Thanksgiving Break 2011

Well folks, the rumors are true. I was able to escape to the East Coast for a few days with Sarah and we spent the Thanksgiving holidays in New York. It was incredible and it ended all too quickly. Below are a few pictures from our jaunt, not necessarily in a particular order.

This is the Vanderbilt Mansion, in Hyde Park, New York. It sits atop a bluff overlooking the Hudson River and a 700-acre property that was deeded to the National Park Service by the Vanderbilt family over 70 years ago, and remains almost completely faithful to the original design and decor. This is runt among the family's 40 mansions scattered around, weighing in at a measly 50,000 square feet.

This is the cascading spill-over from the dam nearby Yorktown Heights. The water is New York City's reservoir, clean and green.

Central Park is a grand place on a surprisingly pleasant afternoon in late November. Seen here are the model sailboats on the pond, looking towards Upper East Side.

Shown here is the Interior of St. Thomas' Cathedral, a pleasant and less popular attraction in the hustle of Manhattan, mostly empty, serene, ornate, and punctuated only by the periodic passing subway deep in the ground below.

On the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, a large assortment of the Macy's Day Parade balloons are brought out for public viewing surrounding the block of the Natural History museum. Seen behind us the Spiderman and Ronald McDonald, currently taking a nosedive.

Not surprisingly, Times Square was packed and over-illuminated. It is somewhat surreal.

We managed to fit some culture into our packed schedule, visiting the MoMA for a bit in the afternoon. Sarah is noticeably a connoisseur of the arts.