The End Of The Year

We are now in strange time that is the week between Christmas and New Years, where some people are off work but others are working and the kids are all home from school. It's even odder here in Arkansas, with unseasonably warm temperatures (it was 76 degrees outside yesterday). It doesn't seem right to be looking at Christmas lights and seeing people walking around in shorts, but that's global warming for you.

But speaking of weather, it was really foggy out the other night. So, of course, I grabbed the camera and ran out to get a few pictures. And as always, the really cool fog then immediately started to dissipate. But I headed to downtown Little Rock, and ended up at the top of a parking deck by Main Street. This is the view of the Simmons Bank building, next to another building with a bit of brick that looks like it was ripped off like a piece of paper from a book.



And the view from another parking deck, which overlooks the intersection of Main and Third Streets.



And then on Christmas Eve, we took the kids over to the State Capitol to see the decorations inside. It was actually an ideal time to visit - there really weren't that many people inside. I guess the government offices were closed, since there weren't any politicians or staffers around (and I'd much rather bump into the Wet Bandits/Sticky Bandits, Mr. Potter, The Abominable Snowmonster, or the Grinch than bump into most of our elected officials).



It was good that thing the Capitol was empty because Elliott decided to grab onto a flag pole and pull on it, causing it to crash onto the marble floor with a loud crash that seemed to echo across the entire building. Luckily the security guards didn't throw us out after that.



And one last shot from the Capitol - hope everyone reading this had a great holiday and a good end to 2025!

Capitol Fireworks

The state government of Arkansas has made some truly baffling decisions this year (like making AETN disaffiliate from PBS or the whole Charleston prison debacle). But the one good thing that our state government is able to pull off is a pretty decent fireworks show. We set up on a hillside behind the Capitol, which is away from the crowds. The only issue this year was the wind blew all the smoke from the show towards us, so by the end of the show you could hardly even see the fireworks.

New York City - Roosevelt Island

On our last day in New York City we pushed through the chaos of Times Square one last time and made our way to Broadway to see this little-known play called Hamilton. Afterwards we went back to the hotel so I could retrieve my camera gear, and then we headed over to Roosevelt Island. The island sits in the East River between Manhattan and Queens, and can be reached via a tram car. It is a cheap and fun way to cross the river (it's really a shame that we can't commute with trams more in this country).

Roosevelt Island is a rare stretch of land in New York City that hasn't been extensively developed. For most of its history it was home to prisons, asylums and hospitals. Nowadays, a good portion of the island is set aside as parks and greenspace. The views from the island are great, especially of the Queensboro Bridge.





And across the river you can see the United Nations Building, the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building.





Walking along the river was a good way to wind down our trip to the Big City. It wasn't busy at all, with just a few other people out strolling along the sidewalk. There were even a few people out there fishing. It was a far cry from the image of New York being a dirty, crime-ridden hellhole made by certain people (and a certain president). I spent a lot of time walking through the city carrying a bag with lots of camera equipment inside, and never once felt unsafe. For the record, I was never attacked by an antifa trying to infect me with the woke mind virus. And since I'm still here writing this, no mobsters put out a hit on me. I wasn't even murdered by one of those crazed serial killers that pops up on all those TV crime procedural dramas that are set here.

New York is a great city, but I might be biased since I'm easily impressed by big cities. I mean I went to college in a small town that practically shut down at night (the only thing open after 8 PM was one gas station, a truck stop and the Waffle House). My family is from an even smaller town in western Arkansas that just recently got its first and only stoplight. So I was absolutely delighted to see things like multiple skyscrapers, decent mass transit and countless places selling pizza by the slice.



Ok sorry for the digression, back to Roosevelt Island. At one point you walk by an old Smallpox Hospital, which was built in 1856. It closed in the 1950s and was abandoned, eventually turning into this really cool ruin that has been left as a reminder of the island's history.



And then one last shot from Roosevelt Island, and from New York City, taken as I walked under the Queensboro Bridge.



And then it was time to head back to the hotel and start packing up our suitcases. We had an early morning flight the next day, so we woke up before dawn and drove through the city in darkness towards the airport. They say that New York is the city that never sleeps, but perhaps at 4:30 that morning it was taking a little catnap. As we drove by Times Square and then Grand Central Terminal, there was hardly any other cars or people about (which was nice, since there was no traffic on the way to LaGuardia). A few hours later we were back in Little Rock, eager to see our two boys (and two dogs) at home.

New York City - Central Park

When we planned this trip to New York City we didn't even think about there still being fall colors up there. So we were pleasantly surprised to arrive and see some great fall color still hanging onto the trees. And the best place to see the colors in the whole city just has to be Central Park.









We walked over to the Gapstow Bridge, which was much busier than when I was here earlier on our visit. Still no sign of the Pigeon Lady though.





There were a lot of people around the bridge, and I'd guess that most of them were tourists (it was a Saturday, after all). Now I know that you hear travel writers and influencers talk about avoiding touristy places like this. But you know what, sometimes it's just nice to be a tourist in a touristy spot. To be around fellow visitors, all excited about seeing something at the same time, to get pictures taken in front of it and to offer to take pictures for a stranger. It's charming in a goofy sort of way that reminds us that we are all people just out here experiencing life together. Things are so crazy and difficult in our world (and especially in this country) right now, and it is honestly refreshing that in these jaded and cynical times people can still get out and find joy in looking at reflections of skyscrapers and fall colors in a pond together.





This is the view from the bridge, looking towards the Plaza Hotel.



And the view, reflected in a small puddle of water on the bridge:



Construction on Central Park started in 1857, and was completed in 1876. It's crazy to think that while other parts of the country were being destroyed during the Civil War, people here were working on features in the park that are still in use today. Nowadays it is one of the most visited urban parks int he country with over 42 million visitors every year. 



This is The Dairy, which was built in 1871 as a restaurant. It's now used as a visitors center.



Central Park is one of the most filmed locations in the world, appearing in over 500 movies (like Elf, Home Alone 2, Die Hard With A Vengeance and When Harry Met Sally).





We stopped at the Turtle Pond, which had some great fall colors:





And then we walked over to Belvedere Castle, which was built in 1869. I'm assuming it was named after the old Mr. Belvedere TV show from the 1980s.



You can go inside (it's now used as a small visitor center and gift shop). This is the view looking out the windows:



And the views from the top:





After that we rambled through The Ramble, a series of winding paths through a forested area. As busy as the park was that day, it was quiet and peaceful there.









After that we headed back to our hotel to get changed, since we had tickets to see play later that evening (Oh, Mary!). But before we left I stuck the camera out the window of our room and got a shot of this view of the Empire State Building off in the distance.

New York City - Manhattan Bridge

The Manhattan Bridge was built in 1909 and crosses the East River, connecting downtown Brooklyn to Chinatown in Lower Manhattan. It's a busy crossing - the double-decker bridge has seven lanes for vehicle traffic, four subway lines, and walkways for pedestrians and bikes.

The pedestrian walkway provides some good views of the city as you walk across, and has become a popular spot for photographers. There is a fence along the walkway (added probably to keep people from throwing things off the bridge), but people have cut holes in the fence that leaves enough room for a camera or phone to poke through and get a shot. Here's the view from the bridge looking towards Lower Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge (and also, apparently, Pac-Man?).



And after heading across the river, you have this view as the bridge crosses over FDR Drive.



There were several spots along the walkway that provided interesting angles on the city, but there weren't any holes in the fence big enough for a camera. Luckily there were some gaps on the railings that were just big enough to awkwardly put the lens through.



But it wasn't the easiest place to take pictures. The subway tracks are right by the pedestrian walkway, and the trains passed by every few minutes. The rumbling trains made the bridge shake like an earthquake, which made any long exposure photographs turn out blurry. So a lot of my time on the bridge was spent waiting for trains to pass and for the bridge to stop moving. Here's the view looking down Broadway into Chinatown.



From there we walked through Chinatown into Little Italy, where we made our way to Lombardi's Pizza. It opened in 1905 and has been recognized as the very first pizzeria in the US. The pizza there was pretty good!

New York City - Midtown Manhattan

We made this trip without the kids, so we had the rare luxury of getting to sleep in the next day. We had a lazy morning, and then walked over to Midtown. We passed by Rockefeller Center, which was already crowded with people even though the big Christmas tree wasn't lit up yet and was still being decorated. We weaved through the swarms of people and went into a very important landmark - the Nintendo Store.

Both of our kids have really gotten into Nintendo this year - for Halloween their costumes were Toad and Mario riding Yoshi. So we picked up a few souvenirs for them, and then went upstairs so I could geek out at all the Legend of Zelda stuff they had available. I've spent way too much of my free time playing Zelda games (having reached 100% on Tears of the Kingdom, not to brag), so it was cool to get to see Link there. I did refrain from touching, climbing or sitting on him.



After leaving the Nintendo store (and instantly regretting not getting a plush korok), we walked over to St. Patrick's Cathedral. Construction on the church started in 1858, and was completed in 1878. It's still the largest Gothic Revival Catholic Church in North America.





And a little bit of fall color outside the church:



Across the street from the church is the statue Atlas, which was placed here in 1937. The bronze statue depicts Atlas holding up the heavens on his shoulders.



From there we walked over to Bryant Park, which was turned into a giant Winter Village. There you can ice skate and visit over 180 shops.



It was crowded and chaotic and a little overwhelming. So I tried to escape the crowd and instead visited the nearby Main Branch of the New York Public Library. The building opened in 1911 and it is massive. It's estimated that the library contains over 2.5 million volumes in its stacks.



Not all of the library is open to the public (unless you're there to do actual library stuff, like researching). But enough was open that it was cool to walk around and explore.





The library has been shown in a bunch of movies, like Breakfast at Tiffany's, Network, Regarding Henry, The Thomas Crown Affair, Maid in Manhattan and Spider-Man. It was in Ghostbusters:



And in The Day After Tomorrow, it's where they go to escape the tsunami (and subsequent freeze):



Of course, we didn't see any ghosts or waves of water that day. Just the waves of tourists heading to the Winter Village.