Central Park

I needed to head into Manhattan to pick up some awards for the cub scouts in our ward, so I waited until Saturday to do it so that we'd have some motivation to get out and about. I don't know if its because the excitement of the city has worn off or if we've been too busy (probably a combination of both), but we haven't done as much sightseeing/days out this year as we have the last two. Usually we are on the go every Saturday, visiting different parts of the city that we want to see, but we've only visited handful of places this year. Anyway, back to scouts. We are having an awards ceremony for them on Sunday during our ward's potluck between sessions of General Conference. One of our boys is receiving his Bear award and the other his Webelos award. The scout shop used to be located in the Empire State Building, but last year it moved to a building three or so blocks away. It is smack dab in the middle of the fashion district and the buildings on either side of it housed display windows full of slinky, sequin-covered gowns. I wish now I would of snapped a picture.

After finding what I needed, Brian and I walked up to Central Park. We've been meaning to take a day to visit the park all summer, but it's the first time we done it. We walked right past the Plaza Hotel and into the park. We ended up wandering around the southeastern corner near the pond. There were lots of people out, but we didn't mind. The weather was perfect, bright and sunny but cool enough for a long-sleeved shirt. You can see the top of the plaza rising up above the tree line.

The tree's leaves were still green but on the verge of turning colors. There a few yellow and orange leaves here and there. I want to go back in a week or so once the fall colors really start popping.

I love the contrast of the buildings rising above the trees. Central park is definitely a haven within all the craziness of the city.

My favorite sight of the day was the little arching, stone bridge that spans a portion of the pond. It is the same one that is in the watercolor picture hanging on our apartment wall. It is a charming little area and we had fun wandering along the path that led up to the bridge. It was fun to watch all the little kids get so excited about the turtles swimming in the water.

I loved how the front side of the bridge was covered with Virginia creeper vine beginning to turn red. It looked like a scene from a book.

We found a secluded little grassy area on the other side of the bridge and sat down to people watch and just enjoy the outdoors. It was a rejuvenating experience and nice to just sit still in a peaceful spot. (Okay, so after Brian read this post, he told me to re-read this paragraph. I did, thinking I made a grammar or spelling mistake but couldn't find one. Then he laughingly reminded me of how he was trying to just relax and read his book while we were sitting here, but I couldn't sit still and kept talking to him and interrupting his relaxation. Hahaha. So I suppose the sitting still and enjoying the peace of the area was a little bit of an overstatement! However, I still found the experience relaxing.) 

Central Park is such a neat place and every time we visit I fall in love with a new part of it. It's the perfect place to spend a day.