July 8th---in New York City

Well July 8th has come and gone and I'm still "feeling" the effects of having a "significant Birthday" (officially OLD) away from home!! 😘 Truly did not know one could feel so much love--from so far away !! Everyone--near (our "new-found family of missionaries/friends") and far (family/friends at home and around) sent such wonderful messages of love and kindness!! I am still "basking" in it all. It was an interesting and  wonderful day. First order of business--travel "downtown" to get the REDUCED-FARE Metro card for Seniors😫!! Yay!! Cuts my fare in half!! Then we found Fraunces Tavern--oldest building in New York City! It's where the Sons of Liberty held their secret meetings during  the Revolutionary War. Here is a little information and timeline of the Tavern and it's significance to the history of the Country prior to and during the American Revolution:

54 Pearl Street Timeline (this is the address of the Tavern)

1686 The site of 54 Pearl Street was granted to Stephanus Van Cortlandt by Mayor Nicholas Bayard.

1700 The property, created from the first landfill of Manhattan, was given to van Cortlandt’s daughter Anne and son-in-law, Etienne De Lancey, as a wedding present.

1719 Etienne Delancey constructed the three-story building at 54 Pearl Street as a family residence. This building is now the main building of Fraunces Tavern Museum.

1738 Dancing teacher Henry Holt rented the building and hosted dancing assemblies.

1759 The building was occupied by Delancey, Robinson & Company, a merchant firm, which used it as office and warehousing space.

1762 The building was purchased by Samuel Fraunces and opened as the Queen’s Head Tavern (also known as the Sign of the Queen Charlotte.)

1768 The New York Chamber of Commerce was founded in the Long Room. Its offices were situated there until 1770.

1774 The Sons of Liberty plotted the New York Tea Party at the Tavern.

1775 The British warship Asia bombarded the city on August 24; an 18-pound cannonball went through the roof of Fraunces Tavern.

1776 In May and June, the New York Provincial Congress met at the Tavern. After the city was occupied by the British, Fraunces fled to New Jersey, but was later captured and forced to return to New York City to cook for British generals. The Tavern was frequented by British soldiers.

1783 After the British evacuated New York on November 25, Governor George Clinton hosted a party at the Tavern in honor of the British Evacuation of New York City and George Washington. George Washington bade farewell to his officers in the Long Room on Dec. 4.

1785 Fraunces sold the building to George Powers. The Department of Foreign Affairs, under John Jay, used the building as its first headquarters until 1788.

The 2 most widely known facts about this historical place are underlined in the above info--and that's one of the reasons I wanted to have lunch there. It was very quaint and is actually owned by a man from Ireland--so he wants to employ his "Irish countrymen" there--so he brings them over from Ireland to work. The first person to greet us was from Donegal (she said "it's up in the northern part of Ireland) and her accent was charming!! (She "sealed the deal" for me as to this place for lunch!). Our waitress was also Irish and when E Mumford commented about that very thing--without even missing a beat she said "Yeh, we're takin' over the country"! It was a very enjoyable meal/ celebration for me. There is also a museum upstairs in the Tavern that is supposed to be delightful. We "saved" it for another day.

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Fraunces Tavern and the Revolutionary War

The corner where Fraunces Tavern is located

Another view of the Tavern and the museum

A sign on the sidewalk about this historical place

It was a very hot and "muggy" day in NYC--with temps in the 90's and humidity close to that 

too! As we were walking, the thought came to me, which I haven't had for a long time, about 

what my own Dad had told me about the day I was born. I was the only one in my family to be born in St. Mark's hospital in Salt Lake City, Ut--due to the "extra" precautions that were being taken due to the scary situation of severe hemorrhage after my "just older than me" brother Glen's birth on Christmas Eve 6 years earlier. So my Dad said he was "walking the hot sidewalks of Salt Lake while awaiting the time he would go back into the hospital to see if I had been born. For my Dad to even be in Salt Lake is a fete--as we hardly ever went 

past Midvale, Ut for anything. (Dad's motto "if Midvale didn't have what you needed--then you must not REALLY NEED IT!) so I'm not sure why he didn't just "stay inside" the hospital and wait--my guess is that maybe it was too hard to just "sit there" due to his and others concern about this birth. At any rate, this hot day in New York brought this "flashback" to that memory and the gratitude that there had been so much sacrifice associated with my "entry"

 into this world and my parents' love. 

The rest of my day" was filled with a stop at "Rita's" (up on about 92nd and Broadway) for a refreshing Strawberry Gelati and then going to our shift at the Temple for the rest of the day. It was a very delightful yet different birthday--but one I'll not soon forget😘❣

Celebrating the 4th of July--in NYC!!

Well we (okay it was a "request" from me ( Sister Mumford) that we "run" out to Coney Island ( about a 60-min Subway ride) to see what it was all about. I have heard about this landmark so much-- now we're here--we ought to go see it, right?! Well, we should have talked with the "locals" first, or we would not have chosen the 4th of July, the first real holiday of the summer, to venture out there!. It seems that is the " destination of hundreds. . . No, THOUSANDS, of people on this day!!
 Just a little info: 
        Coney Island is a peninsular residential neighborhood, beach, and leisure/entertainment destination on the Coney Island Channel, which is part of the Lower Bay in the southwestern part of the borough of Brooklyn, New York City. It features an amusement area that includes 50 or more separate rides and attractions; it's not a centrally managed amusement park like Disneyland or Six Flags. ... Luna Park, Scream Zone & The Cyclone Roller Coaster. Now one of those Roller Coasters is quite old and is actually made of wood--but I think it is still in use.(see some information below about the roller coasters at Coney Island). 
Coney Island is home to three rides protected as New York City landmarks listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The Wonder Wheel (1918), now part of Deno’s Wonder Wheel Amusement Park, the Coney Island Cyclone roller coaster (1927), owned by the City and operated by Luna Park and the towering Parachute Jump (1938), no longer in action since 1968 but still standing strong since its debut at the New York World's Fair in 1939.
Coney Island History Comes Alive on the Cyclone Roller Coaster!The Mother of American roller coaster culture and the “Big Momma” of Coney Island, the Cyclone tops everyone’s list of things to do in New York City. Get ready to shake, rattle, rumble and roll over 2,640 feet of track featuring 12 drops and 27 elevation changes that still has the stuff to take your breath away. Slowly rise to panoramic heights and grip the bar tight as you go over the ledge on an exhilarating 85-foot, 60-degree plunge at speeds of 60 mph. It’s an all-time classic amusement park ride that’s kept coaster lovers coming back since the Cyclone roller coaster first debuted on June 26, 1927.

The "Cyclone"-- iconic Roller Coaster at Coney Island

The Beach is also quite the popular place--and "prime real estate" for the 4th of July  crowd"!! ( my pictures will verify that one!!) So--we set out on this adventure with the Holloways (new Missionary couple, and Judy Eggleston ( our new friend, visiting here from California). We had planned to go earlier--but something came up so we didn't leave until after 11:00 am--that was our 2nd mistake! I sent this in a message to the kids--but it was kind of a "wrap" of our first 4th of July in NYC--
       " We've had a very interesting day, to say the least. We went to Coney Island--to "see what we could sea"--a sea of people--EVERYWHERE!! Oh what a crowd--we could hardly get through to the water!! Wanted to have a Famous Nathan's Coney Island Hot Dog--but we couldn't even "find" the end of the line. (The Hot Dog eating contest had just ended) We settled for a Philly Steak and Cheese from a tiny little shop--The Little Mermaid--and after 2 hours of that crowd--climbed back on the Subway and came back to Manhattan--found a Rita's and enjoyed walking back to our apartment with a refreshing treat in tow!! And not too much of a crowd ( they were all Downtown trying to find lawn space along the East River to watch the Macy's Fireworks--all 3.5 million of them). Not us!! We went to a movie (Finding Dory) and tried to see the fireworks from our rooftop--but came back inside and enjoyed them on TV!! Whew--HAPPY 4th of JULY 2016!! We love and missed you all--"Men work together . . . "

This is the Hot Dog eating contest that we "met" as we arrived at Coney Island. It was just finishing and the crowd was huge!! Winner--Joey Chestnut--70 hot dogs (with buns) consumed in 10 minutes!! 

On the Beach at Coney Island

L to R--me, Elder M, Sister Elaine Holloway and Elder Richard Holloway

"Sea" of people and Beach umbrellas

Coney Island--the Pier (in the distance)

Walking across the sand to get down to the water--Atlantic Ocean

Approaching the "entrance" to the Amusement Park area of Coney Island

The water looked very inviting--we'll have to come back "sometime less crowded" and put our feet in the Ocean!!

One of the Restaurants on Coney Island

The "collection" of Roller Coasters at Coney Island--including the old wooden one

So our 1st "4th of July in New York City (2016) was another "memorable adventure"🇺🇸😎☃🌭🍿

ABT's "The Sleeping Beauty" (at the Met)

July has really started off with a BANG!! Have met this sweet lady from Turlock, California who has come "back" (she has served an LDS mission here and studied voice and opera here a few years ago) to have a few more lessons and "audience" with some renown opera teachers here in NYC. She has come to the Temple numerous times in her few short weeks here. She loves people and is very engaging!!

We have also "welcomed" a new Missionary couple, Elder Richard and Sister Elaine Holloway from Rexburg, Idaho. They arrived on June 20, 2016 and really "hit the ground, running". It has been mine and Elder M's privilege to "train" them. BUT--how do we, who have only begun to serve, train dynamic people like this who have served several missions?!?! We have loved getting to know them and are so grateful they are here and they are so willing to do anything they are assigned. They will truly be an asset here! We find that we enjoy them so much--they are "joining" us on our trip to Cape Cod and Boston and Sharon, Vermont (where Elder Glade and Sister Claudia Mumford are currently serving) during the Temple Maintenance break the end of July. Can't wait!!

Outside the plaza of the world reknown Lincoln Center ( which just happens to be right across the street from the Apartment Building where the Temple Missionaries live and the NY Manhattan Temple)

Portrait of one of Opera's greatest performers, Luciano Pavarotti 

Sister Holloway, Sister M and Judy Eggleston just before the ABT's performance of "The Sleeping Beauty" 

The gorgeous fountain in the plaza of the Metropolitan Opera House and the Lincoln Center

Inside The Met--viewing the stage for ABT (American Ballet Theater) production of "The Sleeping

 Beauty". I went with 2 new friends--Sister Elaine Holloway (our newest Temple Missionary) and 

Judy Eggleston, a musically-talented and very outgoing lady from Turlock, CA . She is in NYC to 

have some opera lessons and "audience" with a few of the great names in Opera performance at the Met. 

Sort of "in the dark"--but I was there!

A view of the stage and Orchestra pit from our seats

The very busy plaza of The Met before the show

All the famous Opera stars who have performed at the Met over it's long history of performances 

The view at night

New friends

L to R--Judy Egglston, Sister Holloway and Elder Holloway (inside our NY apartment )

On the landing inside The Met ((next to a famous statue--but I forgot who😏) Guess I'll have to "return again" and check it out more closely😉!