On September 23, 2006, Heidi and I took off from SeaTac Airport heading for JFK. Our plan was to hang out in Manhattan for 5 days, take a train to Boston where we would rent a car and drive to Maine for a week to check out Acadia National Park and see the beautiful northeast autumn colors.
I had never been to New York City (aside from being in an airport). Heidi had, but it had been quite awhile. We were excited. We rode the subway to our hotel in Murray Hill, threw down our luggage and grabbed some pizza. AWESOME. Then we walked the 2 or 3 blocks to Times Square. It was amazing to watch the ambient light just get brighter and brighter the closer we got. What an incredible place. This was the first and last time I was super excited to see Times Square. It’s just…overwhelming.
Empire State Building. We will be back!
The next day we got up and rode the taxi downtown to see Rosanna in the West Village. 
It was awesome to see her- it had been years. She decided to give us a tour of her new city. The best thing about it is that she likes to walk as much as we do, so we just headed out and wore out our shoes.
We walked toward midtown and marveled a the incredible city, it’s people and architecture. Here’s the Flatiron building.
Rosanna took us to Little Italy. Very awesome.
Then we kept going south to the former World Trade Center site. It is amazing how much work they had gotten done in 5 years. 
Ah, ha! Lady Liberty.
That afternoon we took a subway back to our hotel. We couldn’t believe how tall it was.
The next day we hurried over to the Empire State Building for a serious tourist attraction- viewing Manhattan from WAY up. It was unbelievable.
Check that out. Click on the photo. It’s INSANE. And this is only a small fraction of the entire city of New York. Mind blowing. Consider the infrastructure below the surface- water, sewer, etc. I was falling in love with this city.
After the Empire State Building, we walked up to Central Park. Okay, now I’m convinced I could easily live here. Yep.
We walked back to midtown and found St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Wow. Right in between the skyscrapers is a church like the centuries old European cathedrals we’ve been in. Crazy.
The next morning we were wandered downtown near the famous Barnes and Noble bookstore and just happened to see Bono and the Edge drive by in a black Suburban. It was crazy. I couldn’t believe it. Famous people everywhere. I was pretty much freaking out.
That night we met Rosanna for a drink near the Meat Packing district. Beautiful location and view.
The next morning we headed downtown. Here’s a shot of the Financial District.
Of course we had to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.
We came across Trinity Church and finally realized the full scope of 9/11. Heidi and I had been in Europe on 9/11/2001 and did not experience the magnitude of the fear and horror that most Americans felt. We were in a foreign land with minimal news coverage. We didn’t realize the impact- the flight shutdowns, the shock and anger that people on the ground were dealing with. We definitely did not feel the impact when we came back. But on September 27, 2006, I finally figured it out. Walking through Trinity brought me up to speed- put me in my place and made me reexamine my feelings about what really took place. Politics aside, my blood boiled at the thought of the terrorists and the pain the citizens of New York and everyone directly affected by the attacks. 
This is a photo of a photo I saw in the church. I apologize for the plagiarism, but this photo said so much I had to share it.
This was a display at the church that was simply heartbreaking to look at closely.
Although these are mostly ancient graves, this spot was directly and massively affected by the falling of the twin towers.
Here’s a photo of the church spire as the buildings fell.
What a crazy and important site to visit. We had to wrap up our last night in Manhattan by doing some window shopping.
The next day we hopped an early train at Grand Central Station, headed up to Boston, where we splurged and rented a little Mercedes and made our way to southern Maine. Our first stop- Kennebunkport. Not to visit the former president’s estate, though. It was a really cute little town. Our B&B was nice.
This town reminded us a lot of LaConner.
Of course we had to get Lobstah the first night there. Yep, it was pretty darn good.
Here’s our little rental car as we head out of Kennebunkport in the rain.
We made our way to Portland, Maine. We didn’t spend much time there, but the town seemed great. We will certainly come back.
That afternoon we made it to Freeport. Our B&B here was even better and we had some fun shopping at the MASSIVE LL Bean Store and the outlet malls.
The weather cleared up and we had some great views of harbors and towns that look exactly like LaConner. 
The next day we drove up through Bath…
Boothbay…
…and spent the night in Camden.
We went for a really nice hike in Camden called Mt. Battie.
The following day we drove to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.
The terrain in Acadia National Park is extremely rugged, tree line is super low elevation and the granite rock is everywhere.
Here is the B&B we stayed in at Bar Harbor. It was haunted.
Just a few minutes after this photo was taken, a big earthquake hit right under Bar Harbor. It was loud and even a slight bit of damage occurred at the park. It sounded like a truck hit the side of the building.
This was our lobstah friend selling ice cream.
We drove back to Boston the next day, toured around the city, stayed in a super fancy hotel and flew back the next morning. What a great trip!
Paul Revere