Grand Central Holiday Train Display

The Transit Museum Annex in Grand Central did a great job with it's annual holiday train display this year.

They added a few interactive buttons - you pushed a button and made something move. For example one of the buttons was connected to a toy oil rig and when you pushed the button the rig started "pumping for oil".



The trains start circling the big Christmas tree and then move a miniature version of New York City.

They end up going around the North Pole - passing by Santa Claus of course.

Happy Hanukkah

One of the many great things about New York is the celebration of so many cultures and religions. Hanukkah is celebrated as much as Christmas and you see menorahs in buildings and other places around the city. On Park Ave they have a huge menorah set up and every night of Hanukkah a Rabbi rides up a cherry picker to 'light' up the candle.

This menorah is one of my favorites, I've seen in before but I've never had the right timing to get a photo.

It is the mobile menorah! It is on a trailer hitched to the back of the motor home with the big banner featuring a Rabbi. There is also a broadcast speaker and someone shouts out religious greetings as the menorah drives the streets of New York.

An On-going Series: Unfortunately Named Nail Salons

Another nail salon with an unfortunate name - not as good as DMV nails, but it made me laugh.

Nails n Now...really? What is the 'Now' that is being offered. It just doesn't make any sense.

The Gangs of the Upper East Side

Looks like the kids on the Upper East Side decided to do some tagging in the subway station...

Yes, pip pip cheerio indeed!

Michael noticed the sign yesterday morning, I had to go and get a picture because this is funny on so many levels. And to keep giving proper credit, the one liner is his too.

It's Just What I Wanted!

I just got a packaged delivered - from wine.com, so I knew it had to be good.

It is a lovely bottle of sparkling wine and who gave it to me? Work!

This really is the best job ever.

Bloomingdale's Holiday Windows 2009

Continuing with the Holiday Window series:


The holiday windows at Bloomingdale's were unveiled earlier this month. I went down to see Harry Connick Jr. perform for the big debut, but I arrived too late. I really need to do some research on the Bloomingdale's windows. They just seem to be a hodge podge of flashy displays with no real theme. They repeatedly mention gifts and gift giving; my guess a not so subtle way to get people to loosen the purse strings this holiday season.

The first window talks all about color and it is filled with glitter teddy bears (including a row of dancing bears in colors of the rainbow - Grateful Dead anyone). The main parts of the window are a glittered up bear on a motorcycle and two bears reading a story to a child.





After the bears there is a double window display that featured Dynamic Duos - it is pairs of famous characters waiting in line to see Santa Claus.

The pairs include Batman and Robin, Anthony and Cleopatra, salt and pepper, annnnnnnddddd (wait for it)...........







The President and Mrs. Obama!




The next window is interactive - you can't tell from my picture but if you stand in the right spot (it's marked on the sidewalk) in front of the window you are displayed inside the big smiling mouth. Everyone likes being on TV, so this is a crowd favorite.




After the interactive display we move on to the 'give women shoes' window. It is a big shoe filled with shoes on a conveyor belt with a shoe chandelier and shoes decorating the Christmas tree. I hope that little boy is giving his mom a pair of shoes - this isn't a woman who wants chocolate or a scarf for Christmas!

Moving down the line we get to a window I think is pretty cute. It shows the Dad of the family looking at himself in the mirror and seeing Santa in the reflection. The window talks about the Secret Santa in all of us (or something like that - you get the gist).

The final special holiday window has just a little touch of crazy. It's a huge snowman Santa that kind of swings around. He has a big star in his hand, maybe for the top of the tree?

The best part is, he wasn't holding a star in his hand when the windows were unveiled. He was holding a child! I remember thinking it looked like he was going to eat the kid. It was like King Kong Snow Santa was out to get all of the naughty boys and girls. Apparently I wasn't the only one who thought this wasn't quite right because the display has been changed.

Please note, the photo above, with the child in Santa's hand, is credited to a "PMc". I didn't get a shot opening night and when I went back to take a picture the display had been changed. I grabbed this photo from another blog.

Where is the Bloomie's of last year - with nostalgic scenes and music from Tony Bennett?

Anthropologie Holiday Windows 2009

Well with HGTV not doing their holiday window special I am going to step up and do my part - I'll even give you windows and decorations they never covered!

Some of my favorite windows are the displays at the HUGE Anthropologie store at Rockefeller Center. They make their displays with unusual materials and they usually find a way to sneak in a hidden message.

In this window they use fabric, bunting, and bubble wrap to create 'snow' drifts.

This is a close up of how the materials are layered.

In this window the letters 'S' 'N' 'O' and 'W' are falling from the ceiling (get it, falling snow). My favorite part was the snowball that was really a little mouse igloo.

A close up of the mouse house:

All of the white squares and rectangles are pieces of fabric.

The trees are made from loops of long ribbons.

And finally these huge snowballs - some had tags with names on them. I'm not sure if that meant it was supposed to be a gift or if that is the intended snowball target??

Catch up - Waldron Invasion Oct 2009

The month of October was a complete blur.

We were either getting ready for company or had company to entertain. I think we've become pretty good tour guides over the years. We love to show off the city, so it makes it fun to find new ways to entertain our guests.



We started off with a long weekend with Michael's parents. We took a day off of work and rode Metro North to Cold Spring. Cold Spring is a charming little town that has a main street directly accessible from the train depot. It is on the Hudson and we were able to see some good color with the leaves. (They refer to people who come to see the leaves changing colors as 'leaf peepers' - and Cold Spring definitely welcomes leaf peepers.)



The main street in Cold Spring has a mix of little boutique stores and antique shops. One of the best stops was a pet store (no animals, just great toys for dogs and cats), I think it was called 'Reigning Cats and Dogs'. They had a huge supply of cats toys that I had never seen before and the prices were very reasonable. And just like people the cats like getting presents too!

The picture below is Michael with his parents in front of a building in Cold Spring. Can you believe the color of the leaves? It was really beautiful.








Of course after being out in the cold air we had to stop for a little snack to make sure we had energy for the train ride home.

We went to T-Bar steakhouse for dinner Friday night. Michael and I found T-Bar during restaurant week. It has a cool steakhouse/lounge vibe, good food, and reasonable prices. We did well as everyone left full and content. Michael and I are headed to T-Bar for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow night. They have their regular menu items plus a turkey platter with the trimmings and beef wellington. I like the idea of dressing up to go to dinner and no dishes! It's a change of pace from the big family dinner - both are good it's just nice to do something different. (Editor's note: Thanksgiving dinner was delicious. I had the turkey platter. It was a large portion of both white and dark meat with a pan gravy, butternut squash puree with a hint of maple syrup, roasted hericot vert, and a delightful cranberry relish. Michael had the Beef Wellington - the turkey dinner was better luckily I had more than enough to share.)

Saturday it was a rainy day and we spent most of our time inside in The Met. Dinner was at a fantastic Argentine restaurant, Nina's. Nina's specializes in Italian food (I know I just said it was Argentine, they are Italians from Argentina) - one of our favorite days is the 29th of the month when they serve 'Lucky Gnocchi'. They only serve gnocchi on the 29th of each month and under your plate there is always a surprise.



We were so lucky with the weather, Sunday was bright and sunny and that was the day we were headed to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Dinner Sunday was at a restaurant called 'Fish' (yes, the specialize in seafood) for dinner. Fish has a 'red, white, and blue' special - 6 Blue Point oysters or clams and a Pabst or glass of house red or white wine for $8. Helllooooo - do the math! With a deal like that how can you not eat there?! Pre-dinner we introduced Michael's parents to Murray's Cheese shop. I think they enjoyed it all.


Monday was a work day and Michael's parents headed to Philly to visit some dear family friends. That gave us a few days to relax, clean, and do laundry.



Thursday night Michael's sister and her boyfriend landed. They were here for the marathon and Chris (the boyfriend) was ready to run on Sunday. We were nice enough to make sure they had lucky gnocchi waiting for them for a late dinner Thursday night (no surprise under the plate when it's served at home). Friday night we enjoyed a few hours at The Met. They have a visiting display on the Samurai. There are swords, suits of armor, and amazing helmets on display. One suit of armor is so rare it only goes on display for two weeks every five years (or something like that - you get the gist). We had a late dinner at Candle Cafe - the sister restaurant to Candle 79. The food is gourmet vegan and very delicious. My favorite was my starter, grilled seitan with a chimichurri sauce. The grilled seitan had that great open flame char-grilled flavor.



Saturday Michael's parents were back in NYC - it was a full gaggle of Waldron's in our apartment. We had Nick's pizza for dinner. Nick's is a classic NYC thin crust coal oven pizza, great for a crowd and definitely wallet friendly. Saturday was also Halloween, we stayed far away from the madness of the Halloween parade in the Village. In our new apartment building there was a sign up sheet for trick-or-treating. If you wanted kids to come trick-or-treat you signed up and specified what time you would be there to hand out candy. It's a pretty good system considering we don't have a porch light to turn on or off - the suburban way to let trick-or-treaters know if you are handing out candy. We just had treats for the cute kids across the hall - they are little and one was a cheerleader and the other was an elephant.



Sunday was marathon day! We had to leave relatively early to make sure we could get across 1st Ave. They close off the streets and you are limited as to where you can easily travel in the city, especially in our area which is right on the course. Michael's mom made t-shirts for the group - they were awesome! We had strangers taking our picture and commenting on them all day (and of course we all loved the attention); one woman even said we should send in our picture to Ellen because she would put us on tv.



The marathoner, Chris, did have a t-shirt that said 'Chris' - but this photo was taken right after he met us post-marathon. He ran it in 2 hours 53 minutes and 50 seconds - totally amazing! We were all so proud of him and his accomplishment.






My shirt was really funny, it read "Chris' Girlfriend's Brother's Girlfriend". By the time people made it to me and started to read they would just kind of roll their eyes and give up. People really liked Jenn's shirt "Chris' Girlfriend" - it was the easiest to figure out the relation to Chris! We wondering if next year we'll see people copying the idea.....



Sunday we had dinner at an upscale Italian place just around the corner - after the long day it was good to have a mellow evening. Monday Jenn and Chris headed out to tour Vermont. Michael and I enjoyed one final dinner with Michael's parents at York Grill. Tuesday they were off to the airport and it was quiet again for a few days.



We had a great time with everyone in town. Can't wait for them to come back again!

The Rockettes

Last Thursday night I went to see the Rockette's Christmas Spectacular. As always the Rockette's are fabulous. The costumes are amazing and their high kicks are incredible.

One of my favorite parts is the very end, the theatre stages a living nativity. Every time I go I am amazed something so religious is presented, but every time the show is stunning.

Oh and there was some great Rockette themed merchandise available - including a Rockettini in a souvenir glass (a martini glass with the stem being a pair of Rockette legs), cocktails with light up swizzle sticks, cotton candy bundled with Santa hats, twirling Rockette dolls, and the Rockette popcorn bucket.

For anyone going to the show it is worth the price of admission.

I'm a Ranger

Well - OK, I'm thinking about becoming a Ranger.

Here we are two potential new hockey fans:

Thursday night Michael was able to get 2 free club level tix to the Ranger hockey game.

The seats were great, we were right down by the ice and we had food and beverage service.

It was great - two fights in the first period, Ranger Santa hats bundled with a bag of cotton candy, and crazy hockey fans. What more can you ask for on a Thursday night?!

My favorite part was when the Rangers scored a goal. They played a song and the entire arena sang along - check out the video.

Cat Wrestling

Roxy and Beckham have started to wrestle again - it took them a little while to get settled post-move.

A few weeks ago Beckham pulled this move - he tucked himself partially under the entertainment center so much like a turtle his back was protected.




He lured Roxy over to wrestle and she tried and tried to figure out how to get him, but she couldn't get a good angle. Finally she had enough and walked away.

Namaste

You all should be most impressed that not only did I activate my free week of yoga pass, but I've actually been using it as well.

3 yoga classes in the last 3 days and I am so freakin' sore!

This place is serious - the classrooms are high tech, everything is provided (mats, towels, blocks) and the locker room is absolutely beautiful. The instructors are fabulous but wow do they make you work. Yesterday I was sweating and muscles shaking during the poses - it was a 75 minute basics class that was more work than I've ever done in a yoga class. The class only had about 10 people in it so the instructor really worked with each of us individually to make sure we got each pose.

Unfortunately the regular membership prices are way too expensive for me to even consider joining. But I have 4 more days of classes this week and I intend to make the most out of the free pass before it expires.

3 Exercises

I did a few things I haven't done in a while today - I cleaned out my e-mail inbox and I checked my blog stats.



My most popular post ever was the list of the highest calorie restaurant meals. In that vein I am posting from an e-mail I have saved for months but never really read until today-



The Three Exercises You Must Do for a Tighter You
By Karen Berney



(I'm going to paraphrase here - because I know you all want to know the 3 exercises but I am really only going to talk about #1 on her list.)



#1 - bicycle the abs

#2 - squat the gluts

#3 - push ups for sculpted arms



Her article has a link to a Discovery Health web page:

http://health.discovery.com/centers/womens/popups/abdominal.html



The web page ranks "which abdominal exercise is best"



These ab exercises are listed in order from most effective to least effective.




Bicycle maneuver


Captain's chair*


*Captain's chair: You need a piece of gym equipment to do this. In essence, you lift and lower your knees toward your chest while gripping handholds and pressing your back against a back pad.



Crunches on an exercise ball



Vertical leg crunch


Torso Track


Long-arm crunch


Reverse crunch



Crunch with heel push


Ab Roller



Hover


Traditional crunch



Exercise tubing pull


Ab Rocker




Source: American Council of Exercise



I am totally fascinated with this - I mean if I am going to the trouble of doing an ab exercise I certainly want to do what is most effective (if you are going to try this at home please read up on the proper form, etc...do your own research because really you shouldn't believe everything you read on the Internet).



I'm really glad the #1 exercise is something I already know how to do - most of these exercises I've never even heard of, no wonder they aren't effective.



And hello infomercial products, I knew you were too good to be true! Ha!



Thanks for setting the record straight American Council of Exercise.



Tonight I scorn the fancy weight room and go back to the basics old school - I should have those sculpted abs in a matter of days, right?

Fashion Night Out - 2009

Or as I like to think of it, trick-or-treating for KO!

DVF (Diane Von Furstenberg) and others put together an event to kickoff Fashion Week and to get people out and shopping. (The retailers really need people to open their wallets again).

There were over 700 stores offering an array of events. Everything was free and I think everything was open to the public. Every store had a drawing, many had free food and cocktails and there were plenty of djs spinning - in fact if you needed a dj for a party that night you were probably outta luck, they were all working in Soho.

I had to do some research to try and map out the best route. I wanted to hit Soho, the Meatpacking District (MPD), Saks, Bloomies, and Pure Yoga located in the Upper East Side.

Luckily I called Pure Yoga before I headed out for the night. While most stores were hosting events from 6 - 11pm, they were going to close after the last class of the day, about 9pm. I knew I didn't want to head all the way up to the UES by 9 so I waited until 6 and stopped there first (it's pretty much on the way to the subway station - so an easy way to start the night).

Pure Yoga was offering a free week of yoga classes (retail value $170) and as it turns out a box of coconut water (love the stuff, it's oddly refreshing - but definitely not an expected taste - retail value $1.99).

15 minutes in to the night I was already ahead $172! Yay for me.

I hopped on the train and headed straight to Soho. First stop - the Anna Sui for Target pop-up store.

Oh no - a line, do I wait or do I move on and try to come back later? I quickly determine the line is moving quickly and the girls behind me were gossiping about some party where Tom Colicchio cooked a vegan meal - good eavesdropping material - I can wait. The store was so cute. It was covered in purple and black fabric and had a romantic/goth kind of vibe. They had actors (at least I assumed they were paid human props) placed in various locations throughout the store portraying the idea of various Gossip Girl characters (the Anna Sui line was inspired by the Gossip Girl characters). The store was staged in an empty store with multiple levels. The lighting was dim and the clothes were tucked in to corners. You started out going downstairs and then walked up two levels - when you were ready to check out you walked down a level and ended up at the registers which were street level. They did a good job and the collection was really fun. Most of the items were waaaaayyyy to young for me (most of the dressers were in junior sizing - yikes), but I nabbed a few fab pieces and headed on my way. After departing the store I was stopped twice by other shoppers wanting to know where the store was and what the clothes were like.

I had a store in mind for my next stop but didn't get there. I made a quick stop at Via Spiga to sign up to win a $2,500 shoe collection and enjoy a chocolate dipped strawberry. (retail value: $4.00 - total for the night $176).

I wandered in to a store that was featuring a musician. There were free drinks, but I was not dressed for the vibe and moved along quickly. Right next door there was a new Swarovski concept store (I was so dazzled by all of the sparkly things I didn't exactly get the concept - I think they have lots of individual gems and you basically create custom jewelry). They were pouring free champagne and had a bar with nuts, cheese, and crackers. (retail value: glass of champagne $12.00, cheese plate $8.00 - total for the night $196). The store was gorgeous and had tons of stuff to look at as you were eating. Next to the bar was a display of designer shoes - various shoe designer reinterpreted the iconic 'ruby slipper' from the Wizard of Oz. I am in love the the Manolos!

They had costumes on display and of course a dj spinning downstairs. The best part about the downstairs was a nice clean restroom with no line.

My goal was to make it to Sephora in Soho and win the makeover with Oscar Blandi. On my way I took a slight detour to the Burberry store. They had a drawing for a classic Burberry trench - how could I pass up that opportunity? As I wandered through the store in search of the form to fill out for the drawing I picked up another free glass of champagne (retail value $12.00 - total for the night $208). The store was packed and of course had a super trendy young crowd with a dj spinning. I stayed just long enough to fill out my entry form and drink my champagne - no time to waste, I had better places to visit! Before I made it to Sephora I had to stop in one of my favorite stores in Soho, Uniqlo. It is a Japanese store that sells great pieces for great prices. The siren song of the velvet blazer (which has been banned from my wardrobe due to it's unflattering fit) called out to me -but I resisted.

This same velvet blazer was available in an array of colors including the most wonderful soft gray...sigh.

On the way out I did score a bottle of Japanese ice tea - check out the fancy pants label (it is probably the equivalent of generic blue label in Japan but my Western brain was impressed).

(estimated retail value: $3 - total for the night $211)

Finally Sephora. Well I missed the hair cut, but I did get to see Oscar Blandi (stylist to the stars). In a way I think I'm OK with not getting the makeover. Apparently it wasn't in his salon at a later date - it was live in the front of the store. Oscar was over by his makeshift station and there was hair all over the floor. I'm not sure I would have enjoyed a makeover in front of a big crowd. I met with one of the people in charge of product development and she talked up the shampoo. I was in need of new shampoo and it smelled absolutely fabulous (lemon verbena - similar to the Bliss lemon - sage body butter). His hair care line also offers a dry shampoo that has the same lovely scent. I have been using the products for about 2 weeks now and I'm really happy with my purchase (aside from it being a little heavy to carry that night).

The Oscar Blandi rep tossed in a bunch of free samples and Sephora had their own sample pack - I left with all kinds of fun stuff. To me there are few things as much fun as a bag full of makeup/beauty product samples - you get to test a product out without any potential buyer's remorse.

Not sure if samples have any retail value, I'm not adding them to my total....

On my way to the subway, I stopped in the Lucky Brand jeans store - the lured me in with talk of free cupcakes and free t-shirts. The t-shirts were pretty cool but there was a huge line. They were individually silk screening each shirt as you waited. Great concept, but poor execution - the line was all over the place and clearly it was a huge time commitment. I passed on both the t-shirt and the cupcake.

At this point it was about 9:30 and I was ready to head north. I was either going to Bloomies, Saks, or DSW. DSW was giving away a pair of shoes every 30 minutes and the big prize was a year of free shoes (one pair a month for 12 months). Yay for shoes. I caught an express train and decided I would sign up for the year of shoes. Stylist Bobbi Thomas was on-hand to provide fashion advice and give away shoes. I was just in time for the 9:30 drawing but they didn't call my name. The grand prize drawing was at 10pm and the winner had to be present to win. I decided to stay and really, how fast does 30 minutes go by when you are trying on shoes. The store had quite a different crowd than Soho - definitely not as young, beautiful, or trendy. There was no free champagne or dj spinning. Unfortunately 10pm came and went and I left not winning any shoes. Bummer!

I really wanted to end my night at Bloomies but I was getting tired and I wanted to look for flats at the Steve Madden store in our neighborhood. I am in desperate need of some good flat shoes for fall and they had everything in the store on sale.

Back on the train headed for the UES. I stopped in Steve Madden (very loud dj spinning - it's a small space, when the shoes are vibrating on the shelves it's time to turn the volume down). I tried on a few pairs but no luck.

I had a coupon for 25% off of everything at Banana Republic - the last stop of the night. They were serving sparking water and had a cute spread with nuts, cheese, and crackers. I refueled with some sparkling water and some cheese and crackers. I found a cute sweater and lilac colored top, grabbed a bottle of water and checked out just at 11pm. (retail value: glass of sparkling water: $3, bottled water: $2, cheese plate: $8 - total for the evening: $224 in free merchandise!).

I'm not sure how successful the event was for a retailer. Lots of people were in the stores but the only place I really saw merchandise flying off of the racks was in the Anna Sui for Target pop-up store. I think many people were like me, in for the party, the drawings, and the freebies!

I need to sign up for my free week of yoga - it's on my list for tomorrow. I can't wait as the coupon has to be used by October 9th, I don't want to miss out on my best deal of the night.

The Cloisters

The weather has been really nice, every weekend we try to get outside as much as possible.

One Sunday we took a trip up to the Cloisters. I can't describe it any better than what is on the web page:

The Cloisters, the branch of The Metropolitan Museum of Art devoted to the art and architecture of medieval Europe, was assembled from architectural elements, both domestic and religious, that date from the twelfth through the fifteenth century. The building and its cloistered gardens—located in Fort Tryon Park in Northern Manhattan—are treasures in themselves, effectively part of the collection housed there. The Cloisters collection comprises approximately five thousand works of art from medieval Europe, dating from about the ninth to the fifteenth century.

http://www.metmuseum.org/cloisters/

Fort Tryon is pretty much right across the street from the Hudson river and was absolutely gorgeous that afternoon. It's also way up in the northern tip of Manhattan. Just because I wanted to see the sights on the way up to the park we took the bus. It's about an hour ride and goes through Harlem.

Seeing all of the works of art in what feels like an original setting is so awesome. Being medieval many of the artifacts are religious in nature - especially the many stained glass windows. Looking at a set of stained glass windows from the 1400's makes me wonder if the person who made them realized they would last for so long and who else has looked through that same window.....

Along with the religious articles there are plenty of courtyards and arches with fabulous architectural details.

Same courtyard, different view:

And a different indoor courtyard - the cats would love this!

And more arches....

one more arch - it's just so pretty I can't resist.

I loved the colors in this fresco - how do you move a fresco? And many of the items on display came from private collectors, how big is your home if this is on display?

New Yankee Stadium Tour

This tour was awesome. I am not a Yankee fan but I do enjoy baseball and I appreciate what you get to see on the tour. I think most people would enjoy it, baseball fan or not - but if you are a die hard Red Sox fan just take the tour of Fenway and call it a day.

This was the first time I had been to new Yankee Stadium - a huge improvement over the old Yankee Stadium. The old stadium had tight corridors that were always dark and packed with people. Now when you enter Yankee Stadium you enter a huge open and bright great hall. Banners line the hall, black and white photos on one side and color photos on the other side.




Also at the entrance there is a large club store and Hard Rock Cafe. (Yes, Ernie I bought you a t-shirt, it's in pile of packages I need to mail.)




The first stop on the tour is the Yankee museum. They really did a nice job with the space and the collection. The memorabilia is incredible.

The first thing you notice is a glass display case in the middle of the room. The display case and statues are honoring the perfect game thrown during the World Series in 1956. On one side is the pitcher, Don Larsen, and on the other side is the catcher, Yogi Berra. The top of the display case was built to mimic the exact trajectory of the game winning pitch. The display case also holds hundreds of signed baseballs - the Yankees are trying to get a signed ball from every player to wear the Yankee uniform.





The next part of the museum is divided in the eras - the Joe DiMaggio era, the Mickey Mantle era, and the Derek Jeter era. They have everything from uniforms, unused World Series tickets stubs, and World Series trophies on display.

The museum also holds the locker of Thurmun Munson. He was a charismatic player from the 70s who was killed in a plane crash during the season. Out of respect for him, they left his locker untouched in the clubhouse. When the new stadium was opened they moved the entire locker to the museum.

Next stop on the tour, Monument Park. The Yankees have a small portion of the field set aside for a small park filled with all kinds of commemorative plaques and statues. It was raining on and off all day during our visit. While we were in the museum it was pouring - when we first stepped out in to Monument Park the rain had stopped, but that didn't last for long as you can see by all of the open umbrellas.

This was erected in honor of the heroes and victims from 9/11.

This is for the visit by the Pope last April.

JasO and MW in Monument Park - at least with the rain most of the other people on the tour were not in the open part of the park.

After about 10 - 15 minutes in Monument Park they herded the tour group over to the Yankee dugout! The rain stopped and we were able to look out on the field and sit on the bench just like all of the players.

This is the view from the expensive seats, walking down to the Yankee dugout.

Hey look at us - were standing in the Yankee dugout!

Here is Michael is watching the action at home plate. (OK, so there is no action at home plate, but it sure is fun to imagine yourself a major league ball player. Seeing the stadium from their point of view is awesome.)

Hey look who's sitting on the Yankee bench - JasO and KO. Do you think this is Jeter's spot on the bench? The dugout is air conditioned (there is a vent right behind my head) - after all we can't have the players getting too hot during the game. But the league has some rule that the visiting team must have all of the same amenities as the home team, so the visiting team gets an air conditioned dugout too.

Hey, now who's on the bench - it's JasO and MW. KO must be at bat (or taking the picture - one of those two things).

This picture wasn't taken to highlight the fine hair styling of this die hard Yankee fan (she was so excited to get the free key chain at the end of the tour -she immediately unwrapped it and put it on her key ring) - but to show our great tour guide. He knew so much about the Yankees past and present, he gave us a great tour and was sure to highlight some of the little things that make the stadium special.

Looking up behind the dugout.

Looking across the field to the scoreboard from the dugout.

Looking over to home plate from the dugout.

And they saved the best part of the tour for last - but no cameras were allowed. They took us from the dugout in to the Yankee clubhouse (locker room). The clubhouse is huge, it is a big oval room with the lockers lining the outside and two seating areas with leather arm chairs in the middle. The carpet has a big Yankee logo in the very center of the room. The lockers were really modern looking and stylish. They just barely let you in the door about 15 - 20 feet and then usher you out a side door. All the way at the other end of the room are the lockers for the big name players. It was interesting to see which locker was where and what was in the locker. Lots of clothes and uniforms, some dry cleaning, some mail and packages.

Right behind the dugout, before you enter the clubhouse there are batting cages for the players to use during the game - one even has a pitcher's mound.

There is also a wall dispenser of Purell, which prompted someone on the tour to say - that is the hand sanitizer Derek Jeter uses! But if it is hand sanitizer, doesn't that mean there really should be no trace of anyone who uses it? Just a little something to ponder.

After they move you through the clubhouse the tour ends in true Disney style, at the gift shop!

It's a really great tour and I recommend it for anyone that is remotely interested in baseball. The tour tickets have been a hot item this season and I had to purchase our tickets on Stub Hub. I don't think they offer tours on game days, and even if they did I don't think they would let you in the dugout or clubhouse on a game day - so best to wait until the team is out of town or in the off season.