All By Myself...

Today was a gorgeous New York day, especially compared to yesterday! The Mayor of NYC issued an evacuation order today and all of transit - Subways, buses, airports etc will be shut down by noon tomorrow.  The mayor warned New Yorkers (I guess that includes us for this week only) not to be deceived by the gorgeous weather.  So today was the "calm before the storm."  I've seen it before.  I grew up out here on the East coast, and I have seen some hurricanes and tropical storms before.  I recognize this "calm." 

I wanted to take full advantage of the sunshine and calm before getting stuck in the apartment for days.  This afternoon mom and Kylie felt too warn out to do anything else but relax.  There was some sadness on my part because I really wanted to do more.  I sat around for a bit feeling a bit bummed out till I realized, I am a grown woman and I am perfectly capable of sightseeing around NYC on my own! 

So I took the Subway to the north end of Central Park, which borders Harlem.  It was AWESOME to see it.  I am so glad I did it.  I tried making my way down through the park to the MET, but I just didn't get far enough before dark.  So I hopped on a subway to get home.  On the way home they were already shutting down trains, and eliminating stops on my route.  Thankfully, none of the changes affected me getting home tonight.

Mom and Kylie are off at Target getting some Emergency Supplies.  Hopefully they make it back home on the subway without any hiccups.

Here are some pictures from my venture out alone.

A cool looking church, near the corner of Malcolm X Blvd. and Central Park North.

A chess game goin' on in Harlem.

This body of water at the north end of the park is called "Harlem Meer."

A dad teaching his son how to fish.  Catch and release fishing is allowed here.  Many people around had their fishing poles out.

I saw tons of runners and dog walkers.  The huge rock formation you see there behind the runner is part of the Harlem Bluff.  Before the park even existed, George Washington used the bluffs here as a base for fortifications that were built up from here all the way to the Hudson, during the Revolutionary War.  They were taken down, but quickly built back up for the War of 1812.

Myself at Harlem Meer.

Looking back towards Harlem.  The really cool looking building on the edge of the water with the willow tree is the 'fishing center.'  You can borrow fishing poles from there, or just use the bathroom.  I thought it was a gorgeous building, perfectly situated.

The main reason I came down from the north end of the park was because I really wanted to have a peaceful walk around the conservatory garden.  I got there and ALL gates into the garden were locked!  I was really and very disappointed!  I took this one picture of the large garden through the Vanderbilt Gate.  The garden is 6 acres by itself, so you see, this is a very small bit of it.

I made my way down 5th Avenue a bit.  This end of 5th is where a lot of museums are, therefore it is called the Museum Mile.

Here is the Museum of New York.

I love museums and history and learning about the past.  I really wanted to go into this beautiful building, but just didn't have time.  Oh well, on another trip.

My favorite part was watching the sunset over the East Meadow of Central Park.  Ignore the blurry landscape, my camera was throwing fits.  But look at that beautiful sky!!!  I wish you all could've seen it in person. 

Over the next few days, with Hurricane Irene headed straight for New York, I will remember this beautiful sunset and hope for more of those soon!