Aquarium and Cyclone

On Memorial Day weekend, we paid a visit to the NYC Aquarium at Coney Island. We'd never been and thought we'd cross it off our "Things to do before we move" list. All in all, we were disappointed with the aquarium - I expected more from New York City. The exhibits are in need of a major update and many of the tanks are too small. But hopefully they will get the funding they need from the city and make some changes. There were a few cool things though - Osborn, the sea lion and the jellyfish exhibit.
Osborn put on a show in the aquatheater. He was a well trained, break-dancing sea lion.

Jellyfish - kinda creepy.

Also, I saw my first horseshoe crab ever - these aren't W Coast crabs. I didn't take a picture, but I felt like I was in Jurassic Park. Talk about prehistoric looking- I would be scared if I saw one on the beach. Yikes.

Another item on our "To Do" list - ride the famous Cyclone rollercoaster. It's wooden, fast, and scary. The seats are so padded that I had trouble squeezing into the car. It was a rickety and rough two minute ride and on the tight turns, I felt the car lift off the tracks. But with that said - we had fun and are glad we were brave enough to ride it.

Hanging on for dear life.

DC, Here We Come!

It is official ~ Ethan was offered a position in the Washington, DC office.  This is great news, as we were getting antsy to leave NY.  We hope to look for a place to live in July and move down in August.  I can't wait to see the cherry blossoms, visit the Smithsonian, see all the monuments....and drive again.  Not sure about that last one, I'm going to have to practice a bit before I head out on the Beltway. :)

Ooh-Rah! Marine Corps Half Marathon

Road trip! We rented a car and drove down to Fredericksburg, VA for the Marine Corps Half Marathon last weekend. Ethan and his brother, Matt, ran the 13.1 mile race on a cold, wet Sunday. It was also the First Annual Via Family "Run Against Diabetes". We had T-shirts made for the occasion and donated money to diabetes research. (Diabetes runs in the family). Ethan and Matt wore shirts with the Via patriarch's names on the back.

Pre-race at dawn
I met up with Courtney and the kids to watch the race. Here they are waiting for Daddy and Uncle Ethan to run by us.
Here they come!

Racing to the finish line! Official finish time: 1hr41min!

T-shirt shots

Uncle Ethan and Cutie Pie

Family in NYC

My sister and cousin flew out to visit NYC last week. It had been a while since we had any visitors, so it was nice to see some familiar faces and have family close by. I took some days off work so we could have some NYC adventures together. The weather was rainy for about 4 of the 6 days- which never happens here! But weather aside, we had a great time and had some fun NY experiences. Below is a collection of photos from each of our cameras.

A trip to Brooklyn always includes a ride on the F train.

The Chrysler Building - the prettiest little skyscraper in the city

Main entrance of Grand Central Station - we came here to catch the Metro-North train to Cold Spring.


Located on the Hudson River, Cold Spring is about an hour from the city. It was the perfect escape from the hustle and bustle.

Chapel near the train station - it faces the river and is a popular wedding spot.

Hiking to the West Point Foundry Ruins

This foundry made cannons and shells for the Civil War! Abraham Lincoln visited and inspected the foundry in 1862.

The office building is the only structure still standing - it is being refurbished and will be used as an events venue for Cold Spring.



There really is a cold spring in Cold Spring!

Riverboat on the Hudson

Ice cream break


The cannon that supposedly won the Civil War (a replica I think).

Sisters and blooms

West Point from the train - we saw parachuters in the sky, trying to land on campus!

Rainy day + no umbrella = $0.99 store poncho for Ethan

This was the rainiest day of the visit. We started the day with a trip to the Hell's Kitchen Flea Market (which is supposed to be the biggest in the city). It was almost empty and the vendors that did show up had a bunch of overpriced stuff. Next it was off to the East Village and Lower East Side for lunch and a tour at the Tenement Museum. No cameras allowed in the museum, so you'll have to check out the website for photos. I love this museum, so much history and so many stories to hear. We learned about the garment workers and factories and walked through a tiny 3 room apartment where a family with 12 kids lived during the early 1900s. After the museum, we headed to the candy store.

Economy Candy - Tootsies for Kathleen

Have you ever seen so much candy?! This is trouble.


Club next to the candy store - couldn't resist this photo.

Empire State from Bryant Park

Lunch at Yaffa Cafe, yum. Funky decor and good food.

Kathleen is "livin' it uptown". These subway ads were everywhere. A Real World-esque reality show in Harlem.

A visit with Kathleen is not complete without a new hairdo. So happy to get cleaned up every now and then.

Boathouse in Prospect Park

Chelsea Fun

Saturday night outing in Chelsea - dinner and a walk with Sarah and Chad. Sarah picked the restaurant and kept it a secret until we arrived. It was fantastic! It's called The Park and we ate in the garden, which literally felt like we were having a picnic in the park. Trees, vines, sky - it was very cool. The food was tasty, I had salmon and Ethan had catfish. But dessert had to be the best part - Ethan had banana wontons with caramel and chocolate dipping sauces. I had fresh berries with vanilla mascarpone. We did not make it to the night club (it has a hot tub!) on the 2nd floor - it doesn't open until midnight! Only in Manhattan....


After dinner, we walked to the Hudson River and explored the Chelsea Piers. We went to the driving range and hit a bucket of balls. Arms were sore the next day.

We have visitors in town now- sis Kathleen and cousin Phoebe! I'll post pics next week - we expect to have many NY adventures to share.

An Afternoon at Citi Field

Saturday morning : watching the news, seeing the awesome weather forecast, heard there was a 1:05 pm Mets game, spur of the moment decision to buy tickets.  We are sure glad we did! It was a perfect day - sunny, 70's and a brand-new ballpark. Hour subway ride to Flushing, Queens. We entered through Citi Field's main entrance - Jackie Robinson Rotunda.  This entrance is modeled after Ebbett's Field - home of the Brooklyn Dodgers.  Love the brick! Just like Safeco! 

Almost the cheapest seats in the house - $30/ea, right behind home plate.  Johan Santana pitched a great game - Mets 1 Brewers 0.  We saw Mike Cameron as a Brewer!  

Manhattan view from the top level 

Jackie Robinson Rotunda  - #42 remembered forever.

Ethan enjoying his Nathan's hot dog in Section 515

JJ!

JJ Putz (now a Met) threw a 1-2-3 8th inning with 2 K's.  I was inspired to get a Putz Mets T-shirt and looked in each Team Store (there are 3!).  No luck - they don't sell them. Guess Putz isn't famous enough in NY yet.  Time to place a custom order...

One new ballpark down, one to go.  Next up: Mega-Yankee Stadium.  However, we will not be cheering for the Yankees like we cheer for the Mets.  

Project Subway

Celebrity Sighting: Tim Gunn from Project Runway!

I was commuting home from work a few weeks ago - my hour long, three train commute.....when I found myself spacing out. Turns out I was staring right at Tim Gunn. I was on the express train and he was on the local train next to mine. He was staring out the window as well. Subway riding puts you in a trance sometimes. Anyway, it was pretty fun to see him. He's one of the best parts of Project Runway.

Red Hook

Red Hook - the Brooklyn  waterfront neighborhood is home to NYC's only IKEA, the Real World: Brooklyn, the Key Lime Swingle, Fairway Market, and some cute plant nurseries. Ethan and I went exploring last weekend - Red Hook is directly to the west of Park Slope. It was an interesting walk down 9th St, lots of warehouses and run down buildings. A few blocks away are the Red Hook Houses, the largest housing project in Brooklyn.  8,000 people live there! 

We headed to IKEA first, picked up some pillowcases and Swedish fish.  Then we walked towards the piers to meet up with Chad and Sarah. Fairway Market is the big grocery store in Red Hook and is located in an old warehouse.  There is a patio out back where people can eat lunch and enjoy the view of Lady Liberty.  She's looking right at Red Hook! There are also a few antique cable cars parked behind the market.  

The Lady

Fairway Market

Next, we walked to Pier 41, which you may recognize from MTV's Real World: Brooklyn.  The end of the pier was converted into the latest Real World house.  Filming ended a few months ago, so we ventured onto the pier easily.  Also on Pier 41, Steve's Authentic Key Lime Pies.  We tried the Swingle, a chocolate covered key lime tart on a stick. Yum! 

Ethan and the Swingle

Pier 41 - home of the Real World:BK

Pier 41 closeup