March 2019 Trip to Sharon, Boston (LibrePlanet Conference), and New York City
 
  IMG_4251 IMG_4252 20190321_165341 IMG_4253 20190320_185701  
 
  Sue at DIA - everyone in security line must go 2 by 2 past this dog handler. At the moment the line is stopped while the dog takes a break. When the dog is back "on", the handler weaves the dog in between each pair of peopkle walking down this aisle. Why? The dog wasn't sniffing at the people. Are the posts hiding facial recognition? I asked 3 airport securty folks and all denied any knowledge of what was going on...??? Meanwhile... Bob in traffic - on the airport shuttle bus - trying to get to Boston Logan to meet Sue's flight. It helped greatly having a "tour guide" to get from airport -> shuttle bus -> subway -> hike -> hostel without getting lost 4 times :-) Friday we touristed around Boston Commons and the Freedom Trail, but the rain made photo taking difficult. Here's one stop we made at the Granary Burial Grounds. Restroom at Free Software Foundation (FSF) office - great sign for diversity/inclusion!  

 
  20190320_185740 IMG_4254 DSCN9744 DSCN9745 DSCN9746  
 
  GNU costume at FSF office Sue with GNU gnu at Friday eve welcome party. No pictures at the conference, but videos are available for download at LibrePlanet.org media download Monday after LibrePlanet Conference, catching a train down to NYC to tourist for a few days. Train was inexpensive, VERY comfy, and great views of the cities and ocean-front from Boston South-Station to NYC Penn Station Rest of the train was empty pulling out of South Station. A bunch of people got on at Back Bay, and more as we headed south, but in general the train was nowhere near full.  

 
  20190325_145849 IMG_4257 IMG_4258 IMG_4260 IMG_4262  
 
  In NYC eating street food for lunch - great gyros! In Penn Station, Austin (VERY nice helpful homeless guy) taught us how to get a subway card and gave us great hints on how to navigate around. Wish we'd given him a bigger tip! Gorgeous churches in NYC from mid-east-side hostel, heading north-west towards Central Park to start touristing around. Lots of beautiful buildings Statue at south-east end of Central Park - William Tecumseh Sherman - Civil War general on his horse, led by a winged female figure personifying victory. Horse-and-carriage rides available in Central Park  

 
  20190325_174752 20190325_175050 IMG_4263 IMG_4264 IMG_4265  
 
  Sue in Central Park black squirrel. We also saw a grey squirrel. Interesting diversity in one park! Fire Hydrant - buried in the ground after so many years of dirt accumulation? Or was it planned this way? Just doesn't look planned... Daniel Webster "Liberty and Union, Now and Forever, One and Inseparable"  

 
  20190325_200934 DSCN9749 DSCN9750 DSCN9753 DSCN9756  
 
  Next we walked down 5th Avenue in uptown (higher street numbers) then subway'd down to downtown (lower street numbers) and all the way under the river to Brooklyn. Pretzel for dinner (it's now 10pm) inside the Subway station In Brooklyn we wandered around till we found our way up onto the Brooklyn Bridge, which is fun to walk across, especially at night. There's a very nice pedestrian and bike path above the traffic for residents to commute or tourists to wander across the bridge. Looking north to the Manhatten Bridge - cars on top, subway on lower deck It's past sunset and the traffic is just now beginning to not be gridlock. On a Monday.  

 
  DSCN9757 DSCN9762 DSCN9764 20190325_213321 DSCN9766  
 
  Manhatten Skyline Blurry shot looking way south - central greenish is the Statue of Liberty Bob and Sue on the Brooklyn Bridge, south-east Manhatten in background. Notice hats and gloves, it's COLD in March here! But hey it's not raining :-) Delivery bikes For Bill Tucker  

 
  DSCN9767 DSCN9770 DSCN9772 DSCN9773 DSCN9779  
 
  Sue at the Wall Street charging bull Iconic landmark! Caught the 10:30pm Staten Island ferry - free! Yeah it's blurry, but trust us that's the real Statue of Liberty. You'd need a tripod to get a good shot at night from a moving boat. Bob and Sue selfie with Statue of Liberty  

 
  DSCN9781 DSCN9782 20190325_211100 DSCN9784 DSCN9791  
 
  We lucked out and caught the 11pm ferry back, didn't have to wait 30 minutes for the next ferry. Now trying for a better shot on the ferry back, but it's just tough at night. Sue stares out at the skylines at night. The ferry was mostly empty this late at night (it runs 24 hours a day on the half hour). Bob and Sue with Manhatten Skyline from Staten Island ferry at 11:15pm looking back Times Square at midnight  

 
  DSCN9792 DSCN9793 20190326_001425 20190326_001427 20190326_001430  
 
  Even on a Monday at midnight there's plenty of people here By 1am it's starting to thin out. More great shots around Times Square  

 
  20190326_001454 20190326_001458 DSCN9799 DSCN9806 DSCN9807  
 
  We then walked north till we ran into... The Late Show Sue under the sign Radio City Music Hall  

 
  DSCN9812 DSCN9815 DSCN9818 DSCN9819 DSCN9820  
 
  Tuesday morning we started at Grand Central Station, to catch a subway over to the Intrepid Sea/Air/Space museum Man this place is huge! Gorgeous and busy place Carvings on the ceiings are beautiful On the hike from the subway stop to Intrepid - NYPD smart cars!  

 
  DSCN9822 DSCN9824 DSCN9825 DSCN9828 IMG_4269  
 
  whole row of them. Pretty cute, and useful! Intrepid aircraft carrier / museum nice walkway over the busy street to the entrance Enterprise space shuttle inside a building on the rear deck of the carrier tons of way cool aircraft on the Intrepid front deck - this is an Israeli Kfir (meaning "lion cub" in Hebrew)  

 
  IMG_4268 IMG_4270 IMG_4271 IMG_4272 IMG_4273  
 
  Info about the Kfir F16 Info about the F16A Lockheed A-12 -- Smaller precursor of the SR71 Info about the A-12  

 
  IMG_4275 IMG_4274 IMG_4277 IMG_4276 IMG_4282  
 
  F14 Tomcat Info about the Tomcat Grumman A-6E Intruder Info about the Grumman A-6E Intruder Grumman F11F Tiger (also used by Blue Angels)  

 
  IMG_4278 IMG_4283 IMG_4284 IMG_4286 IMG_4285  
 
  Info about the Tiger Grumman F9F-8 Cougar Info about the Grumman F9F-8 Cougar Grumman WF-2 Tracer Info about the Grumman WF-2 Tracer  

 
  IMG_4287 20190326_135735 20190326_135853 IMG_4288 IMG_4290  
 
  More and more cool planes! Bell UH-1A Huey More info. John is not mentioned :-( The elevator is down a couple feet from the main deck - we take a ride on the restored and functional aircraft elevator while a guide gives us a talk on how these elevators were used. The "meatball" aiming system for aircraft carrier landings - follow the center red dot!  

 
  IMG_4289 IMG_4291 IMG_4292 IMG_4293 IMG_4295  
 
  Info on the optical landing system Bob at the optical landing sytem Paddle-boarder in the calm waters next to the Intrepid Also on display - the Growler submarine Used for potential missile warfare during the cold war  

 
  DSCN9830 DSCN9832 DSCN9833 IMG_4297 DSCN9834  
 
  Sue after taking photos of the outside of the Growler. The tour inside the sub was pretty cool too! After a couple hours here, we finally waved good-bye to the Intrepid. Pretty cool how the Space Shuttle "Enterprise" is in the building on the rear deck - a museum inside a museum! Then we hiked to the north end of the High Line trail - an abandoned raised railway turned into pedestrian walkway and gardens. Looking back north-west at the river and New Jersey on the west side  

 
  DSCN9836 20190326_165053 IMG_4298 20190326_165746 20190326_165806  
 
  High Line goes right by the West side of Penn Station with all the trains outside More info about the High Line trail and its long restoration/creation Looking north along the trail. The old railbed has been allowed to "go wild". Not sure what this is, but a lot of people are walking up and down it! Closer-up view of the trainyard on the west side of Penn Station from the High Line.  

 
  20190326_171648 IMG_4301 IMG_4302 IMG_4303 IMG_4304  
 
  Getting off the High Line to find out what this interesting set of stairs is. Tourists posing at the entrance. No strollers, and guards at entrance were just enforcing a quota of how many people were allowed in at a time. Ah, "Hudson Yards". Free to walk up, just get a free ticket so they can count number of visitors. Times Square during the day Nowhere near as impressive as at night  

 
  20190326_175333 20190326_175341 IMG_4305 IMG_4309 IMG_4311  
 
  Way cool parking lot with vertical parking slots for cars! Innovative! Sue at M&M store Sue with Transformer Robot inside FAO Schwartz Lego store with cool toys to build like the Falcon  

 
  IMG_4312 IMG_4313  
 
  Lego version of the outdoor ice rink at Rockafeller Center (just 2 steps down the street) and yes there are people ice skating for real! Rockafeller tower with cool lights around it