New York....New York

Last year when we started talking about summer vacation 2010, Lauren's request to her Poppa was a trip to New York.

Well, today, was the day...the one she has been talking about for a long time.

Our day started at about 5:30...but there was no problem getting them up, dressed, out the door, and

to breakfast by 6:45.  They may not be too awake yet, but after muffins, cheese, and some good ole Orange Juice, they came to life.

We were ready to

load the bus by 7:15.

These two

quickly chose their seats and were now anxious to get on the road.

Lauren was then off to take pictures of

Dad and J who were also excited about the adventure for the day.

Our guide

Keaton gave us a run down of the trip agenda and we were off.  It took us a little over an hour to get from the KOA through New Jersey, through the Lincoln Tunnel and into the city.

It was here that she

got her first glimpse of the New York City skyline.

We traveled into the city, working our way past

the construction at Ground Zero where the new

One World Tower will stand in place of the Twin Towers.

We continued on to

Battery Park, unloaded from

our bus, boarded our

ferry, and headed out to

Liberty Island.

This is what Lauren has been waiting for all year long...and to say she was excited

would be an understatement!

We all

stopped for a picture with Miss Liberty before it was time to meet

Keaton with his yellow umbrella.

Then is was back on the ferry.  We had a short stop at

Ellis Island before docking back at Battery Park.  Before leaving the area, we saw this

world globe that was moved from the site of the Twin Towers.  It was left in the same condition that it was found.

Back on the bus, we headed to South Street Seaport.  We then went on a short walking trip down Wall Street to see

The New York Stock Exchange.

After lunch at the

All American Deli, we traveled to the

Empire State Building.

Up 80 floors on one elevator and then up a different elevator for 6 more stories, we reached the Observation Deck where we saw

New York from

every direction.

We saw

The Statue of Liberty from far away and we located

Central Park far below.

After a quick

rest, we headed back down those 86 floors.  We boarded our bus one more time and were off to none other than

Time Square.

Here, we all enjoyed a real

New York hot dog from one of the local street vendors.

Zachary

was finishing his while

the girls were doing a little purse shopping.

We watched ourselves on

the big screen at Forever 21, and saw where

my favorite morning show, Good Morning America, is produced.

Too soon, our time was up and it was time to

get back to the bus to start our trip back to Newburgh.

Thank goodness we had a good driver who made her way through the Friday afternoon

rush hour while we

took a little rest after our busy day in the city.

A couple of other things we saw that made our day special was

this fire truck,

The American Girl Doll Store, and

the beautiful St. Paul's Cathedral.

What a great adventure and a dream come true for this

little girl!

THANKS POPPA!

We Heard It Through The Grapevine...

Today we decided to take a drive through the Hudson Valley.  We got a glimpse of the

Hudson River as we drove in and around and up and

down the back roads.  This one was the Milton Turnpike, LOL!

We saw beautiful

flowers blooming beside the road and there were

apple orchards everywhere.

Then we found this old

winery.  It is the oldest winery in America, founded by John Jaques in 1839.

We decided to join in 

on a tour.

We signed up here

in the main tasting room where we visited with Franklin.  When Kevin, our guide was ready, we

followed him outside where we got a brief history lesson about the beginning of the winery.  We started our walk around the property where Kevin pointed out the

mansion that is being restored and soon to become a bed and breakfast.

All of the grapes are trucked in from different vineyards around the state and are then processed and bottled here

at this factory.

We

watched through the

window as the empty bottles were filled,

capped,

sealed, and sent on down the line

for a label.

Kevin then took us down into the

cellars.  We walked though lots of

doors and down long hallways.  We saw rooms where

the barrels of wine are aged.

Once we were back outside, we saw

just a few grapevines that are grown here at the winery for fall festival use only.

This is an

old press that Zachary and

Lauren tried to use.

The flowers blooming

around the property were beautiful.

When our tour was over, we ended up back in the tasting room/gift shop where we started.

What a fun day on the back roads

in the Hudson Valley.