Duke Gardens

Darren interviewed at Duke and I drove down to meet him so we could road trip around the south for a week.  After his interview in Chapel Hill we spent the weekend in the Durham/Chapel Hill area.  The one place I wanted to visit were the Duke Gardens having heard how beautiful they were.  Everything was so charming including the fountains.

 

The flowers were in full bloom.

 

 

Everything was manicured and pruned to perfection!

 

 

Afterwards we did a drive by of Duke Chapel.  Due to graduation being that weekend we couldn't get much closer.

Central Park

While we were in New York we spent a Sunday afternoon walking around the park.  It really felt like an oasis in the middle of the madness they call New York City.  I can see why people spend so much time there since it is quite the respite from the traffic and hustle and bustle.

The flowers and trees were blooming.

 

There were numerous bridges and lakes.

And the views of the city were beautiful!

 

 

 And there is even a castle in the park!

New York City - Radio City Music Hall

While in New York we were able to tour New York's most famous theater, Radio City Music Hall. The details in the theater were amazing, so much thought went into every door, floor or ceiling to make it amazing.

The ceiling of the lobby.

The lobby staircase.

The lobby doors into the theater.

There were many works of art throughout the theater.

Radio City Music Hall prides itself on its "lounges" and restrooms.

Inside the actual theater. The NFL Draft had been going on the previous couple of days and they had not yet torn down from that show.

Along with an actual Rockette we go to see numerous costumes for some of the many shows the Rockettes have performed in.

New York - 9/11 Memorial

We were able to go to the south end of Manhattan to see the new Freedom Tower and see the 9/11 Memorial.  What a humbling experience.  I had not seen pictures of what the memorial looked like but it felt fitting keeping the footprints of the original towers intact and making them into fountains.  Really touching and beautiful.

One of the fountains in the shadow of the new Freedom Tower.

The new 9/11 museum which will open later in 2013 is also in the park adjancent to the tower footprints.

 The names of those lost were engraved around the footprints of both towers.

While we were nearby, we also walked past the New York Stock Exchange.

 

 And down to Battery Park to catch a view of the Statue of Liberty.

 

New York City - Rockafeller Center

On Saturday we set out to be a tourist! I had spent little time in New York City and was anxious to see everything we could in a very short period of time.  By the end of the weekend my feet were very angry but I was so excited from everything we say.

We took a tour of Rockafeller Center.  While it was a bit more about the art and less about the history of the buildings than I would have expected I learned a lot and did enjoy it.

This embalm is outside of Radio City Music Hall, a part of Rockafeller Center.  There were three representing the arts.

This mosaic is inside the portico of Radio City Music Hall it represents the different forms of media and it is really about 5x as large as my picture could take.

 When Rockafeller Center was built they bought up all the buildings in the area to clear for the 7 buildings they planned to build.  This building was one of the few holdouts.  The seemelessly built their buildings around those that had to remain.

 A review of Rockafeller Plaza and the flags of the nation's of the world.

I think maybe I should have been an architect. I really love buildings!

 

Every entrance to every building is decorated somehow with art or some adornment.  These guilded panels are beautiful.

 

 These buildings were built during the height of the depression.  If you could afford beautiful art and adoration it was much cheaper than in other areas.  Rockafeller spared no expense in his decoration of the buildings and art installations.

 

After our tour we went to the top of the building or "Top of the Rock."  The view was incredible!  This view is looking South to the Empire State Building.  However to the right, the building that looks the next tallest is the new One World Trade Center which was topped out just after we were there at 1776 feet and is much taller than the Empire State Building now.

 

 This view is south where you can see the entire Central Park.  How beautiful! An oasis in the midst of a concrete jungle on an island.  Only in America!

 Looking southeast.

Us at the top.