N.Y.C. to New Hampshire Part 1

Warning: Long post with lots of pictures....

We had the opportunity a couple of weeks ago to spend some time in the north-eastern U.S.   Craig is in the process of applying to a few grad schools, one of which happens to be Dartmouth (which is in New Hampshire).  While most schools look at the applications, and then decide to invite certain people back to interview, Dartmouth has an open interview policy - which means they interview everyone who wants to be interviewed. So basically if Craig wanted to even be considered, he needed to go to New Hampshire to interview.  So we decided to make a trip out of it!  

We took a red-eye flight to JFK airport in NYC.  (Not the most comfortable way/time to travel with a 1 and a half year old.  But we made it.) We have some friends that live there (Thanks Jon-David and Becky!) that were such good hosts!  We are so grateful that they let us stay with them for a few days, and it was so fun to see them.

The first day we spent sight-seeing around the southernmost tip of Manhattan.  Unfortunately, it was rainy all day.  But fortunately, we had umbrellas!

We took a ferry to see the Statue of Liberty

View from the ferry.

Stopped by to see Wall Street. 

Calder was sooo tired!
 But he did like holding his own umbrella.

The 9-11 Memorial was the last site we saw that day.  It was unfortunate that we were feeling really done with the rain and feeling really tired, because I think it would have had a lot more significance.  But I thought it was really well done.

9-11 Memorial.  

The next day, we started the drive to New Hampshire.  We decided to add an extra hour drive time and stop in Boston.

We really liked Boston!  It was such a neat city.

We only had a few hours in Boston, so we couldn't do a ton, but while we were there we followed part of the "Freedom Trail."  It is a trail (literally a line on the pavement) that leads you through the city stopping at several historical landmarks.   We wish we could have had more time, but I guess that means we'll just have to go back someday to see everything that we missed!

Site of the Boston Massacre

Paul Revere's house

We drove past Harvard.  It is really a beautiful and an impressive campus.

One of the buildings by the business school.  I think it is a library.

We finished driving to New Hampshire that night, and Craig had his interview the next day.  He said it went fairly well.  I think they do the interviews this way to make sure they don't admit weirdos into their program.  

Dartmouth has an impressive campus as well.  And it is in a small town, which is awesome.  We fell in love with New Hampshire! It is BEAUTIFUL!

This is what all the roads looked like. The landscape was all so heavily wooded.

We loved the rolling hills up in the New Hampshire/Vermont area.

Dartmouth is only 20 minutes away from Sharon, Vermont where Joseph Smith was born.  So before we headed back to New York, we stopped by to see the memorial and the visitors center.

The Joseph Smith memorial was definitely a highlight of the whole trip!  You drive through the rolling hills, and turn up the lane towards the memorial.  All of the trees had been cleared, except for the ones directly lining the road.  It was so pretty.  Then when you park the car and get out, you hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. (There were speakers outside, playing the music.)  For lack of a better word, it was magical! :-) But really, it was awe-inspiring to be surrounded by trees, hearing the heavenly choir.  The visitors center was very nice, and we loved talking about and hearing about the Prophet, Joseph Smith!

Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial

Calder loved everything about this place. Mostly because he didn't have to be in a stroller.

This is the foundation for the home that Joseph Smith was born in.  I am always amazed at how small the houses were!

We headed back to New York that night, to spend another couple of days there.  But I will write a separate post for those days....this one has been a marathon already!