Shhhhhh!

Shhhhhh! 
In the movies there is always someone in the library shushing the protagonists. In the movies the library is supposed to be a quiet place of medication and thought. I love libraries; however few libraries that I have ever frequented have had this aura of elevated thought.

That is...until we visited the New York City Libary. The architecture, the decorations, even the room arrangements just said, "This...is a place of learning." I felt that I was absorbing knowledge by merely being present in the building.

New York City Cruise

So Michael, what would you suggest doing in NYC? The Ellis Island Ferry!
So Elizabeth, what would you suggest doing in NYC? Don't do the Ellis Island Ferry!

As feedback from the immediate family seemed to be contradicting Wendy and I requested the assistance of a tourist agency in New Jersey. The name? Ian and Alice Touring Inc.  This agency has amazingly personal service. They will pick you up at the train station, they will provide a "rental" care for your use during the stay, they will provide a place to sleep, and most importantly tourism advice.

Their advice? Do the sightseeing cruise.
So we did.

New WTC

For Liberty

It was cloudy and rainy day...(slight pause while I consider writing a mystery novel with that beginning).  Fortunately the cruise ship had a covered and heated compartment area from which you could watch the views without getting wet or cold. Wendy and Andrew stuck there. Ben, being made of sterner (or masochistic) stuff stayed out in the rain and cold...while wearing shorts.  Very invigorating.  There was a nice side effect though; Ben had complete reign of the observation deck for almost the entirety of the ride.  No need to fight for a place at the side of the boat to take the two hundred or so pictures of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty that are clearly needed for archival purposes.

It was a little bit cold

Fire and carnivores

Yin Yang chocolate

"Oh! No...please don't give me the table with the infant!" Our servers reaction when we walked into the melting pot for a two hour meal with Andrew in tow. A four course fondu meal is not a quick meal; infants don't exactly have a reputation of being patient for extended meals.

It's on FIRE!

Fortunately Andrew had just taken a nap, had received a snack from Mommy and had plenty of people and things to watch. Andrew so impressed the server that at the end of the meal the server gave him a chocolate bar.

There were a lot of exciting things during this meal. The biggest exciting thing that occurred during the meal?  To use my journalist sister's succinct words, "It's chocolate (cheese) that's on fire!!!!" I would like to say that Andrew was as excited about the fire as Elizabeth; to do so however would be fable.  For Elizabeth the highlight was fire; for Andrew the highlight was becoming a carnivore.

We've gradually been introducing Andrew to more "real" food. It is to the point that if Wendy or I have anything to eat he expects to be given at least a portion. Prior to this we had not given him any meat. When an entire course consists almost entirely of meat it's hard to distract the little guy. So, he tried meat, then more meat, then more meat, then that meat.  His favorite was shrimp. I'm fairly sure that Andrew ate more of Wendy's shrimp than Wendy did.

Take me out to the ball game!

The home field for the Baltimore Orioles was a two to three minute walk away from our hotel. Wendy's museum group had a couple of people who actually follow baseball.  So as an evening activity we went to a baseball game; as an added bonus the game was against everyone's favorite team to hate, the Yankees.

Meeting the mascot

Up in the nosebleeds

Watching the game

Day out at the park

I also had a fun time playing with our telephoto lens. I thought these were fairly decent shots from up in the nosebleed sections of the park.

Oh yea. In case anyone wondered. The Yankees lost.