Scores of people visit New York City everyday. Last Friday, one British couple, Craig and Lucy Johnson, got the surprise of their lives when they found out that the city had named them its 50 millionth visitor.
According to the New York Times, the city’s tourism officials selected the couple because the U.K. is the largest source of visitors to New York and because of the Johnsons’ connection to the city — they met in the Big Apple 10 years ago. The newlyweds were married at Rockefeller Center.
Craig & Lucy Johnson being feted as NYC's 50 millionth visitor, photo Earl Wilson, NYT
They were presented with a symbolic gold card and saluted by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The Johnsons also received a $10,000 gift card for this trip and a $10,000 package of gift cards to visit and spend money in famous stores and at Broadway shows again in 2012. NYC & Company, the city’s tourism office, will even pick up the tab for any taxes they incur on their purchases.
Of the 48.8 million people who visited New York City last year, 10.7 million of them were foreigners. By the end of the year, 50.2 million visitors will be recorded.
My travel blog buddy, Debbie, at European Travelista, invited me to participate in The ABCs of Travel – an A to Z travel survey. It’s a fun look back at the memories I’ve created, the things I’ve done and the people I’ve met during my travels. Hope you enjoy reading about My Travel ABCs.
Thanks, Debbie, for including me in the survey.
A: Age you went on your first international trip: I was 18 or 19 when I took my first international trip to Merida in Yucatan. It sparked my interest in historic sites and shaped future trips. That was a big travel year for me as I also visited Canada for the first time.
B: Best (foreign) beer you’ve had and where: I’m not big on beer, unfortunately, so I have no opinion on what’s good.
Mexican paella
C: Cuisine (favorite): Oooh, this is hard because I love food and will eat just about any kind of food. I love Spanish (I even considered living in Spain because of the food), Mexican, Brazilian, Thai, Indonesian, Indian as well as foods from some African countries, and of course, Jamaican/Caribbean. NYC, with its large and diverse ethnic communities, provides my food fix when I’m not traveling.
Table Mountain
D: Destinations, favorite, least favorite and why:I’ve loved every place I’ve visited so far. I’ve yet to have a least favorite destination. I’d definitely return to Havana. There’s something about Cuba in general that just seeps into your soul, it’s unforgettable. As I said earlier, I wanted to live in Spain because of the food. Three months there and I didn’t scratch the surface – I’d return to explore it. I hope to return to Paris in two years or so and just soak up its ambience. I’d go back to South Africa in a heartbeat but I’d go directly to Durban, rent a car and just drive up to the mountains. The other reason I’d love to return to SA is to take the Rovos Rail to see more of the country and get a glimpse of what train travel must have been like back then.
E: Event you experienced abroad that made you say “wow”: Hands down, that would have to be game watching in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe.
F: Favorite mode of transportation: Though I love flying, train is by far my most favorite mode of transportation. It’s the best way to see the countryside.
A few months ago, this Sears Roebuck Company building in Hackensack, NJ caught my eye. It looked like it would have done way back when. I was curious to know what year it was built and how it had missed being demolished for another more modern structure.
Sears Roebuck Building, Hackensack NJ
I found the following reference to the building in the New York Times of November 17, 1931. “Sears, Roebuck & Co. buy Hackensack Site: Department Store to Cost About $500,000 Planned for Plot in Main Street.”
The Sears Roebuck Company was founded in Chicago in 1886 by Richard W. Sears and Alvah C. Roebuck. Sears, a railroad agent, received an impressive box of watches and began selling them and other jewelry by mail order. Roebuck was a watch repairman who Sears hired as his business grew. Eventually, they founded Sears, Roebuck & Co.
The first catalog was produced in 1888. Eventually, the catalog carried sewing machines, bicycles, sporting goods and automobiles. Over the years, the company became the largest retailer in the U.S., a position it held up to the mid-1980s. Though it is no longer the largest retailer, the company has evolved into a major online retailer and a trusted source for tools, appliances, affordable clothing and other goods.
Times Square is known for many things – bright lights, skyscraper billboards, store after store hawking everything from cameras to souvenirs but few people notice the statues. I’m one of them. I’ve walked through Times Square a million times and didn’t see them until one early morning a few months ago.
Although I was late for work, I had to stop and take a photo. Who knew there were these statures in Times Square? And who were these people who were influential enough to have their likenesses rendered for posterity?
Statue of George M. Cohan in Times Square
George M. Cohan, the first coast to coast superstar, started out at age 8 as a child performer. He was part of the group, The Four Cohans. His parents, Helen and Jeremiah, were traveling vaudeville performers and he joined them on stage as an infant. He became a successful actor, singer, dancer, playwright, composer, librettist, producer and director, and was known once as “The Man Who Owned Broadway.” Cohan’s first big hit on Broadway was Little Johnny Jones (1904) which introduced the songs Give My Regards to Broadway and The Yankee Doodle Boy. He went on to produce over fifty musicals.
Cohan was born in Providence, Rhode Island on July 3, 1878 and died on November 5, 1942.
Statue of Father Francis Duffy, Times Square
Father Francis P. Duffy – I didn’t understand at first how or why a stature of a Catholic priest came to be in Times Square until I did a little research and made the connection to Duffy Square. The northern end of Times Square, between 45th and 47th Streets in front of the steps to the TKTS Booth, is called Duffy Square in honor of Father Francis Duffy. A chaplain for the Fighting 69th, Father Francis, a Canadian, became the most highly decorated cleric in the history of the U.S. Army.
Father Duffy was born in Cobourg, Ontario, Canada on May 2, 1871. He died in New York City on June 27, 1932. At his death, General MacArthur revealed that he had recommended Father Duffy to lead the 165th Regiment.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in New York.
Here are a few scenes from Bryant Park. I’ve always loved Bryant Park – it’s small and intimate, and very accessible especially for people who work in midtown. People stop by during lunchtime, sit at the tables and read or take advantage of their free wifi. In the summer, there are movies. In winter, ice skating.
Skating in Bryant ParkBryant Park Christmas TreeThe Metropolitan Museum's Christmas Tree
Last Saturday, as I traveled around the city, I couldn’t help noticing that almost every guy of a certain age (and some girls) was dressed like Santa. Cars honked and people waved when they saw them. But these Santa guys and gals weren’t going to dole out gifts, they were part of the Santas-only pub crawl – a flash mob type event that brings together people dressed as Santas, elves, etc. They go from bar to bar, drinking and generally having a good time. Great way to get “into the spirit,” isn’t it?
Going to the Santa Pub Crawl
This Santa agreed to let me take a photo but pulled on his mask just as I raised the camera.
Santa Pub Crawl
This is my submission to this week’s Budget Travelers Sandbox Travel Photo Thursday series. Be sure to check out other photo and story entries on their website!
Flowering plants play such an important part in our lives. Their color and composition have inspired artists such as Georgia O’Keefe, Van Gogh and Monet, and poets like William Wordsworth. They are accepted as a symbol of love and passion, even innocence. Some have even been recognized for their medicinal properties.
Here are a few more from the garden. Unfortunately, I’m still working on learning their names.
Every Friday evening at 9:00 p.m. in the summer, there’s a 30 minute fireworks display at Coney Island. I just love standing on the beach and watching the fireworks rise above my head and then fade into the night sky. It never fails to bring a smile to my face.
A recent post from my blog buddy, Heather Munro, who blogs at Heatherblog made me think about the street signs I have in my photo collection.
Take a look:
Street Signs – ACP Jr Blvd / African Square / 125th StStreet Signs – Quiet StreetStreet Signs – Fleet StreetStreet Signs – Buckingham Gate SW1Street Signs – Rue du Grenier sur L’Eau
This is my submission to this week’s Budget Travelers Sandbox Travel Photo Thursday series. Be sure to check out other photo and story entries on their website!
When a passenger is behaving badly on a bus or a plane, it can make for a very unpleasant and uncomfortable ride.
I was the second person to get on the bus. When the driver saw that I was struggling with my bag and suitcase, he took the bag and put it on floor of one of the front seats.
I was so tired, I practically collapsed into the seat. As I settled into the seat, I heard a voice say, I sit there, I sit there. I didn’t turn around. I sit here, she said again. When I looked around, I noticed a woman — I couldn’t tell her age — standing just behind the row I was sitting and pointing to the seat next to me, the seat where my bag was.
Behaving badly from granitoons.deviantart.com via the Internet
I sit there, she continued.
I looked at her, looked at the seat and looked back at her again thinking, find another seat. There were at least 30 empty, none was assigned. As exhausted as I was, there was no way I was getting up. I didn’t care that she was mentally challenged.
I sit here, she repeated, like a mantra.
An elderly woman who had followed her on to the bus pleaded with her to quiet down. You can sit here, she said, of the empty seat next to her.
No, I sit here. F U!
Calm down, Angie. I’m going to call Frank. Do you want me to call Frank?
But Angie wouldn’t be calm. Instead, she started hitting the back of the seat next to me. F U, A-hole!
I sit here.
What did she say? The driver asked, looking in my direction.
I shrugged.
She was quiet as the bus pulled out but it didn’t last.
I sit here, she resumed.
Just before we got to the first stop, she got up and stood in the aisle.
I’m going to hit you, she said to no one in particular. I watched her from the corner of my eye. If she hit me, I was going to hit her back and call the police.
As the bus pulled into the stop, she jumped off. A-hole, she said.
I’m sorry, her companion said as she passed me. I have no control over her sometimes.
I understand, I said.
The driver, too, apologized.
Luckily, this person did not become physically abusive. Last week, for no reason, a passenger shot two people on a New York city bus.
Have you ever witnessed a passenger acting badly on a plane or bus? How was the situation resolved? What would you do if the person sitting next to you was behaving badly?
