Yankee Ticker Tape Parade!

Please Click On To Enlarge

My husband works in lower Manhattan, not far from the portion of Broadway known as the "Canyon of Heroes" because of the almost 200 ticker tape parades held there from the 1880's onward. He went over to the Yankee baseball team's ticker tape parade celebrating their 27th win of the World Series. Luckily, early in the morning, he was able to take a few photos of the floats and vintage cars that would be used to transport the players up Broadway from the Battery to City Hall, where the mayor would give all the players keys to the city.
He went back later when the parade began, and the hundreds of thousands of people who came there almost completely blocked his view! The crowds roared, church bells rang, and although ticker tape is no longer used anymore, as technology has advanced, streams of all kinds of shredded office paper rained down from the windows of many of the buildings lining the route. It was definitely an exciting sight!

Congratulations to the New York Yankees...and on to winning number 28!

To see more wonderful mosaics please visit Mary of The Little Red House blog today for links to other blogs participating in "Mosaic Monday."

Pink NYC Marathon Runners for Pink Saturday

I blogged about New York City's 40th annual 26.2 mile marathon that had it's 43,000 participants run through all of the five boroughs that comprise NYC on this link. Today, for Pink Saturday, I thought it would be fun to show some of the many participants I saw who were wearing pink as they ran by!

Their pink color uniforms really stood out!

Do you notice the tags that the runners have on their sneakers? That is an electronic sensor that records their time as they cross the finish line in Central Park. The first three male and female runners in the open division, as well as the first place male and female finishers in the wheelchair division, receive the Samuel Rudin Trophy, a silver tray designed by Tiffany & Co. and presented by the Rudin Family. Other top finishers in the open division and top finishers in various other divisions receive awards.

I was standing in Brooklyn at mile 6 of the almost 27 mile race when I took these photos.

I loved their colorful pink and yellow running uniforms.

Wait a minute! There was a bare foot man running in this group! I also showed another barefoot runner in my prior post.

I saw so many participants both coming and going.....

There were many serious runners, but also many were just having fun and running in costume.

Another clown with a very colorful wig.....but my favorite of all was this man...

He was wearing a pink tutu and running for a great cause! Thank you, and I hope you made it across the finish line!

A blog I'd like to recommend this week is Grace of "Pink In The City" Grace also lives in New York City, in the borough of Manhattan, and she blogs about all the wonderful pink things she finds there, among other topics. Please pay her a visit today and say hello!

To see more Pink Saturday posts today please visit our gracious hostess Beverly at How Sweet the Sound

New York City Marathon 2009

All photos will enlarge when clicked on

My husband and I went to 4th Avenue and 25th Street in Brooklyn, New York on Sunday, November 1, 2009, to watch and cheer for the 40th annual New York City Marathon runners.

The entire New York City Marathon course totals approximately 26.2 miles, and winds its way through all of the five boroughs that comprise New York City. It begins in Staten Island, then continues through Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, up to the Bronx, then back to Manhattan, where the finish line is located in Central Park.

We arrived too late to see the early elite runners, who had already passed this spot, but we were there for two hours to see a large portion of other marathon participants as they ran by.

There were runners for as far as the eye could see! Many streets were closed, to allow them to run the course without obstacle.

There were an estimated 43,000 participants this year, many from different countries.

The 2009 winner for the men, Meb Keflezighi from Mammoth Lakes, California, with a time of 02:09:15, and for the women, Deratu Tulu from Ethiopia won with a time of 02:28:52.

In the wheel chair division the top man was Kurt Fearnley from Australia, and the top woman was Edith Hunkeler from Switzerland.

We noticed that most runners had their names somewhere on their shirts, which made it fun to call out a personal encouragement to them as they ran by.

We also noticed many running for a good cause, and they were wearing shirts that announced that fact.

A distance shot of volunteers in orange ponchos handing out cups of water to the runners as they passed by.

There were many spectators with whistles and bells and signs cheering on the runners. It was really exciting to watch and we hope to do this again next year, and be there earlier to see the elite men and women in the beginning.

As the slower runners began to pass by we saw some unusual sights, such as this runner from France who was running as the Eiffel Tower!

He got a lot of attention from both participants and spectators.

This obvious native New York couple ran by, both in baseball uniforms; he was a Met, she was a Yankee!

This man was constantly juggling as he ran!

Someone was running in a clown costume.

This man was running barefoot!

He was also carrying a flag, but he ran by so quickly I couldn't make out what it was.

It was so inspiring to see all these determined participants, both young and old. My husband told me that he wanted to begin training so he could run in a future marathon........

.....and after seeing these runners, heading up the stragglers at the end, I think there actually might be a chance that both of us, with enough training, may be able to do just that!

Here is a short video that shows what the race looks like from start to finish, and has a map of the course:




To see more participants in "Outdoor Wednesday," please visit Susan at A Southern Daydreamer today!

Go Yankees!! Mosaic Monday

Game One 2009 World Series at Yankee Stadium --click on to enlarge

The American League New York Yankees have been keeping me up late at night, and my finger nails have been bitten down to the quick because of the exciting close games they've played so far, as they battle the National League's Philadelphia Phillies for the 105th World Series Championship!

So far the Yankees have won 3 out of four games, and since it is a "best of seven" series, they need to win one more game to become the world champs and win their 27th World Series!

Game six is tonight in Philadelphia -- LET'S GO YANKEES!!!


I'm adding my mosaic of Game One of the World Series in Yankees Stadium that we attended last week to Mary of The Little Red House blog's "Mosaic Monday" event! Thanks, Mary, for hosting this enjoyable event every week. Please drop by her blog today to see links to other participating blogs and view thier wonderful mosaics.

Alice In Wonderland in Central Park

All photos will enlarge when clicked on

Alice In Wonderland is Central Park's most loved sculpture. It is located on the East side of the park, near 74th Street, north of the Conservatory Water. The eleven foot tall sculpture depicts the favorite characters from Lewis Carroll's book "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland."
Philanthropist George Delacorte commissioned the sculpture from José de Creeft in 1959, to honor his wife Margarita. The design is patterned on the illustrations drawn by John Tenniel for the first edition of the book.
Children are permitted, and in fact encouraged, to climb on the sculpture, and as you can see in this photo there was a little girl in a pink hat and another with a pink skirt, who were having fun climbing over Alice's magic mushrooms.

The sculpture is so popular that it usually looks like this on weekends when there are many children in the park. They flock to the sculpture and climb all over it, as their watchful parents surround them.

Here we see The March Hare checking his pocket watch.

Alice and her cat Dinah.

The Mad Hatter, who is rumored to be a caricature of Delacorte, the patron that sponsored the piece

Engraved bronze plaques inserted in a circle around the, and contain lines from Lewis Carroll's poem "The Jabberwocky."

A nice feature installed near major Central Park attractions are signs like the one above. If you dial the phone number, and enter the extension, a recording of a well known actor, or actress, will tell you information about the attraction. Actress Whoopi Goldberg climbed over Alice In Wonderland when she was a child, so she is the one to tell you all about the sculpture as this is her favorite.

To see more views of beautiful Central Park please visit here and here.

Since it is Halloween, I couldn't end this post without showing you my favorite little "trick or treater"! It's my grandson's first Halloween and he's a Lion, the King of the Jungle this year!


Happy Halloween!


I'm linking this post to Beverly of How Sweet The Sound "Pink Saturday" blog event. If you like the color pink please go to Beverly's blog today and see links for many other participating blogs that have pink posts today. Thanks Beverly!