Passing Through New York City

We're on our way back to one of our favorite places in the world:  Monterosso al Mare in Cinque Terre, Italy.  But first, we stop in New York City for a quick visit and a trip to the US Open tennis tournament.  We check into our hotel and stroll around the city, first heading over to the High Line, the 1.45 mile (2.3 km) elevated park, greenway, and trail on the former New York Central Railroad spur in western  Manhattan.  The High Line was inspired by the 4.7 km (2.9 mile) long Coulée Verte René-Dumont in Paris over which we strolled five years ago.

First we pass Vessel, a structure in the Hudson Yards rising 150 feet (46 meters) and consisting of 154 flights of stairs, 2,500 steps, and 80 landings for visitors to climb.

Vessel

We stroll the High Line for a mile or so, then head up to Times Square.

Along the High Line

Heading up to Times Square

Times Square is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street and is one of the world's busiest pedestrian areas with an estimated 50 million visitors annually.  The square is full of numerous huge digital billboards and advertisements.

Times Square

The sun sets and we continue northwest past Times Square over to one of our favorite restaurants in New York, Briciola on West 51st Street in Hell's Kitchen (Midtown West).  We start with octopus salad and burrata with tomato, followed by lobster ravioli, orecchiette with Italian sausage and broccoli rabe, and spicy shrimp with rigatoni.

Briciola

Starters

Main courses

After a great meal and a night's sleep, we stroll through the just-getting-started-in-the-morning city to Central Park and wander through the park.

Morning stroll in Central Park

Leaving the park, we walk down Fifth Avenue, admiring the store windows at Bergdorf Goodman, then past Saint Patrick's Cathedral and on to Rockefeller Center.

Bergdorf Goodman

Saint Patrick's

Rockefeller Center

We continue walking south to our hotel in the Garment District in the heart of Midtown Manhattan, a little more than 2 miles (3 km) south of Central Park.

On the Bike Path in Woodinville, WA

Woodinville and the surrounding communities have many bike trails, some along the Sammamish River, others leading all the way to Seattle (21 bike miles (34 km) away).  The Sammamish River Trail follows the river past parks, farms, and vineyards.  Our hotel (and the Chateau Ste Michelle winery where we have lunch and then attend a Lyle Lovett concert in the evening) are near the river in the middle of this trail.  We borrow bicycles from the hotel and start peddling.

Along the bike trail

Along the trail are parks, fields, wineries, playgrounds, and other interesting places to stop and explore.

Places to stop

Fun bridge

Arriving back at our hotel, Willows Lodge, we return our bicycles and explore the extensive and intriguing grounds of the hotel.

Hotel grounds

And, as we explore, we run across a few interesting, whimsical, signs.

Hotel signs

This has been a fun overnight trip to Woodinville: a winery visit, a great concert, and some exploration!

A Weekend Trip to Woodinville, Washington

We just ran across our pictures of a quick trip to Woodinville, WA in the fall.  Woodinville is northeast of Seattle and located on the Sammamish River, historic territory of the Sammamish people.  The town began as a logging community in the late 1800s and is now the home of approximately 130 wineries and tasting rooms.  We are visiting one of the large wineries, Chateau Ste Michelle, for a Lyle Lovett convert on the winery grounds.  We walk over to the winery past fields of lavender and grapes.  At the winery, we meet friends for lunch on the grounds and discover our new favorite go-to white wine:  Chateau Ste Michelle Indian Wells Chardonnay (Columbia Valley).

Lavender

Grapes

Winery grounds

Soon the sun begins to set, the band sets up, we purchase a bottle of the Indian Wells Chardonnay (2 glasses), and take our seats for the concert.

Sun setting

Night falls

Lyle Lovett

Lyle Lovett has been performing here for many years as part of the summer concert series at the winery and we now know to look for the next year schedule.