Trip to PA and NYC

After mom and Cori left FL I met up with them. I flew into PA on Sunday and they came in on Monday. We stayed with my cousin Tim and he escorted us to NYC. I was glad to have him with us. I am not sure mom, Cori, and myself would have been able to do it without him.

Tim has a very simple house with VERY nice things in and around it. I enjoy just being able to sit and relax at his house. I have attached some pictures of his back yard. Could you imagine drinking your coffee back there every morning? Tim's house can be quite a zoo (literally) at times, but I was still able to relax. He owns his own landscape and design company, and the business is all run out of his home. Besides the business he has, 2 dogs: Onyx and Peanut, 2 cats: Armitil and Tigger, 2 peacocks: Niles and Frazier, a roster: Buddy, and 3 ducks: Rudy, Bonnie, and Valentino.....see what I mean by a zoo.

Tim and Anthony both enjoy cooking nice meals. I had to take a picture of one of our dinners. I was thinking, "oh, how fancy" and Tim, on the other hand, is explaining how this is a normal Monday night dinner for them! We had tuna steaks....YUMMY!!!!

This waterfall is so peaceful to listen to.
His sitting area with hot tub and outdoor shower.

While we were still in PA, we visited a winery. We took a short self guided tour and bought 12 bottles of wine. We all wanted a couple of bottles, but got a discount for 12...what the heck!

On Tuesday morning we left for NYC. What an experience. I love that I went, and would love to go back. I could never live there. I don't think anybody ever relaxes. It is like everyone is always in a hurry. My life needs a little time to slow down once in awhile.


This picture is taken from Central Park. It was actually VERY BEAUTIFUL. I was amazed at how once you are in the park it is actually fairly quiet. You don't hear all the noises from the streets.

Our first stop was Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. What an amazing piece of art and history. Mom and Tim went on the self guided audio tour. Cori and I decided to take the time to take pictures, buy souvenirs, and look at all the names of people who came to the United States via Ellis Island.

The name Kepka is my maternal Grandmother's maiden name. We looked up other names too, but when I showed this to mom she actually thought that we have a wedding picture of Vaclav in the family somewhere.

Another picture in Central Park

Here we are in Time Square

While we were here we saw two AMAZING Broadway shows: Young Frankenstein and Chicago.

On the billboard you can see that both of them are advertised.

Here we are waiting for Chicago to start. I LOVED Chicago. I want to go back and see it again. However, if I ever make it back I would want to spend my time seeing something else.

This show had little scenery and/or props. The singing and dancing was fantastic they did not need any.

Young Frankenstein, on the other hand, was completely different. I enjoyed this one. They had many props, different scenery, and great visual effects. I was glad that we were able to see two shows that were so different. Megan Mullally (Karen Walker: Will and Grace) was advertised to be in the show, however, she did not perform that night. We had actually anticipated this because our cousin Mickey (from FL) had just seen it a few weeks prior and she was not there. However, Dr. Frankenstein was played by Roger Bart. Any of you who watched Desperate Housewives would know him as the pharmacist, George. He did a great job playing the part. This show was also very humorous and kept us laughing.

On the subway, trying to make our way to SoHo for some shopping.
We really enjoyed our trip, but it was by no means a relaxing one. I was ready to get home just so that I could relax for a couple days. Little did I know I was coming home to a 4th of July weekend jammed pack with activities.