Archive for the ‘Travels’ Category

New York Marathon Musings: Runner’s Point of View

Posted in New York, Travels, United States, tagged , , on Thursday, 15 November, 2007| 2 Comments »

This is a post by my husband John who ran the New York City Marathon (2007):

I’m fortunate to have had the opportunity to run two very different marathons this year. I think I ran the smallest marathon (Guam) and the largest marathon (New York City) in the same year. In Guam, only about 100 people started, 46 finished and I was so proud to be in 16th place.  There were no spectators along the course except for when I saw Patti and FG as they headed by car to the finish line. I did have my share of boonie dogs attacking me but thankfully didn’t get any dog bites.

By contrast, NYC marathon was huge. Over 38,000 finished the race and I placed an impressive 18,504. From start to finish, the roads through all five boroughs were lined with what seemed like millions of people and bands playing all along the route.

While the Guam run started at 4:00 am, NYC started at 10:10 am but I got up 4 am just to get to the start on time. I had to catch a bus from Grand Central Station at 4:30 am in order to get to the start on Staten Island. I arrived at the start at 6 am and, along with thousands of others, I was doing anything possible to keep warm including stuffing the Wall Street Journal in my shirt which helped fend off the cold. Some smart people brought cheap sleeping bags which they tossed at the start.

The organization of the race was exceptional and the woman who was tasked to do the job deserves a raise. Everything ran like a Swiss watch ~ very precise. When the gun sounded at 10:10 and the elite runners took off, they started moving the mortal runners up to the start line in groups of a thousand, then a pause, then another thousand. With my bib number of just over 25,000, I started 40 minutes after the gun sounded.

The view from the start over Verrazano-Narrows bridge and the fire-boat with sprouting water was fantastic. For the three miles or so, the road was lined with discarded clothes which were being shed by the runners as they warmed up. The girl scouts volunteered to pick up the clothes, wash them and distribute them to the poor.

The entire route was very crowded and it was very difficult to run freely through the course. I remember it wasn’t until mile 17 that I could run at my own pace and not have to dodge people. It was incredible the number of people who carried and used their cell phones ~ there was a mini people-jam at the Queensboro bridge when so many people stopped to make calls. This was the first marathon that I ever saw anyone with a cell phone. Ah, America…

Overall, it was a great experience and I recommend it to anyone on the marathon circuit. Don’t plan on setting personal records but enjoy the crowds and the city.

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New York City: Small Bite of the Big Apple

Posted in Travels, United States, tagged , , , on Monday, 5 November, 2007| 7 Comments »

30 Rock Observation Deck

We tried to cram as much into our NYC weekend as we could and I think we did a pretty good job for two days. Logan had so much fun, she asked a couple times why we can’t live there. Hmmm… after all her world travels, she may have found the city that really does have it all.

We arrived about 1pm on Friday, checked in and immediately headed over to the Javits Convention Center and John registered  for the marathon. There was a lot of excitement at the Marathon Expo and my favorite part was getting brochures for future runs which John might drag me to ~ Rio de Janiero sounded promising.

On Saturday morning, we headed to Rockefeller Plaza, went to the Observation Deck for some great views of the city, then watched the skaters on the ice rink. No Christmas tree yet.

When making plans for a Broadway show, I decided to splurge (just this once) and got front row tickets to Mama Mia at the Winter Garden Theater. And front row they were ~ our seats were so close to the stage, we could see the actors spit and one even winked at Logan. The conductor greeted us with “Welcome to the front row.” In addition to seeing the stage, we could see BELOW where the band was playing. Logan was fascinated with the musicians so she missed a little of the story line.

The show was fabulous and I highly recommend it to anyone going to the city. One word of warning: I still have those catchy Abba songs playing in my head especially the title song “Mama Mia.”

A lot of the fun of NYC is people watching and we did a whole lot of that ~ John decided there must be a uniform for women since every other woman wore the following: jeans, black shoes/boots, and a black knee-length coat.

Our hotel was located at 3rd Ave and East 53rd so we we could walk to most areas easily although Logan & I did catch a cab a couple times during our outings alone. She had fun trying to “hail a taxi” and was getting very good at it by the end of the visit.

Even for a city such as New York which has seen more than its share of world events, everyone was abuzz about the marathon. It was a big deal for all the boroughs and the excitement was palpable for runners and non-runners alike.

Since the weekend was really all about the marathon, John will be posting his take on the big event sometime soon but here are the hightlights:

Race Time: 4:21:40          Pace: 9:59             Overall Place: 18,504 (out of 38,554)

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A Different Kind of Island Paradise

Posted in Travels on Monday, 24 September, 2007| 2 Comments »

One of the cutest of the summer homes located on the St. Lawrence River. I imagine it would be “healthy” having a getaway such as this to escape the stress of city life.

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Touring the Thousand Islands

Posted in Fort Drum, Travels on Sunday, 23 September, 2007| Leave a Comment »

Boldt Castle, NY

Yes, Thousand Island  dressing does get its name from this area.

We spent a few hours yesterday on a boat touring the St. Lawrence River. The weather was spectacular and I was fascinated by all the islands, big and small, with the beautiful summer homes of the rich. The tour took us into Canadian waters as well and my favorite home was the one on an island in US waters which had a footbridge connecting it to an island in the Canadian waters ~ both islands are owned by the same family.

We stopped and toured Boldt Castle which is located on Heart Island. The castle has a sad history:

George Boldt immigrated from Prussia as a teenager and worked his way up the ladder in the hotel business, starting as a kitchen helper and eventually becoming a self-made millionaire.

In 1900, he began construction on a “Replica of a Rhineland Castle” for his wife, Louise. She was the love of his life and he wanted to make the castle a lasting legacy for her. Unfortunately, in January 1904, she died of a heart attack at the age of 42. George Boldt, completely heartbroken, immediately ceased all work on the castle which had all ready been fully enclosed.

For 73 years, the castle was left to the mercy of the elements and vandals, who broke all 365 windows and wrote graffiti everywhere. Finally, in 1977, the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority acquired the property and began an extensive renovation and restoration program.

Today, it is a lovely place to visit and imagine all it could have been for George and Louise.

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One Month’s Rent?

Posted in Travels on Wednesday, 19 September, 2007| 8 Comments »

No, just a night in New York City. 

FM is running in the NYC marathon in November and we’ve put off making plans to go since I didn’t know if I would have the energy to join him. Thankfully, the iron supplements seem to be working so FG and I will tag along. I LOVE being in a big city when a marathon is going on because they close down the streets and we non-runners can roam freely until the first place runners start coming in ~ usually gives us a couple of hours.  FG and I walked down the middle of some of Rome and Berlin’s busiest streets when FM ran those marathons. Kind of surreal.

The end of the NYC marathon is in Central Park and most hotels near the park require a three night minimum stay.  And if we wanted to go “on the cheap” and stay out near the airport, the hotels were still over $200.00. I must have spent two or three hours researching every last hotel that was remotely close to the finish line and finally found one! Unfortunately, the hotel room leaves us no $$ for food or entertainment 😉  How I wish there was an AFRC (Armed Forces Recreation Center) in the city! The New Sanno in Tokyo is an AFRC and was the only way we could afford a week in downtown Tokyo.

I’ve never stayed overnight in the city although I used to visit frequently when I was in High School. We lived in Connecticut, my dad worked at Rockefeller Center and it was so easy to take the train in.  The last time I was there was only for a day in 1989 when I flew up from Memphis for a job interview. I got the job which was in Hawaii. I’m excited to see what it’s like now and can’t wait to see FG’s reaction when she looks up at all those TALL buildings.

Does anyone familiar with New York have some advice for our visit?

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Pleasures vs Comforts

Posted in Travels on Thursday, 13 September, 2007| 9 Comments »

“It’s nonsense to say money can’t buy happiness. But people exaggerate the extend to which more money can buy more happiness.”  Daniel Kahneman, Nobel Prize in Economics

Sometimes I feel a little guilty about the money we spend on traveling. FM NEVER gives it a second thought ~ he’d travel every free moment he had from work if he could. I think to myself: should we be spending the money on household items or clothes to replace our well-worn current items. But, in the end, I end up going with the travel and skipping the shopping. That’s why we haven’t had curtains put up in the last two places we’ve lived. Did we miss the curtains? Not really. But I do have incredible memories of all our travels in both Germany and in the Pacific.

I recently read a great article in Money magazine(September 2007) which interviewed Daniel Kahneman, Nobel winner in Economics, about why people continually make the same wrong moves when investing or spending their money. The question (and answer) I liked best was the one which completely justifies my wanderlust: Can buying things make us happier? Here’s his answer which, for me, are words to live by:

“There’s an important difference between pleasures and comforts. Pleasures are the things like flowers, feasts, vacations ~ investments in family, friends and memories. Comforts are material goods like a big new car or a giant plasma TV or ~. Comforts always seem like a better idea before you buy them than afterward. Trust me, you will get more durable satisfaction out of the money you spend on pleasures.”

That said, it’s time for me to start planning some pleasures: a couple of mini-trips for the fall, a dinner party, margarita fridays…

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First Visitors

Posted in Travels on Sunday, 9 September, 2007| 3 Comments »

Niagra Falls

We had our first visitors last week. Norbert and his son, V., from Germany, arrived a couple days after our household goods were delivered so they had to put up with a few boxes and wrapping paper scattered throughout the house.

While they were here, they visited the New York State Fair, Niagra Falls and a couple of local sites. Unfortunately, FG and V. DID NOT get along well at all. As Norbert described it, they were like two ends of a magnet that push each other away. Well, really it was FG who had little tolerance since she is not use to having a rambunctious boy around her.

Other than that, I think they enjoyed their visit and FM & Norbert were able to catch up on their talks. One thing for sure, all the talk about Germany and the wonderful people we know in Weiden, made us want to go over for a visit.

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A thousand things to do so we do…

Posted in Travels on Saturday, 1 September, 2007| 6 Comments »

…a beach mural in the garage. Shows how much we’re missing Guam and the beaches. We thought this would be nice to see everytime we drive into the garage especially in the dead of winter.

Here’s what the final result looks like:

We may even pull up a couple of chairs, the hammock and hang out there 🙂

Now back to reality and all the unpacking…it really is a true “labor” day weekend for us.

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Lunch and Lush in Canada

Posted in Travels on Saturday, 11 August, 2007| Leave a Comment »

It was another gorgeous day here in the North Country so we decided to head further north to visit Kingston, Ontario. The city of Kingston is halfway between Canada’s two largest cities: Toronto and Montreal. It has a major port which allows for a lot of boating and boat cruises throughout the beautiful Thousand Islands. These are the islands scattered throughout the St. Lawrence seaway.

We had lunch al fresco at a yummy Italian restaurant called “Casa Domenico” on Brock street in downtown Kingston. It reminded us a lot of our favorite restaurant in Wurzburg Germany “Casa del  Gusto” and we strolled down memory lane a little, chatting on about our time in Germany, while lunching.

The town also has a Lush store which has the most delicious bath products. Most of my friends and family know I love their stuff and I’m THRILLED to have a store so close. I can stock up every few months 🙂 I thought FM was going to have to leave the store though, because one of the store clerks had the most pronounced French accent any of us had ever heard and we’ve been to France several times. It was so strong, I really thought she was putting us on at first but she stayed true to it the entire time. FM so badly wanted to join in with his horrible French accent along with his not-so-bad French “laugh.”

The Casa Domenico’s patio looked across to the farmers market which is the oldest in Canada having begun in 1803! Everything was so fresh and tempting but since we have a mini-fridge and no stove/oven in our temp lodging, I’ll have to wait until the end of the month to enjoy some of those delicious fruits and vegetables.

As we were sitting out and enjoying the wonderful day with temperatures at a perfect 78 degrees, I couldn’t help but think of one of my favorite songs, “Fire and Rain” by James Taylor, which always reminds me of my Dad. The words:

“…I’ve seen sunny days I thought would never end, I’ve had lonely times when I could not find a friend, but I always thought I’d see you again” 

kept repeating in my head. It’s hard for me to imagine the coming sub-zero temperatures and snow as high as my knees when it’s so gorgeous right now.  

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Our new bench?

Posted in Travels on Saturday, 11 August, 2007| 4 Comments »

Our new bench?

While visiting Kingston, Ontario ~ we saw this cheetah bench for sale. FG and I vote for the cheetah one and FM likes the driftwood bench in the back. FM and I are usually so traditional but we’re trying to be a little more edgy. Mid-life crisis and all, you know 🙂

What do you think ~ Cheetah, Driftwood, either or neither?

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