Texas' Blue Skies

The blue, blue skies of Texas. Taken at Toll Road in Tyler.

Trip to New York City

When I left Virginia, I did so by train (Amtrak). I rode through Virginia, Washington D.C., Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. I love train travel, and I especially like how the train stations in the U.S. are not crowded at all.

My childhood friend Kim met me in New York City, and she took this photo of me in Times Square on the evening we arrived.

 A diner several blocks away from Times Square

 Fifth Avenue

The evening we arrived, we went to 34th Street to visit Macy's (as made famous by the movie "Miracle on 34th Street). Then we roamed around some.

At the New York Public Library, you could take your photo from a mirror on the ceiling and the backwards words on the tile appear like this in your photo.

There are LOTS more photos of my trip to NYC, but you have to click the "Read more" button below to see them.

Ceiling at the New York Public Library

The New York Public Library

Water fountain at the New York Public Library

Food vendor near our hotel

Food vendor near our hotel

Tim Keller, author and pastor, preaches on Sunday morning in NYC

Kim Doan and I have breakfast at Sarabeth's near Central Park on Sunday morning in NYC.

Lunch at the diner featured on the TV show Seinfeld

Saw the filming of Good Morning America on Monday, October 5, 2015.

Radio City Music Hall

Kim and I stayed in a hotel near Times Square for the first two nights, then we stayed with some friends of hers in Englewood, New Jersey, just 13 miles away for the next three nights. Linda and her husband used to be the directors of MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) but now serve in a local church. Their next door neighbor, Carol (seated) took Kim and I to the bus station every morning.

Kim and I visited the 9/11 Memorial Museum. Above is a piece of an airplane from that ill-fated day.

Above is a bakery and outdoor area near the 9/11 Memorial and near Wall Street.

A park near Battery Park.

Lady Liberty

Kim on a New York City subway -- we always seemed to get seats, something that rarely happens in Asia on their subways!

Me in New York City

Me at Central Park

Central Park

Kim and I took a horse-drawn carriage ride through Central Park. Our driver was from Turkey originally. 

We found several beautiful cathedrals. The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine had interesting signs on their church grounds.

A neighborhood in Manhattan

Subway platform in NYC

A homeless person sits in front of a tile mosaic in the subway area.

Buskers perform to make money in the subway area. This guy was interesting.

Times Square area -- it's not as big as it looks on TV.

This is the hotel where Kim and I stayed the first two nights.

If I had questions, I asked policemen. They were all so very nice. In fact, New York people in general were extremely friendly. I don't know how they ever got a reputation otherwise.

Shaq. I didn't use a zoom lens, I was just standing that close to him.

Weathergirl Ginger Zee of ABC's Good Morning America graciously poses with a fan.

Ginger Zee was just beautiful.

Harlem Globetrotters pose for me near my hotel.

The NYC subway was not clean or impressive, but they did have nice tile signs!

Homes in Manhattan

Street scene in NYC

Rockefeller Plaza

World Trade Tower

At the 9/11 Memorial Museum, I saw a Bible fused into a steel beam from one of the destroyed World Trade Center towers. The Bible is open to the page in Matthew that says "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth."

Names of the deceased from 9/11 ring the area where the buildings once stood.

Park in lower Manhattan

New York Stock Exchange

Near Battery Park

Staten Island Ferry (free rides)

This is the view of Manhattan from aboard the Staten Island Ferry.

Chinatown looks exactly like China.

For the first time in my life I found authentic tasting Chinese food in America. This is my favorite dish, shredded potatoes with peppers. It has vinegar in it too. It is to die for.

Little Italy didn't have the best Italian food, but we found good Italian food near the Federal Reserve Building.

Grand Central Station was one beautiful building.

Ticket office at Grand Central Station.

Grand Central Station

The news was about Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

This is how Manhattan looks from the New Jersey side, from the window of a moving bus. There is an underground tunnel linking the two.

That's all for now!