Vacation tips Taking a bite out of the Big Apple


By Clint Parker I guess I’m just a small-town


boy at heart, but you do a lot of things to try to make your kids’ dreams come true and going to New York City was one of my daughter’s dreams. So since we were in Washington,


D.C., we thought, “What’s anoth- er three or four hour drive to New Jersey.” We thought we could see a little bit of Philadelphia and a couple of days in New York City, which for me is a couple of days too long, but I digress. I can tell you one thing about driving in the northern states;


they don’t mind using their horns to tell you that they don’t like the way you’re driving. Occasionally someone will come by and tell you how you’re Number One by using their middle finger, but I again digress. We made it into the historic


part of Philadelphia just about the time everything was closing up, so we had to settle for a picture in front of Constitution Hall and seeing the Liberty Bell through a glass wall. Early the next morning, we


headed to Trenton, NJ, to catch a commuter train into New York City (cost for five was $121 round- trip). Te train we chose was an


A look at the famed NBC Studios.


express that only made about six stops. We arrived at Penn Station and


found a tour bus representative who spoke little English. After purchasing tickets ($260 for five), we made it across the street into the corner to pick up our ride. Te only way to see New York


City is from the top of one of those double-decker buses. Un- fortunately it happened to be raining the morning we were in town. However, cheap rain pon- chos were available free of charge. We braved the inclement


weather for the next hour until we jumped off somewhere near Chi- natown and started to do some shopping. Here’s where you have to be careful. At the same open-


air storefront, my son walked away with a t-shirt for $11, where- as my daughter walked away with two similar t-shirts for $40. By the end of the day, we were buy- ing t-shirts four for $10. We then hopped another tour


bus and wound up at Radio City Music Hall at Rockefeller Plaza. We searched for Dylan’s Candy Bar, which we did not find, but did locate FOA Schwartz, the most expensive toy store in the world, and the Apple Store, which was a two-story glass cube that led into a hole in the sidewalk and the store below. We also had a meal at the Prime Burger restau- rant supposedly made famous by actress Sarah Jessica Parker. I was not very impressed.


Old Buncombe County Genealogical Society


Te Old Buncombe County Genealogical Society will hold its an-


nual meeting beginning at noon on Saturday (Nov. 20) at the soci- ety library located at 128 Bingham Road, Suite 950, in Asheville. A covered dish lunch will begin the festivities followed by recognition, awards and a brief business meeting. Te highlight of the day will be the presentation of the program by Bruce Whitaker, who will speak on history and families of the Fairview Community in Buncombe County. Whitaker is considered an expert on this area and is well known for his articles in the Fairview Town Crier and his book on the Whitaker, Reed, Harper and Wright families. Te public is invited and encouraged to attend. For more information and/or directions, call 253-1894 or e-mail obcgs@bellsouth.net.


8 THE TRIBUNE/LEADER - November 18 - November 24, 2010 Sites we saw in Manhattan in-


cluded, but are not limited to, Times Square, Carnegie Deli, the new Freedom Tower, the bull on Wall Street, Saks Fifth Avenue, the Empire State Building, SoHo, the Hershey candy store, Central Park and the Trump Towers. Te trip was supposed to take


two days, but after one day of our surreal surroundings even the kids decided they had had enough. I guess everyone should expe-


rience the Big Apple for a least one day. But remember while you might take a small bite out of the Big Apple, the Big Apple will take a large bite out of your wallet.


Editor’s note: This is the last article in a seven-part series.


Bright Ideas grant Barnardsville Elementary re-


cently received one of the Bright Ideas grants awarded to schools by the French Broad Electric Corpora- tion. Te grant money will be used to support a new program at Bar- nardsville called “Te Principal’s Lunch Bunch.” Te lunch bunch will consist of boys from the third and fourth grades. Tese boys will meet each Friday during their lunch time to read and discuss short pieces of text with Barnardsville Principal Heidi Allison. Some of the texts that will be discussed include “Ani- mal Grossology” and “Weird But True: 300 Outrageous Facts.”


www.weavervilletribune.com


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28