In mid September when on our way to Annapolis we stopped for a fun few days of exploring New York City.  I spent a decade living there in the 90's so it was fun to share some of my old haunts with Seth and Guillemette.   Highlights for us included seeing friends and family, catching a few Broadway shows and simply walking the city, checking out the architecture. 

We'll let the pictures below tell more of the story.

We scored a family trifecta when we learned that my Aunt Joan and partner Len were in town visiting my cousins Jordan and Andrew and their new baby Aidan, so we hustled downtown to spend some time with them.  Aidan is super cute!

Seth has taken an interest in musical theater so with discount tickets available through NY Theater Week we took the opportunity to get tickets to two broadway shows -- Hamilton, which Seth had memorized virtually all of the music for in advance, and Water for Elephants,  Hamilton was great (as expected) and was well timed for our ongoing study of the American Revolution.  Water for Elephants, based upon the well known book, was well acted and sung but the music itself simply wasn't memorable, which took away from the overall experience.

The displays around Times Square are more amazing each time we visit!

No visit to NYC would be complete without us paying patronage to the Lego empire!

What do sailors do when ashore?  Sail, of course!  Central Park boat basin offers rentals.

It was great to spend quality time with my brother Mark and sister-in-law Sidney! 

We were also excited to be able to catch up with my cousins Michael and Janet while we were in the area!

My father worked in the Empire State Building for close to 30 years and my dad's office was our home base whenever Mark and I were visiting NYC as kids. I vividly remember a set of murals of the 8 Wonders of the World in the lobby of the building and wanted to show them to Seth, but we couldn't get past the building's security. 

We visited an interesting multi-media exhibition downtown called Mercer Labs, which featured music and light shows of various configurations and offered us lots of opportunities for creative photography.

Mercer Labs is in lower Manhattan, just at the perimeter of the World Trade Center.  Seth and I explored the memorials and other new buildings in the area as we discussed 9/11 and its impact on our country,  

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