THE VESSEL AT HUDSON YARDS: NEW YORK'S NEWEST LANDMARK

**UPDATE**

The interior  of The Vessel is temporarily closed

except for the ground level base.

 

VESSEL: (ves-sel)

1. A ship or large boat, 
such as used by Stannis' army in Game of Thrones.

2. A container: a cask, bottle, bowl or cup, 
such as used to hold Tyrion's wine in Game of Thrones.

3. A tube or canal used to circulate body fluid, 
such as the ice water that flowed through Cersei's veins 
in Game Of Thrones.

4. The name of New York City's newest interactive landmark,
a sculptural staircase, located near the corporate headquarters of HBO, 
the network which brought us Game of Thrones. 

The Vessel is a giant interactive sculpture, if you will, 
smack in the middle of Hudson Yards, NYC's hottest new address.

It's a spiral staircase of epic proportions.........

154 interconnecting flights of stairs with 2500 steps and 80 landings
(much to the chagrin of Game of Thrones fans, 
not one of those landings is Kings Landing).

Climbers are rewarded with interesting views of the city, the Hudson River, and more. 

I've had The Vessel on my to-do list ever since it opened in March.
A perfect opportunity to visit presented itself when I 
made plans to have lunch with a friend I used to work with at HBO.
HBO recently moved from 42nd Street and 6th Avenue to Hudson Yards.

Lunch and The Vessel: Done and Done.

There was one more thing on my wish-list that day: 

I wanted to sit on The Throne.

And by throne, I don't mean the porcelain one that so many pray to.......

I'm talking about THE throne........ the iron one.......
the rightful heir to which is.......

Ohhhhhh no-no-no-no-no, you're not going to get any spoilers out of me, dragon breath! 

Junior Goo Shoes is a huge Game of Thrones fan, 

and he would have banished me to Castle Black 
if I didn't take him with me to the lobby of HBO's corporate offices,
where the Iron Throne sits.
With my HBO I.D. card long expired,
my friend graciously met us so that Junior GS, two of his friends, and I
could sit on the throne and take pictures

 that were sure to make our friends Insta-jealous.  

After a lovely lunch catching up with my friend, I was off to take pictures of The Vessel.

I had my good camera with me, and my plan was to take some exterior shots,

and then ride the elevator to the top, and walk down.
I'd stop on different landings for different perspectives. 

I got ready to take my first shot, and pressed on the shutter button.......

Hey, what's going on here? Why isn't my camera.......

CRAP.

 

 I left the battery in the charger at home. 😖

 As for stellar pictures, well, as Arya in Game of Thrones so memorably put it.......

Not today.

So, friends, I give you..........The Vessel: Cell Phone Edition.

I decided it wouldn't be worth going inside without my real camera, 
so that will have to wait for another time.

If you plan to climb The Vessel, be sure to acquire tickets in advance.

They are free, but in order to control congestion, tickets are required.
You can also try to get tickets the day of your visit at the site,

but your time of entry will be whenever they can accommodate you.

Hudson Yards is a cool place to visit.
In addition to The Vessel, there are restaurants, and indoor mall........

.......and The Shed, a recently-opened arts center for the 21st Century,
hosting galleries, music, dance, theater and more. 

It's also where The High Line connects to Hudson Yards,
so I strongly recommend adding this new destination to your itinerary 
when in New York City.

At the end of the day, 

Junior Goo Shoes and his friends burned up the internet
with pictures of themselves sitting on the throne.......

and me?
Well, let's just say I was burned up, too, 

but in a more angry, I-forgot-my-camera-battery kind of way.

At least I got to sit on the Iron Throne.
There's that. 

LINKING WITH:
Best Of The Weekend
Our World Tuesday 

FLOWER BOXES OF CHARLESTON

To say that Charleston, South Carolina is a delight for shutterbugs 
is a bit like saying kids will have a great time in Disneyworld.
It's kind of a "duh" statement, as Charleston boasts magnificent architecture, 
colorful residences, picturesque parks, waterfront walkways, historic charm, 
and yes, even the food is particularly Insta-worthy.

Along with all of that, something else caught my photographer's eye --

Almost every house had window boxes overflowing with flowers.
I wondered if it was a town ordinance, or something.........
Thou shalt have flower boxes!

I was a pretty annoying travel companion, 
stopping every five feet to photograph yet another window box,
but they added such charm to Charleston,
I couldn't help myself. 
Just imagine walking past these homes, one after the other,
each with the owner's individual flower box style 
perched outside the windows for the pure pleasure of passersby.

Come, stroll with me.........
perhaps these photos may help you think "outside the flower box" 
and spark some new ideas for your own container garden creations.

 

Sometimes, the things we bring back from our travels 
are ideas to use at home.
It's a way of keeping travel present in our daily lives.
Unfortunately, I also brought home an five extra pounds of body weight.......
a daily reminder of the amazing food in Charleston.
That's one souvenir I'm hoping to shed quickly. 

I've got lots more to tell you about my recent weekend in Charleston.
Stay tuned!

COMING SOON: THINGS TO DO IN CHARLESTON

LINKING WITH:
Best Of The Weekend
Through My Lens 
Our World Tuesday

PHOTO DIARY APRIL 2019: SPRINGING TO LIFE

I've been laying low in the blogosphere this month.

Not intentionally........it's just been an exceptionally busy month.

I split my time among three states........

Euphoria

Flux

Anxiety 

Oh, and New Jersey, New York, and Florida.

Yup, the month was hectic.

Among the highlights:

We celebrated our 25th Anniversary! 💝💝

We saw Network, an amazing Broadway show with Bryan Cranston.

The fundraiser that I organized for my synagogue was attended by over 200 people.

We took a quick trip to Florida.

I hosted the first night of Passover.

We went to visit Junior Goo Shoes at school. 

Game of Thrones returned! 

And..........

I finally met a blog friend I've admired for years --

Suzan from Simply Vintageous!

Suzan is from Montreal, and on her recent trip to NYC 
to celebrate a big birthday, we met for lunch.

Yes, there was a picture, but I'm honoring her request not to post it.

Suzan doesn't blog anymore, but she is quite active on Instagram.

Check out her incredible photos and mini-stories here.  

And now, I'm off to catch a flight to Charleston 
for a girls' weekend to celebrate my sister's birthday!

A perfect view of Jr. Goo Shoes' campus from high atop a mountain.

Crossing under the Pershing Square viaduct across from Grand Central Central.

Finches made their way back to NJ.

This happened one morning at the salon. 

Not quite the greeting we had hoped for on a quick trip to Florida.........

Things improved after that.  

A buffet of dog toys: bagel with cream cheese, ice cream cone and hotdog with mustard.

Using the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel's very own Passover Haggadah at our seder.

Pretty houses all in a row in New York City.

Celebrated our 25th Anniversary at Network. Bryan Cranston was a-MAY-zing!

Sometimes you need a hot pretzel for lunch.

Spring is springing in the Big Apple.

It's not a photo diary without The Cardinal. Can't resist photos of him next to his faux twin.

"Summer In A Bottle" disappears from the shelves faster than daylight in winter, so I snagged it when I saw it.

Where does Sadie begin and end?

Upper East Side sleak and chic (and teak?) eatery, East Pole Fish Bar.

Feeling nostaglic about my office on W. 42nd Street for over 20 year (circled). The building is now empty as HBO moved this month to NYC's trendiest new address, Hudson Yards.

That's a wrap.

Till next time........