Escape the City

After a few days of awesomeness in NYC, we decided to get out of the city. We love the city, but we wanted to try something a little bit different - We did have a great view right outside our hotel.


We rented a car and drove up the FDR across the George Washington bridge. On our way, we drove past Yankee Stadium. I always love the view of the stadium. It is magnificent.


We drove through New Jersey up toward West Point. The drive was quite scenic. Like many places in the East, the freeway is lined by thick trees. The trees were just starting to change. You really got a feel for why New Jersey is called the garden state.


We got up by West Point and found a local place to grab some breakfast. Then we went over to the West Point visitors center. We learned a lot about life at West Point - Alison was impressed enough she told me we should send our kids to West Point.


After the visitors center, we worked our way over to the museum. It was very patriotic. I always give Alison a hard time because she likes to read everything in the museum. She did a great job and we made it through pretty quick. Every exhibit related to the history of war, American wars, or the military. It was an interesting museum. One really interesting item they have is Napoleon's sword, which was presented to General Eisenhower. They also have an original copy of the Instrument of Surrender used when the Japanese surrendered in the Philippines. This document has a lot of significance for Alison's family because during WWII her Nielson grandfather was in the Philippines when the war ended. If it wasn't for the end of the war he would have been involved in an invasion of Japan and could very well have lost his life. 




There was also a handgun that was a gift to Hilter.  It was captured during the invasion of Germany and given to the museum at West Point. In the basement, there was a large arms area. They had a casing for the atomic bomb. It is crazy how destructive such a relatively small item can be. We also found an exhibit about the "Mormon War" when in 1857 President Buchanan sent an army to Salt Lake.





After West Point, we drove back down to NYC. We drove through Sleepy Hollow and Yonkers. It was a really nice scenic drive. 





Back in the city, we got our show tickets from TKTS - as usual, they were a good deal. Then we got some pizza over at Ray's Pizza. I love New York pizza. I could eat it every day. After dinner, we ran over to the MOMA. On Friday nights they have free admission. We had just enough time to see one piece of art. We went up to the 5th floor and found Van Gogh's Starry Night. It was incredible - one of the coolest pieces of art I have ever seen. I love New York because if you have 15 minutes you can go and see something truly incredible.


We only had time for one stop because we had tickets to Les Miserables at the Imperial Theatre. We have wanted to see Les Miserables on broadway since the first time we came to New York together. This year when it finally came back to New York we have been waiting impatiently to go. It did not disappoint. Ramin Karmillo was amazing as Jean Valjean. When he sang "Bring Him Home" it was so inspiring - it blew me away. Everything about the show was incredible. It was so good Alison wants to go again in November.



"Will you join in our crusade?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Somewhere beyond the barricade
Is there a world you long to see?
Do you hear the people sing?
Say, do you hear the distant drums?
It is the future that they bring
When tomorrow comes...
Tomorrow comes!"

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