Melissa and Jim

I don't know where summer went. Here are a few pics of what we have been up to lately

Memorial weekend we went to the NY Botanical Garden. It is basically just a forest, but when you are no longer accustom to seeing nature it is quite impressive.


Last week we visited the New Museum. Some of the exhibits were more exciting than others. The building itself was actually my favorite part.


There has been a parade on our street almost every weekend this summer . I think this is
the India parade. The Gay Pride parade was by far the most exciting. I can't believe I didn't take pictures of it...let's just say there was no shortage of shiny Speedos :) Thankfully, our apartment is at the back of the building so the parades don't intrude on my afternoon naps.


We spent a lot of summer weekend afternoons at Mamoun's Falafel. Delicious falafel pitas for just $2.50 and it is just a block away from Washington Square park.

This morning I was thinking about the films I have seen this year, and what has stood out. I thought 2009 was a pretty weak year for film, and so far I feel 2010 is shaping up a little better.

This last weekend we took the subway up to 116th street to see Columbia. The main campus was beautiful! You can tell a school has cash when all of their buildings look like Roman colosseums or colonial mansions and the the landscaping is basically a botanical garden. Columbia was the first college in NY state and the 5th in America.

I knew the largest cathedral in the US was somewhere nearby so after we were done touring the campus we set out to search for it. Just a few blocks away we found this giant church which we were sure must be it. The building took up an entire block!

Satisfied with our discovery we set out in search of a smoothie shop (NYC is getting incredibly hot and steamy) and ran into this...
The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, which is actually the largest cathedral in the US. It was massive. There was even a choir inside practicing.

Also, on our little adventure we stumbled across Grant's Tomb. We have lived here 7 months and it still shocks me how amazing this city is.

Over Memorial Day weekend we went to Coney Island. This is my favorite picture from our trip...

Coney Island is one of those places that you only go once. We went to the restaurant that invented hot dogs.

We ate our hot dogs on the beach and let's just say there were not very many beach ready bodies around.


Then we walked by the freak show on our way to the subway and went home. It was enough Coney Island to last me a lifetime.