The view of Manhattan – photo taken by Tiffany Mankins
Last week, my daughter and I took a quick trip to New York City. It was her first time in the city [and her first time on the east coast] and my third time in NYC.
the invite to the Live On Letterman Temper Trap webcast
The purpose of the trip? it was a contest that Tiffany won, which included round trip airfare, two nights hotel and ground transportation to NYC. The event was held at the Ed Sullivan Theatre, which is where the Late Show with David Letterman is taped [we didn’t attend the show taping, just the Temper Trap webcast later that night]. To view the webcast, click here to go to the Live On Letterman page.
Marty and Tiffany in front of the Ed Sullivan Theatre sign
The webcast was awesome, as was actually being inside the Ed Sullivan Theatre. It’s a small theater, but intimate.
With Temper Trap in Ed Sullivan Theatre green room
We got to meet the band before the performance in the green room, which was smaller than I expected. A bunch of nice guys and the guitarist and I chatted up food and traveling.
Temper Trap Live On Letterman
The band played almost 50 minutes and was really good live. It was my first time seeing them live. I had heard the song “Sweet Disposition” before on the radio and really liked it.
Black and white view of Times Square from Rockefeller Center – photo taken by Tiffany
Before the show, we had spent time on Tuesday night in Times Square and then spent all day on Wednesday running around the city trying to see as much as we could in our only full day in NYC.
view of Statue of Liberty from Battery Park – photo taken by Tiffany
We started off at Battery Park where we could view the Statue Of Liberty from the park. Without prior reservations, we didn’t go over to Liberty Island, but had a nice clear day to see the statue from afar.
the original WTC sphere/globe in Battery Park – photo taken by Tiffany
The original Sphere that was at the WTC plaza sits in Battery Park. I admit to getting a bit emotional at seeing this as it was something I was able to see undamaged in 2000 before the 9/11 attacks.
WTC 9/11 memorial pool – photo taken by Tiffany
Next was a stop at the WTC memorial site. What an emotional and sobering experience to be here. The area is very much under construction, but the memorial pools and waterfalls were completed.
the Freedom Tower at WTC – 6/6/12
The Freedom Tower is coming along after years of litigation. It will stand 1776 feet once it is completed in a few years.
List of lives lost in the WTC tragedy
Even more emotional was the temporary museum that has the artifacts and other details from the 9/11 attacks (as well as the 1993 WTC bombing). The list of names is very hard to stare at. Such a sadness in our nation’s history.
Rockefeller Center – 6/6/12
After the WTC, we headed back uptown to Rockefeller Center to see that area. I had never been to the Top of The Rock, so both Tiffany and I enjoyed seeing the city views the observation deck offers.
Central Park is so cool from this view. Such a massive park right in the middle of the city.
Inside Central Park on 6/6/12
And once back on the ground, we headed over to Central Park to walk around for a while. The whole idea of being in buildings with the traffic and city noises, then 10 mins later to be sitting on a bench with a pond and duck and some quiet is amazing to me.
Tiffany and Marty Top of the Rock – 6/6/12
I love this photo of Tiffany and I as we are two happy people in the Big Apple. Plus another great shot of the Central Park behind us to make this view an incredible capture.
More NYC
I wanted to get this post out here to share my experience of visiting NYC again. I plan to post another set of photos, mostly of Tiffany and her visit to this great city as well as other things we did that didn’t fit into this blog post.
New York City… one of the greatest in the world and one that I’m glad I got to visit again. I will visit again someday soon.