Flowers at Macy's and 600,000 Headstones

Last weekend, E and I headed to Macy's to see their Flower Show. Now, when I hear the words flower show, I think of the Seattle Flower and Garden Show, which has awesome, intricate gardens set up inside the Convention Center. I knew there was not enough space to have that kind of set up inside of Macy's, so I really had no idea what to expect. Here's what we saw:

The main floor of the store had turned into a springtime wonderland - there were flowers, green plants and blossoming trees everywhere!


On Sunday, we walked to one of Brooklyn's treasures. The Green-Wood Cemetery is about 10 blocks away from our apartment and is the size of Prospect Park. The cemetery originated in 1838 and was the inspiration for the creation of Central and Prospect Parks. There are approx. 600,000 people buried here, including some famous NY historical figures (Boss Tweed, Charles Ebbetts, Jean Michel Basquiat). Green-Wood hosts the highest point in Brooklyn (Battle Hill, 220 feet). Here's a brief history lesson for you:

"It can be argued that the battle that took place on this hill actually saved in the United States in its infancy in August 1776. During the Battle of Brooklyn, British troops in flanking maneuver had routed George Washington's army and were closing in on capturing him.

Washington fled with his army about a half mile west across the Gowanus Creek when a group of 400 Maryland soldiers stood their ground on the hill. All but 9 were to perish, being injured or captured. But the delay was enough for Washington to get his men across the creek and into Brooklyn Heights before evacuating to Manhattan under the cover of a night fog."

---from http://www.americasroof.com/

Views from Battle Hill (Statue of Liberty at the end of the street)

Civil War Memorial

Altar of Liberty saluting the Statue of Liberty

Signs of spring!

Green-Wood Chapel

Bright and sunny (and cold!) day at the cemetery

5th Avenue entrance - Gothic Revival architecture - amazing!

If you look closely at the spires, you will see bird nests. As we exited the cemetery, our eyes were drawn up to the nests. We heard birds and as we looked closer, we saw they were PARROTS! We have our very own "Parrots of Telegraph Hill" right in Brooklyn! The rumor is that back in the late 60's, a shipment of monk parrots from South America escaped from their crate at JFK. And the parrots made their home in the cemetery.

Here's a closer shot.