LAST DAY OF JULY

Click on image to enlarge the calendar photo for July, 2009.

Click on image to enlarge calendar dates for July 2009.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FRANNIE!!

Happy Birthday to my precious "first born". You are as precious to us today as you were when we marveled at your beauty in this early photo! We hope you have a fantastic Day!

Northern Manhattan

The three trusty explorers (Dwight, Francesca and Diana) trek north up the Hudson side of Manhattan through Riverside Park.........

A good part of the way it is pleasant esplanade with many benches and green park.......

It is a haven for every type of exerciser......

Dwight and Frannie enjoy the tranquility from a higher vantage point....

Not everyone should wear speedos in public..................

New York is tops with the many, many beautifully maintained parks that it affords its citizens...........

Onward Christian explorers................

Soon, we leave the patrician environs of Riverside for a short subway ride to................

Harlem! I think this is the early construction for a new subway stop at 125th street.......

This is the historic St. Theresa Hotel. Fidel Castro stayed here when he visited the UN in 1960............

This is a close up of a monument to Adam Clayton Powell on 125th Street........

125th Street is the main drag of Harlem...................

And a center for community life..................

On this late Sunday afternoon, it was pretty quiet.......................

The street in front of the Apollo Theatre would be crowded with people a few days hence to mourn the passing of Michael Jackson at the place in New York with the greatest tie to his early career...................

We caught a bus on 125th street north and soon recognized the distinctive architecture of City College............

One of my architecture books described City College's interpretation of scholastic Gothic architecture as resembling "a bear wearing jewelry"......................

Just the same, we admired its soaring spires.......................

And when we got off the bus, we were facing the spires of Trinity Church. This is a northern branch of the famous congregation down near the Battery--one of the oldest in New York. We were interested in this location, because it features the only still operational........

Cemetery in Manhattan--meaning the only cemetery still allowing burials. To gain such admission, you have to be deemed historically significant--like the Naturalist Audubon, who's grave is depicted here. Former Mayor Koch is one of the persons who has obtained such permission for his future burial.....................

Half the cemetery is on the church side of Broadway................

And the other half is on the Hudson River side......................

Among the notables buried here is the gentleman who wrote "The Night Before Christmas" who they celebrate with a very special Christmas Eve vigil. Also buried here was Virginia, the wife of Edgar Allan Poe who he described as being entombed in "her sepulchre by the sea"--well, not exactly the sea, but it is the Hudson River--in "Anabelle Lee". Years after Poe's untimely death and burial in Baltimore, money was raised to move Virginia's remains to Baltimore to lie beside her husband. Unfortunately, an unscrupulous burial agent lined his own pockets with sideshows along the route to Baltimore with the enticement: COME SEE THE BONES OF ANNABELLE LEE. Poor Virginia! She may have found greater rest being left here in Trinity Cemetery...........................................

Although it was still light, as we were approaching the longest day of the year, the lightness of the day belied the lateness of the hour, and the cemetery was already locked up for the evening..........

And these shots were taken through the Cemetery Gates....................

Likewise, the Hispanic Museum and the other museums located here at Audubon Terrace were also closed for the day. This is some detailing from the exterior reliefs.................

And doors.....................

Francesca has been a good sport to accompany us on this little less than successful outing and we are all ready to take the bus back--to our Hotel for us, and to the subway to Brooklyn for Frannie..................

THE BOAT BASIN CAFE

We are the first to arrive at the Boat Basin at Riverside Park.......

Riverside Park is miles long along the Hudson with lots of leafy trees and interesting statues and fountains and even Grant's Tomb.................

The esplanade is filled with walkers, joggers, strollers, bicycles and skateboards....................

Dwight has given our names to the Hostess--it will be about an hour's wait for a table outside with a river view...............

The sun is out now and it's heating up............

There are some citizens of New York City that reside in houseboats anchored here at the basin with a view of the New Jersey Palisades................

It's so pretty and warm today that it is amazing to realize that this is where that miracle airplane landing on the Hudson happened last winter................

It's a peaceful refuge within the city......................

Dwight checks out some of the nooks and crannies in the cavernous stone Basin Building with the beautiful vaulted ceilings..............

There are lots of dogs being walked here because there is a wonderful dog park really close by--right next to a bronze statue of Elanor Roosevelt. (No disrespect to Mrs. Roosevelt meant in coupling those two ideas.)....................................

A view of the marina.................

Finally, Chiara and Isa arrive--and some little gremlin in the background...............

Isa, who is an elementary school teacher in Albuquerque, is visiting Kiki on her summer vacation............

It's always a thrill to see Miss Chiara.......................

Even when she is engrossed in deep thoughts.................

Francesca is set to spend the entire day with us--Keeks will be taking off after lunch....................

Kiki whistles at attractive young men passing by. She learned how to do this in New York...............

Have you ever smiled so hard that your face hurt?.........................

The Restaurant side of our table......................

The river side of our table...........................

Frannie looks so beautiful with her hair loose.....................

Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your long hair............................

Dwight with that cute little smirk we have come to love so much...........................

A well received hug.......................

And the girls are off...........Frannie, Dwight and I will be continuing our exploration along the Hudson...................