Perfect Moment Monday -- The Big Apple Part 2

Tom and I in Times Square at night.
Lots of lights!

Each month I participate in Perfect Moment Monday, sponsored by the blog, WriteMindOpenHeart.com According to Lavender Luz, "Perfect Moment Monday" is about noticing a perfect moment rather than creating one. Perfect Moments can be momentous or ordinary or somewhere in between." And so, here is a Perfect Moment for this month.

As part of Tom's curriculum, we had the opportunity to go to New York City together. My parents flew out to PA to do some "teen-sitting." It was PERFECT to have some time alone with Tom to relax with friends, see the city, take in a couple of shows and have a lot of fun.

As part of our trip, we went on Small Group Visits to tour a couple of large organizations. I figured these would be once-in-a-lifetime opportunities and was excited to attend.

The organizations we got to see were the New York Container Terminal and the Port Authority.

Wow! I learned a lot about transportation in New York.

Tom at the New York Container Terminal.

The New York Container Terminal is the port where a large number of cargo ships arrive bringing containers full of materials to sell in U.S. and Canadian markets. Large trucks come to the Terminal to load the containers and transport these materials all across the U.S. and Canada.

To get a better understanding of how important this port is, they can access 20% of the U.S. population in under 8 hours with goods, and more than 30% of the population in under 48 hours.That's a lot of hauling!

The Port Authority is responsible for all transit between New Jersey and New York including trains, buses, subways, airplanes and the bridges and tunnels. We got to see one of their emergency control rooms that are "stood up" during times of crisis (see pictures below), which might include things like Hurricane Irene, 9/11, and other situations that require cross-agency communication.

The other Small Group Visit we participated in was to the Suriname Mission (part of the United Nations). The reason we went to Suriname was that Tom has a student in his seminar who is from Suriname, which is located on the northern part of South America. The ambassador from that country, and three of his five staff people, met with us to educate us on their country and their role at the United Nations. It was very interesting.

In addition to our tours, we got to see Wicked (the story that happened before the Wizard of Oz), and my favorite, Rock of Ages. If you grew up during the 80's and liked the music, you would love this show. It was the highlight of our trip.

Add in a little New York shopping, several delicious restaurants, lots of walking in Times Square and staying at an elegant hotel near Times Square, and you have the makings for a Perfect trip.

It was full of Perfect Moments and I'm so grateful for our time away.

Here are some pictures from our trip.

A picture out our hotel window.

The Empire State Building at night.

Grand Central Station.

Hugh Jackman getting into his limousine after his show.
No. You can't really see him, but there was a lot of excitement!

New York City Library which is a cross between a museum and a library. Wow!

Elevator up to the 5th level of the crane at the New York Container Terminal.
We got to ride in the 4-person elevator and take a look around. VERY HIGH!

Looking out from the top of the crane. Don't look down!

Loading and unloading the cargo ship.

Control Room at the NY Port Authority.

It was a great trip FULL of Perfect Moments!

If you'd like to check out more Perfect Moment Mondays go to WriteMindOpenHeart.com by clicking here.