NYC: Hazy Orthodoxy in Distant New Jersey

An orthodox church in New Jersey seen in the hazy distance from Midtown Manhattan

NYC: Paddling the Reservoir at Central Park

Paddling the Reservoir at Central Park beneath the Skyline of Midtown Manhattan.

See this and more photos of New York City at the gallery: NYC.

NYC: Grant's Tomb on the Upper West Side

The thing about visiting the tomb of President Ulysses S. Grant is that you need a good reason to be up that way. For example, we ate breakfast at Tom's Restaurant (the diner in Seinfeld), then walked up to Columbia University, and up and over to Grant's  Tomb. If you're wanting to go to a place where the tourists start to spread a little thin, you're getting close.

The other thing about visiting this monument is that if you want to catch a particular train that will take you down to the east side of Central Park, you might have to walk through the heart of Harlem to get there, and that might be uncomfortable. And if you're really looking for a place without tourists, you've found your mark. [Note: You might also hear on the news the next morning, as we did, that two men were stabbed to death in close proximity to where you had been walking to the subway.]

NYC: Central Park and Midtown on an Early Morning Run

On our recent trip to New York City, one of my desires was to run through Central Park, and I knew that if I didn't go on that first morning, I wasn't likely to go at all. So I got up with the sun, lit out from our hotel, and encountered a park entrance a few blocks north. While it was as enjoyable a run as I had hoped, the thing that stood out most was that there were some really foul stenches emanating from that place, in addition to the nice natural smells.

View of Midtown Manhattan from New York City's Central Park in Early Morning

The Purple Tulip, a Turkish Delight

An interesting note about tulips: They were first introduced into the Western world via the Ottoman Empire (modern-day Turkey). This and other photographs of tulips and various other flowers can be found in the gallery, Flora.

Tree and Pasture in Rural Montgomery County, Alabama

Tree and Pasture in Rural Montgomery County, Alabama

See this and other Alabama landscapes at the gallery, Alabama the Beautiful.

Farmhouse and Pasture in Montgomery County, Alabama

Farmhouse and Pasture in rural Montgomery County, Alabama

This and other such rural landscapes can be found in the gallery, Elsewhere in Alabama.