our own. We stopped at a cafe for something to drink.

Our next stop was the hill of Montmarte. We weren’t close so we took a subway to get close.

Entrance to the metro station
Riding the metro

The over 250 stairs awaited us to climb them to reach Sacré Coeur basilica.

Sacré Coeur was a popular tourist spot with over a million visitors every year! The Basilica du Sacré Coeur meant “sacred heart” in English. Its exterior was made from white limestone with a Roman-Byzantine style architecture. In front were two statues, one of Joan of Arc and the other of King Louis on horseback.

Basilica du Sacré Coeur

From here there were great panoramic views of Paris. It was a beautiful blue sky but the Paris skyline was hazy.

Behind the Sacré Coeur was the Place du Tertre we saw many artists ready to draw your portrait or caricature!

We ate lunch nearby at Chez Eugène on their terrace. We had a delicious lunch.

We spent some time walking the streets of Montmarte.

As we were walking around we came upon the two surviving windmills of the 30 that once were on Montmarte. The first one we saw was Le Moulin du Radet. It was built in 1717 and was originally used to ground flour and moved in 1924 and it now sits above a restaurant.

Le Moulin du Radet

Then we passed the Moulin de La Galette or Le Moulin Blute-Fin. This windmill was built in 1622 and was abandoned. You had to look through the trees to barely make out the windmill!

Le Moulin Blute-Fin or Moulin de Le Galette

We really enjoyed out walk around this area. From the historic windmills of Montmarte we then past the red windmill of Moulin Rouge, a caberet. This was another great spot for O-H-I-O!

On our walk back to the riverboat we saw the Eiffel Tower with the beautiful clear sky.

We walked along the Seine River and saw this bronze monument that was called “Monument des Martyrs Juifs du Velodrome d’Hiver”. It translation was “Monument to the Jewish Martyrs of the Winter Stadium”. It was dedicated to the memory of the 13,000+ Jews that were rounded up in Paris during WWII. At the bottom of the monument was enscribed “Let’s never forget”! Wise words to remember!

Monument des Martyrs Juifs du Velodrome d’Hiver

On a man-made island near the Grenelle Bridge in Paris we saw the quarter-scale version of the Statue of Liberty. It weighed 14 tons and stood 37 feet 9 inches tall. This was given to France in 1889 by US expats in Paris that celebrated the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. On the base of the statue were two plaques, one with the date July 4, 1776 and the other with the date July 14, 1789.

Our city tour and the time to explore Paris on our own was invigorating and also tiring. We did a lot of walking today! This evening was our last night on the riverboat. Tomorrow we tour the Palace of Versailles.