The Big Apple

on Brooklyn Bridge, looking towards Manhattan

The Big Apple, Gotham, the City that Never Sleeps, Metropolis, the Greatest City in the World. If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. New York, New York. 

We had a fabulous time visiting New York City in July 2024. The past several blog posts have focused on NPS sites we visited in the city: Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace, Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island, Castle Clinton, Federal Hall, Hamilton Grange, Grant's Tomb, and also the 9/11 Memorial & Museum. 

This post will feature other places we visited in the city. It was a quick trip, only four full days in the city, but each day was jam-packed. 

We went to 30 Rockefeller Plaza observation deck to take in sweeping views of the city.

Radio City Music Hall

The theater, nicknamed "the Showplace of the Nation," is the headquarters for the Rockettes. 

Rockefeller Plaza, aka "30 Rock"

completed in 1933, it is 70 stories tall (850 ft)

Home to NBC Studios, SNL, and the Rainbow Room

on the observation deck, known as "Top of the Rock"

looking north, towards Central Park

looking south, Empire State Building in center

although not as high as other observation decks (such as Empire State Building or One World Trade Center), Top of the Rock offers very impressive views of the city

We visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Founded in 1870, "The Met" is the largest art museum in the Americas. It holds nearly 2 million works in its permanent collection. 

The Met has many Egyptian artifacts

canopic jars

The Temple of Dendur

The Temple of Dendur was built in 10 BC by Caesar Augustus near the present-day city of Aswan, Egypt (at that time, Egypt was part of the Roman Empire). 

In 1960, Egypt began to construct the Aswan High Dam. The reservoir created by the dam, Lake Nasser, would have submerged many ancient temples in Upper Egypt, including the Temple of Dendur. Fifty countries, including the US, helped the Egyptian government relocate the temples to higher ground. In recognition of their service and efforts, the Egyptian government gifted the Dendur Temple to the US. The Temple has been on display at the Met since 1978.  

armor of the Middle Ages

this grand piano, built by Bartolomeo Cristofori in 1720, is the oldest surviving piano in the world

a gigantic contrabass saxophone

Last Moments of John Brown, by Thomas Hovenden

section of a mural "The Tragic Prelude" by John Steuart Curry, depicting John Brown

Washington Crossing the Delaware, by Emanuel Leutze (1851)

"The Musicians" by my favorite artist, Caravaggio (c. 1595)

"Water Lilies," Claude Monet (1919)

Self-Portrait with a straw hat, Vincent Van Gogh (1887)

"A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte," Georges Seurat (1886) 

"Woman in White," Picasso (1923)

11th-century bronze statue of "Nataraja" - depiction of Hindu god, Shiva, as a dancer

Took a brief walk through Central Park.

Alice in Wonderland sculpture in Central Park. Built in 1959, it depicts Alice, the White Rabbit, Mad Hatter, Cheshire Cat, and other characters from Lewis Carroll's classic tale. 

Empire State Building lit up in red, white, and blue to celebrate Independence Day

Built in 1931, Empire State Building is 102-stories tall (1,250 ft). 

This iconic skyscraper was the world's tallest building for many years.

Chaos reigns at Times Square

I loved the design of these signs at the subway stops

We took the subway to the Dumbo neighborhood of Brooklyn and walked back to Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge. 

view of Manhattan Bridge from Brooklyn Bridge/Dumbo

completed in 1883, Brooklyn Bridge was the first bridge to span the East River, connecting Manhattan Island to Long Island. When it opened, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world (1,595 ft)

view of One World Trade Center and lower Manhattan

We had lots of great food! 

doing my best Chef Gordon Ramsay impression while eating his Fish & Chips 

cheesecake, a New York staple

veal chop at Becco's

pasta and mussels

had to try a classic NY bagel with all the fixings

We went to three Broadway shows

"Suffs" a musical about Alice Paul and the U.S. women's suffrage movement

"Back to the Future" based on the classic 80s movie

we went to the penultimate performance of Sondheim's "Merrily We Roll Along" starring Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff, and Lindsay Mendez 

Visited the American Museum of Natural History

We had an amazing time in NYC and can't wait to go back!

General Grant National Memorial

 

Visited: July 2024

Nearby city: New York City, NY

"Grant is a man of a good deal of rough dignity; rather taciturn; quick and decided in speech. 

He habitually wears an expression as if he had determined to drive his head through a brick wall, and was about to do it. I have much confidence in him.

-Union Col. Theodore Lyman, in a letter to his wife, March 1864

General Grant National Memorial (aka "Grant's Tomb") is the final resting place of Ulysses S. Grant, the commanding general of the Union Army during the Civil War and the nation's 18th president (1869-1877).

It is the largest mausoleum in North America. It is located in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, just east of Riverside Park. 

You can read about the life and times of Grant in our post detailing our visit to Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site just outside of St. Louis, Missouri. That site preserves his father-in-law's home, and where the Grant family lived before the war, from 1854 to 1859. 

Link: https://paulnationalparks.blogspot.com/2022/06/ulysses-s-grant-national-historic-site.html

Upon leaving the White House in 1877, Grant and his wife, Julia, embarked on a highly publicized world tour of nearly two and half years, visiting dignitaries in Europe, the Middle East, and the Far East. Grant was given a hero's welcome when he returned to San Francisco on September 20, 1879. After a failed attempt to run for a third term as President in 1880 (he lost the Republican nomination to dark-horse candidate, James A. Garfield), Grant settled in a home on New York City's Upper East Side. 

In 1883, Grant invested heavily in his son's Wall Street brokerage firm. Unfortunately, his son's business partner, Ferdinand Ward, was running a Ponzi scheme. The business folded and Grant was left virtually penniless. In the summer of 1884, Grant began to complain of a sore throat, but put off seeing a doctor about it until October 1884. Grant was diagnosed with throat cancer, likely due to years of cigar smoking. In March 1885, the New York Times announced that Grant was dying of cancer, causing nationwide concern. The US Congress restored Grant to the rank of General with full retirement pay to help their financial situation (when Grant assumed the presidency he was required to resign his army commission and forfeit his pension).

Grant was only 63 years old and was deeply concerned how Julia would be supported once he passed on. Grant approached The Century Magazine and wrote a number of articles detailing his Civil War campaigns for $500 a piece. The articles were well received and the magazine's editor suggested that Grant write a memoir. Grant's friend, the famous Mark Twain, offered to publish Grant's memoirs. Twain, who was acutely aware of Grant's dire financial situation, offered Grant an extremely generous royalty of 70%. Upon doctors' advice to get cleaner air, Grant moved to a friend's cottage at Mount McGregor in upstate New York. While there, Grant worked furiously on his memoirs, finishing them on July 18, 1885. The memoirs, published after Grant's death, were enormously popular and Julia was able to live comfortably on the royalties for many years.

Grant passed away on July 23, 1885 (a mere week after finishing his memoirs), at the age of 63. President Grover Cleveland announced a thirty-day period of mourning. It is reported that over one million people attended Grant's funeral in Riverside Park.

Shortly after Grant's death, the Grant Monument Association was created and raised funds to build a mausoleum. Grant's body was laid in a temporary tomb at Riverside Park, pending completion of the mausoleum. The cornerstone was laid in 1892, and the mausoleum was completed on April 27, 1897, what would have been Grant's 75th birthday.

the mausoleum is 150 ft tall and its base measures 90 x 90 ft

this is the original battle flag of the 11th Indiana Infantry used from 1863 to 1864

The flag has 35 stars, representing the then-newly formed state of West Virginia

the 11th Indiana Infantry fought under Grant's command at Fort Donelson and Vicksburg

interior of the dome

final resting place of Gen. Grant and his wife Julia

Julia Dent Grant passed away in December 1902 at the age of 76

looking down into the crypt

there are three mosaic murals in the tomb.

This one depicts Grant at Battle of Vicksburg, a crucial Union victory

Link: https://paulnationalparks.blogspot.com/2018/05/vicksburg-national-military-park.html

Battle of Chattanooga

Link: https://paulnationalparks.blogspot.com/2020/05/chickamauga-chattanooga-national.html

Lee surrendering to Grant at Appomattox

Link: https://paulnationalparks.blogspot.com/2021/10/appomattox-court-house-national.html

sarcophagi of Ulysses and Julia

In the crypt are five niches containing busts of five Union generals.

Philip Sheridan (1831-1888) was instrumental in the Shenandoah Valley campaigns of 1864 and forcing Lee's surrender at Appomattox in 1865.

James McPherson (1828-1864) served under Grant at the Battle of Shiloh in 1862. McPherson was killed during the Battle of Atlanta in 1864.

William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891) served under Grant at the Battles of Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga. In 1864, when Grant became General-in-Chief of the entire Union Army, Sherman succeeded him as commander of the Western Theater. Sherman subsequently captured Atlanta and led the "March to the Sea"

Edward Ord (1818-1883) served under Grant at Appomattox.

George Henry Thomas (1816-1870) was a Virginian who fought for the Union. He served under Grant during the Chattanooga Campaign. His stalwart defense at the Battle of Chickamauga saved the Union Army from being completely routed and earned him the nickname "The Rock of Chickamauga"

The National Park Service took over operation of Grant's Tomb in 1959.

Across the street from the Tomb is Riverside Church

If visiting New York City, take some time and pay respects to the General that saved the Union.

More info: https://www.nps.gov/gegr/index.htm