Mom came up for her first visit to see us. We decided to try something a little different since she’s come up a few times already this year. So, instead of doing the typical touristy thing like going to Times Square or Central Park, we saw partsof the city that are usually reserved for people new to New York (still excited enough to want to discover the city but experienced enough to know to avoid the major tourist stops.) *update* On Friday, Mom and I met a couple of Mom’s good friends, Marianne and Mike, at a small Mexican restaurant in the east village. The food was delicious, and it was great to finally meet Marianne who I’ve been meaning to meet for a while now. On Saturday, we went to the Forbes Museum and then to Buster’s Garage for the UGA/Tennessee game (which Georgia won with authority I might add.) On Sunday, we took the A to Fort Bryon Park and the Cloisters ( see this map)
Fort Tyron Park is beautiful and felt totally disconnected from the rest of Manhattan. Ashley loved breathing in the fresh fall air and really didn’t want to leave. The park overlooks the Hudson River and has beautiful trees and small gardens. It’s Central Park without the people. Ashley and I will have to go again when the leaves start changing colors (very soon.)
Here’s a picture we took at the Cloister’s. I turned on black and white because it was overcast, and I thought it would have a cool effect on the picture, give it some depth. Now I think it would have been better in color, but that’s alright. I still like this picture.
family, nyc, travel, visits
$5 to the first person who can name where they have seen this? And by $5, I mean $5 internet money… which is pretend money… I think.
family, nyc, travel
Please read this post immediately after or preceding the post about September 11, 2005 because that’s when the events described occurred.
We had our third visitor recently… well, it was Ashley’s dad who is actually a repeat visitor, so how do you count that? Since it was just him for the weekend, I say we count his visit as visitor number 3.
As a birthday treat, Jerry (aka Dad to some) came up specifically to go to the US Open with Ashley since Robbi Ginepri was playing in the semi-finals against Andre Agassi. They had a great time at Arthur Ashe stadium and Robbi almost came away with the win losing in the 5th set. Afterwards the two of them met me at Buster’s Garage, our local spot to watch UGA football with the UGA Alumni Association.
Sunday was September 11, and Jerry and I went to ground zero which I wrote about already. He called Taylor to let her hear the names being read out, and after I went home to make breakfast for Ashley, he attended a church service at St. Paul’s which he described as one of the most moving sermons he’s ever heard.
Here are Jerry’s own words about the rest of the day:
Later on Sunday, something fantastic happened. We went on the best bike ride ever (excluding Sanibel) for 20 miles. We went several miles with the Hudson River on one side and tall buildings on the other. Near 59th street, we cut over to Central Park, about 600 acres and a six or seven mile ride of perfect land. Thousands of NY’ers were all over the park having a super time. There were so many bikers and skaters, it was so fun. I also got something I was looking forward too, that is a relish hotdog and a sour kraut hotdog (YUM YUM). Daniel got a fairly plain dog, something is wrong with him. We biked several miles back and finished of the ride in typical NY Norton fashion, cream filled doughnuts before returning home. After a quick shower, we were off to Times Square. You have to see this before you die, you have too. There are just too many incredible lights and advertisement signs lite up with so much activity. It is to die for. We ate at the Times Square Brewery and I had the best ever crab meat sandwich.
Here are a couple pictures from his visit.
atlanta, family, nyc, travel, visits
Ashley and I flew to Savannah last weekend to surprise Mom for her birthday. Grammy and Mr. Leitch planned an oyster roast at the Savannah Yacht Club, and they pulled it off perfectly. Uncle Jim and Aunt Dorothy went out of their way to get my brothers down to Savannah for the party. Uncle Jim rented a car for them, and Aunt Dorothy got them a hotel room. It was an incredible gesture. In fact, Mom said that it meant so much that all three of us were there.
I took this picture just as she walked in the room.
birthday, family, travel
I said that I would post about Jana and Dad’s wedding, but I got a little distracted this week.
Anyway, the wedding last weekend was beautiful. It was a very intimate and sweet ceremony. The only people in the santuary were Jana, Dad, my three brothers – Jonathan, Matthew, and Spencer; Ashley, the pastor, a musician, and a photographer. During the ceremony, we all lit a unity candle signifying the bond of the family.
Afterwards, the rest of the family and several friends came to the reception to celebrate their wedding. It was wonderful to see everyone, and Dad and Jana were great hosts. They really seemed to enjoy the whole day (ok, they were a bit stressed out when we first saw them.) Melanie and crew did a fantastic job making everything go smoothly.
On a side note, this was the first trip back to Atlanta for Ashley and me. We took the opportunity to eat at Chick-fil-a, Ted’s Montana Grill, and Moe’s (what’s up NYC? When are you going to get these franchises?) We also managed to see everyone at least for a little while. It was a bit like a typical holiday where we drive from Atlanta to Marietta to Newnan and back. Here’s a shout out to everyone that we saw last weekend – Grandaddy, Grandmama, Denise, Jeannie, Jerry, Uncle Jerry, Memama, Wagner family… boy, it sure seemed like a lot more people than this list. It certainly took all weekend.
atlanta, family, travel
OK, I’ll admit it… I think there is something to be said for the concept of karma. Well, it’s more that I believe sometimes what you say will come back to you. It’s like the stories of people who find a genie in a bottle, make a wish, and then find that what they receive is more than they anticipated. (moral: Careful what you wish for…. yada yada)
This weekend while we were in Atlanta, I complained about the fact that I have to ride the elevator everyday. I didn’t just say it once… I think I said it to everyone I ran into. So, I get to work this morning, and guess what… the elevator’s busted, sucka! My options are walk up the stairs or walk down to 9th Avenue and take the elevators at the back of the building.
As self-punishment, I chose the stairs… I walk up the 7 floors to my office and find that, lo’ and behold, the door to my floor is locked. Locked! So, I walk back down 7 floors, down a block (a city block goes on forever)… did I mention it’s 85 and humid… and then I have to take the back elevators. That will teach me. No more complaining about the elevators.
nyc, rant, travel
Hello, this is Ashley!
We had a great time at Sanibel this year! Mom, Dad and Tay left at 4am and beat me to the Fort Myers airport since my plane was delayed from JFK. This is the point of the post where I give Song Airlines a shout out! The TVs in every seat is awesome! The construction of the new causeway didn’t look great but we were all pleased there was vegetation left on the island after Charley. If you never saw the island without the Australian Pines you wouldn’t know anything had changed. You can now see the lighthouse at all times and biking on Periwinkle is HOT! Bailey’s and Joan’s Book Nook survived. The Sayana condo was wonderful and the waves were non-existent! It was a beautiful clear blue ocean. Let me know if you would like the link to all our pictures on Ofoto. The highlights include Mom’s and my 12-mile bike ride to Captiva and Tay and Dad swimming in a dark pool at 9:15pm because mom grabbed the bike key instead of the condo key. Ahh, memories. We did miss Daniel and have no alligator pictures because he couldn’t come. Next year expect to see pictures of Daniel and me riding Segways around the island! The last night there we started my birthday celebration with a homemade cake, balloons, sparkly flip-flops and a subscription to the Sanibel weekly paper. Hopefully my tan will last a while. 
After a week, I flew back home on Song and Daniel met me at the airport. His ride on the subway took over an hour to get to JFK! Anyway, it was a great trip and can’t wait until next year. If you want to see “our” beach, check out the following live beach cam: http://tweencam.tween-waters.com/twcam/twcam.html
It’s amazing how close I got to this egret!
sanibel – snowy egret
Originally uploaded by dnorton.
travel