Thanksgiving in New York - 2005

With a winter storm anticipated to blow through the area before Thursday morning, I took advantage of the balmy weather ahead of the storm to venture into Manhattan on Wednesday to get my fix of holiday hustle and bustle. After meeting a friend for lunch, I walked up to the Museum of Natural History on the upper west side to see the IMAX movie "Galapagos". The 40-minute film not only gives an up-close-and-personal view of the tortoises, lizards, finches and sea lions that live on the islands but also takes you on an underwater exploration deep beneath the surface. Since I will be traveling to the Galapagos Islands in early January, I was excited to see this introduction to the islands and highly recommend it if you live in the area.

When I walked back out of the museum, I immediately came upon the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons which were starting to be inflated. It was still early (darkness had not yet descended) but the crowds were thick. I took a quick picture of Scooby Doo...


...and continued to walk south, taking a detour to check out the Time Warner Center for the first time (great shops!), and another detour to visit B&H Photo, before returning to Grand Central. It's been a long time since I've done all that walking in the city in one day.

The next morning, I woke up to snow on the ground! I definitely wasn't ready for that. It disappeared quickly during the day but was still a bit of a shock to my 'California system'. With all of my sisters heading in other directions for Thanksgiving this year, my parents and I decided to go out to dinner for the first time, a very different experience. There's something to be said for being at home and pacing the food intake over many hours rather than all at once. Be that as it may, we had a delicious meal at Crabtree's Kittle House in Chappaqua and then traveled down to White Plains to visit with my aunt, uncle and three cousins and their families. All in all, a busy but satisfying day.

Alice Marble Tennis Courts

Following the discovery of a leak in the reservoir at the top of Russian Hill seven years ago and three years of reconstruction, the newly minted tennis and basketball courts atop the retrofitted reservoir were dedicated today. It was quite a journey but the end result is well worth the constant noise of cement trucks and disruption to the neighboring streets that had to be endured. The good news is that this project was completed ahead of schedule and under budget, a true accomplishment for the city of San Francisco.

This view shows construction in progress during the winter of 2003-2004:

The dedication ceremony on November 5, 2005: