NYC skyline
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.

Live On Letterman Temper Trap
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 tiffany ed sullivan
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.

temper trap green room
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
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.

times square bw
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.

statue of liberty
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.

WTC globe
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 memorial pool
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.

freedom tower
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.

WTC memorial list names
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
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 view

Central Park is so cool from this view. Such a massive park right in the middle of the city.

inside central park
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 marty view central park
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.