New York City, New York - Christmas

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At the Empire State Building

My employer gave me the opportunity to go to New York City for a week. My wife Catherine took vacation from her job to join me and we left on a Saturday so we could enjoy the city. As usual when I am trying to catch a flight I was in a hurry getting ready and this time I left my camera at home. This was a big disappointment because I had especially wanted to take some pictures for this site. Catherine and I caught a JetBlue flight from Oakland International Airport to JFK Airport in New York. I was again very impressed with JetBlue for having a clean airplane and good service. As I have said before, they have become my preferred airline for domestic travel.

We stayed at the Park South Hotel on 28th Street in Manhattan. After we checked in we walked to the Empire state Building that was just a few blocks away. I have been there before, but my wife hadn't and I wanted to show it to her. There was a long line and it took perhaps an hour of standing in line before we arrived at the observation deck. However it was a clear night and you could see the lights of the buildings in Manhattan all around you. If you have never been before, be prepared for the long lines, but it is well worth it. By the way if you are military in uniform you can bypass the lines.

Since I didn't have a camera with me, we purchased this picture of ourselves at the Empire state Building.

Lobby of the Empire State Building

I thought you said you didn't have a camera? More on how I got these pictures later.

Lobby of the Empire State Building

Empire State Building with red and green lights for Christmas

The next morning was Sunday and we had the entire day to explore New York City. We walked up to Macy's on 34th Street and the windows outside were decorated with Christmas scenes. In the windows along 34th Street were scenes from the 1947 movie Miracle on 34 Street with Natalie Wood. Sorry no pictures, I didn't have a camera yet.

We then went to a camera store and I purchased a Canon digital rebel XT. On another night Catherine and I took the camera back to the Empire state Building and that is how I got the pictures of the lobby and exterior. For most of my trips I have been using a Canon 35mm SLR and a Kodak Easyshare digital for backup. I was a slow convert to digital because I felt the picture quality was so much better with film than digital. I have found that the picture quality has improved dramatically and having digital pictures makes it much easier to share pictures over the Internet. I didn't have time to play around with the setting in the beginning and I just shot using the automatic functions.

Empire State Building from Macy's on 34th Street

This is one of the first pictures I took with the new camera.

We then caught a subway train to Battery Park to catch a ferry to Liberty Island to see the Statue of Liberty.

Pictures enlarge if you click on them.
Ellis Island from the ferry

Statue of Liberty from the ferry

Another view of Miss Liberty

Catherine on Liberty Island with New York City skyline

Me and Miss Liberty

New York City skyline from Liberty Island

Original flame in the monument's lobby museum

In 1916 Gutzon Borglum, sculptor of Mount Rushmore, modified the Statue of Liberty original copper torch by cutting away most of the copper in the flame, retrofitting glass panes and installing an internal light. After these modifications, the torch severely leaked water accelerating corrosion inside the statue. A new torch with gold plating applied to the exterior replaced the original, which was beyond repair because of the extensive 1916 modifications. We took a tour of the Statue of Liberty and the Park Ranger told us that French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, who sculpted the Statue of Liberty originally wanted the flame to be gold with light on the outside shining on the flame and that is now how it is constructed.

Life size of the face of the Statue of Liberty in the monument's lobby museum

Life size replica of the foot of the Statue of Liberty in the monument's lobby museum

For more information on our trip please check out: New York City, New York - Part II.

If you enjoyed this post, you might also enjoy previous posts Amsterdam, Netherlands or Swiss Alps - The Schilthorn, or Baden-Baden, Germany - Bavaria.

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