Category: travel

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ToadMama in Manhattan

Until this past weekend, not counting the couple of times I drove through, I’d never visited New York City. Either had Amy. Since Shannon will be moving to the West Coast very soon, we all agreed that a girls’ weekend would be a fabulous idea. So off to Manhattan we went.

I shot over 400 pictures. I’ll share a few here.

Flatiron Building

This very cool building was only a few blocks from the loft apartment we rented in Chelsea.

Got a Big Head?

It wasn’t far at all from the park with the giant head. Which I only posted here because I had to tell you what I heard some kid say… “Mom! Mom! I think I might know where the rest of the body is!” (I did not stick around to hear his answer.)

Delicate Mix of Old and New

One of the things I found most intriguing is how very old, historic buildings (usually short) are sandwiched in among the newer, sleeker, and much larger high-rises. I’m pretty sure that old building in the center of the frame is the New York Public Library.

St. Patrick's Cathedral

This is a great example of old sandwiched in with new. The Cathedral of St. Patrickis the largest Gothic cathedral in the US. The spires rise 330 feet from the street. But, because the city has grown around it, it looks quite small. I love stained glass, so if you’d like to see the many shots I captured inside St. Pat’s, be sure to look at one of the slide shows.

Tall Building

We saw lots and lots of tall buildings. This one was at Rockefeller Center. I should probably know the name of it, but I don’t.

Times Square by Day

We visited Times Square midday because that’s close to where we met Ralph and Robin for lunch. Shannon insisted we return at night when it was all lit up. I like colorful spectacles, so that sounded like a plan to me.

Animated M&Ms

For some reason, I really liked the giant, animated M&Ms in Times Square.

Grand Central Station

 

Inside St. Patrick's Cathedral

 

Flags and Buildings

 

City Street

 

The Most Colorful Family Ever

This family just made me smile. The Mom’s crazy-colorful boots caught my eye first. Then the husband’s sweater. The daughter in all the lime green added another dimension. And then came the son (running toward us in the middle of the frame). Not even the Dad’s backpack is a solid color. How cool is that?

This Shot Just Screams "New York"

 

Shannon and Amy

 

The Dog Was Benched

 

Shannon

 

 

Lower Manhattan Bank

 

 

Street Performers

 

 

Buildings

If you’d like to see the rest, you can watch this LONG slideshow (with music). Or you can visit my Flickr site and watch the slideshow quietly and at your own pace.  🙂

Warning… I like urban images shot at odd angles.

Let me know what you think. Some of the pictures might seem a bit odd, but they reflect how I see the world. No wonder they’re odd, right?

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Argh! Hosting Woes

I do have lots of pics to share from NYC. And a couple of stories. But I’ve been having some technical difficulties that are driving me crazy.

Over the past couple of months, I’ve noticed that my host (GoDaddy.com) has been REALLY slow. Painfully slow. So slow, that blogging here has become quite a pain in the ass.

It’s sporadic, but has become more and more frequent of late.

Any of you notice any slowness here? Or is it just me and the admin access?

I think I am ready to find a new host. Anyone have any recommendations for a good WordPress host?

There is one picture I have to post. My male readers won’t enjoy it nearly as much as all of the girls who tune in. But I’m going to post it anyway. Because I can.

It’s just an ad I saw while sitting in traffic in New York City. Actually, it was a fairly large billboard-type thing affixed to a building.

Urban Distraction

I don’t usually shoot images for the purpose of photoshopping them. But when I saw this guy, I thought it might look cool to over-saturate (add lots of extra color) the red bricks.

I sort of like the end result. How about you?

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Two Sleepovers in New York

Many months ago when Shannon (oldest daughter) had just gotten back from her solo, round-the-world journey, she and I were talking about cities. When I told her I’d never been to New York City she was flabbergasted. (We only live about 3.5 hours away.) I told her she and I would have to go visit one day.

Fast forward some number of months. Earlier this year, Shannon made the decision to move to California. She’s leaving on May 31. I’m going to miss her terribly, so I’ve been trying not to think about it too much. But one day I remembered that New York discussion and said, “Hey, we really should do the New York thing before you leave or we’ll never get there.”  Amy (youngest daughter) had never been either, so we decided to make a girls’ weekend out of it.

It was fabulous. For many reasons.

FDNY Engine Co. 6 building on Beekman Street in Lower Manhattan

I have lots of fun pics to share, but I’m only going to share a couple for now. Along with my centerline shot, this one is especially touching since it was taken on the day Osama bin Laden was killed. Engine No. 6, which is mere blocks from Ground Zero, lost at least four men when the towers collapsed.

One of the highlights of the weekend was that we got to meet one of my favorite blog buddies, Ralph aka Shybiker. He and his wife Robin made the trek into the city by train specifically to meet up for lunch with us.

Ralph and I met through our blogs. He’s one of those people I liked instantly and knew early on we’d have to meet one day.

L-R, Ralph, Robin, Me, Amy, and Shannon

I’m so glad he’s not just one of those people in my computer anymore. In addition to commenting frequently on each other’s blogs, he and I have had some pretty interesting and personal e-mail conversations. He’s a very open, warm, articulate, compassionate, caring individual. He’s just as wonderful in person as he is online. And Robin is also very sweet. The two make quite a charming couple.

I’m sure we were at the restaurant for a while, but the time seemed to absolutely fly right by. I believe. we could have all sat and chatted for hours. Really. Shannon and Amy were both happy that they got to meet the pair, too.

It’s funny, having never met in person, you’d think things would have felt a least a little bit awkward. But they didn’t. Since Shannon and Amy have both read Ralph’s comments on my blog and have visited his blog on occasion, we’ve had several chats about him. So they both sort of felt like they knew him already, too. Robin was the only real unknown for us, but I knew since she’s married to Ralph, she’d have to be pretty cool, too. And I was right.

Ralph is a motorcyclist and Robin is a passenger. We’re all going to have to meet up to ride together one day. Either I’ll make the ride up to Long Island, they’ll come down to West Virginia, or we’ll meet somewhere in between. Whatever we do, I’m sure it’ll be splendid. They were both VERY cool. I really am glad they got to be part of our very special New York experience.

On the way into the city, Amy called home to say goodnight to her husband and kids. The youngest, Joey, who will be four in July, asked why she had to have two sleepovers in New York City. He’s going through a Mommy-separation-anxiety phase. We all think it’s related to TJ having been gone for his recent 14-month Kuwait deployment. How do you explain “me time” to a four-year-old? Not to mention the reasoning behind our girls’ weekend.

I’m really very glad we all got to share this experience. I think we may just have to make it an annual thing. Especially since Shannon won’t be around for Thirsty Third Thursdays anymore.

It's Not Easy Being Green
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ABCD – A Blogger’s Centerline Day

A while back, I told you about A Bloggers Centerline Day, which was to take place on Sunday 1st May 2011.

Well, today is May 1st!

The goal was to inspire as many bloggers as possible to go outside and take a photograph of themselves on this day, anywhere in the world.

ToadMama's Centerline Shot

There are 5 rules….

Rule 1 – the picture must be taken on 1st May 2011.

Rule 2 – the picture must be of yourself, and you must be a person that publishes a blog. You can include whatever else you like in the picture, including other people if you wish.

Rule 3 – the picture must include the centerline of a road.

Rule 4 – you should publish the picture on your blog on 1st May 2011, along with a few words about the picture and why you chose that location or pose.

Rule 5 – when you have posted the picture on your own blog, put a comment on Gary France’s Blog and include in that comment the address of your own blog post containing your own picture.

When I first decided to participate, I figured it would be easy. I’m usually in the country on Sundays. But this Sunday was different. This Sunday I was in Lower Manhattan of all places. I spent the weekend in New York City with my daughters, Shannon and Amy. I’m pretty sure the road I am standing on is Fulton Street at the intersection with Gold Street. What I did not realize when I posed is that’s One World Trade Center under construction in the background.

If you want to see what all of the other participating bloggers did, visit Gary’s blog.

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Start Spreading the News…

I’m leaving today.

Wanna guess where I’m going?

Watch out city, here I come!

Shannon, Amy, and I are going to New York City for the weekend.

Neither Amy or I have ever actually visited The Big Apple. I’ve driven through a couple of times, but that’s about it.

I’m very excited for many reasons. One, the three of us have never done an all-girl trip before. It’ll be like Thirsty Third Thursday on steroids. Two, I’ve never seen New York. Three, I’m going to meet one of my best blog buddies and their spouse. Four, it’s a weekend where I won’t be doing any laborer-stuff (drywall, tile installation, etc.). None.

I’ll try to do a post or two from my Smart phone, but no promises.

I hope you have a fabulous weekend. I’m pretty sure I’ll have lots of pics to share when I return.

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Where’s ToadMama Today?

I’m in a different state again.

But this time, I am happy about it.

It really looks like Fall here. As far as the foliage goes, it is most definitely past peak. In fact, many, many leaves are on the ground.

Fall is Here

The girls are all very happy to be here, too. As usual. They LOVE running through these woods.

See Meg smiling?

Since it was almost 10:00 when I got home last night, we drove to the WV place this morning. It’s actually pretty chilly. I think it was in the low 50s when we arrived. Now it’s in the 40s. And it’s only about 3:00 PM. I have a feeling tomorrow morning will REALLY be cold when I am out walking.

Fall is in the air.

See how bare those trees are? Meanwhile, back at the cabin…

Hubby clearing the leaves off of the front porch.

…Hubby was struggling to get the leaf blower to run. As you can see, he succeeded.

"I don't like that noise, Mama."

Belle was not thrilled with the leaf blower.

Smile!

I did somehow manage to get Belle and K to sit still for a picture. Belle wouldn’t look at the camera, but look at K smiling!

That moment of stillness didn’t last long.

And they're off!

I’m making chili for dinner. It’s a chili kind of day.

They’re forecasting snow for the mountains just west of here tonight.

Brrr…