Tag Archives: New York

Oct22

Adirondacks – Leaf Peeping : Saratoga – North Creek Train Trip

Posted on October 22, 2014 by Tales and Travels of the Tin Man

We decided to venture off to New England to do some serious Leaf Peeping…

Included in that trip was a stay in the Adirondacks and a Train Ride on the Saratoga – North Creek Railway

This train is also known as the Polar Express Train. It is extremely popular and we booked our seats months in advance.

We booked the Diamond Class Service, which gets you a very comfortable seat in the Glass Domed Cars and access to Full Wait Staff and Food……..you know how important those two items are to The Tin Man….

The Train Ride from Saratoga to North Creek takes about two to three hours and is an amazing adventure…

Bloody Marys and Omelets were in order…

The Sights along the way were breathtaking…as the train traveled along the Hudson River….

It was just marvelous to watch all the beautiful scenery go by..

The entire time the train staff was attending to our every wish and desire….

Our visit to the Village of North Creek was quite fun……I went to the local hair salon, Trimmers, and got my hair cut while visiting with the most delightful characters…….in just one hour we had reimagined the entire town and designed all sorts of festivals!!

The train trip back was just as thrilling as the one up….

Sorry for all the large pictures; however, the beauty was too great to insert small pics!

What a delight this train ride was………the day was just grand on all avenues….

Until next time………bon voyage…..

Sep10

In the Pursuit of Trivia and World Peace

Posted on September 10, 2012 by Tales and Travels of the Tin Man

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Life in the Emerald City has taken a turn for the worst. The water well has gone dry several days ago and rain is no where in sight. The water well on the ranch of the Tin Man was dug in the 1800s and has never stopped flowing…..

…..that is until now…..

Shall the Emerald City one day look like the surface of the Moon?

Every week the water truck pulls up to the house and pumps water into the holding tank and the Tin Man wonders how long he desires to live in this place, the place of his ancestors.

It fills the heart he got from the Wonderful Wizard of Oz with great sadness.

Recently, someone wrote a history of the area and presented him with a copy of the book; the Tin Man was quite touched as he sat and read the stories of these brave immigrants to a new world, a world belonging to Mexico and how these early immigrants relied on the help and protection of these original owners in order to survive.

He looked into the expectant faces from the old photographs and envisioned the dreams the ancients had for creating a better place.

He read the stories of how the original people of this land, the Mexicans helped them and protected them and wonders how and why today the people of this new land turn their backs on the original owners and want to build giant fences to separate themselves from these giving people, why today the inhabitants of this new world want to show disdain for the beautiful, melodic language spoken by the original owners of this land.

The Tin Man wonders how this ignorant hatred found root in the hearts and minds of people whose ancients would not have survived this new world without the help and care of those original owners.

So his heart is heavy with sadness and he wonders if the great gods of the ancient lands have decided to take the water away from these new people as punishment for their arrogance and hatred birthed out of self-serving ignorance and self righteousness.

So in order as to not become overwhelmed by this arrogance and ignorance he has decided to try and focus on some trivial facts of our world to lighten his heart.

Did you know that Buzz Aldrin’s Mother’s maiden name was MOON?

Nobody knows where Mozart is buried..

85% of all Life on Earth is Plankton

Ants do not Sleep

The Oldest Known Vegetable is the Pea

To See a Rainbow You must have your back to the Sun

Millions of Trees are planted by squirrels that bury their nuts and then forget where they left them……

…….Thank You squirrels

Monaco’s National Orchestra is bigger than its Army

Every year the Sun looses 360 Million Tons

The average 4 year old asks 400 Questions a Day

The Creature with the Largest Brain in relation to its body is the Ant

A Chimpanzee can learn to recognize itself in the mirror, but a Monkey cannot

Panama Hats come from Ecuador

Charlie Chaplin once won Third Place in a Charlie Chaplin look-a-like contest

Shrimps are the loudest thing in the Ocean

The Fruit Fly was the first Animal in Space

The Largest Man Made Structure on Earth is “Fresh Kills”

The Rubbish Dump on Staten Island, New York…..a real tribute to mankind

So until a time when every Country’s Orchestra is bigger than its Army…….
…….and we realize that Ant’s have bigger brains than us…….

The Tin Man wishes for…..

…..a bit more care for our fellow humans and respect for their hearts…..and to celebrate our differences…

Jul14

Useless Information

Posted on July 14, 2012 by Tales and Travels of the Tin Man

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Thought it might be fun to review these facts, useless as they may be….

……you never know when you might be on Jeopardy and need to know……

Adults spend an average of 16 times as many hours selecting clothes (145.6 hours a year)

as they do on planning their retirement

Per capita, it is safer to live in New York City than it is to live in Pine Bluff, Arkansas

In 1996, Americans bought only 12 inches of dental floss per capita

In 1915, the average annual family income in the United States was $687 a year

In 1990 there were about 15,000 vacuum cleaner related accidents in the United States

Over 15 billion prizes have been given away in Cracker Jacks boxes

There are more telephones than people in Washington D.C.

Chocolate Manufacturers use 40 percent of the world’s almonds

More than a third of all adults hit their alarm clock’s “snooze” button each morning,

an average of three times before they get up.

Spaghetti is the favorite pasta shape, with 38 percent favoring it over other pasta shapes.

According to a major hotel chain, approximately the same numbers of men and women are locked out of their rooms.

32 percent are less than fully dressed.

Nearly 87 percent of the 103 people polled in 1977 were unable to identify correctly an unlabeled copy of

the Declaration of Independence.

Cold pizza is fairly popular. A survey found 15 percent actually prefer pizza this way.

By the end of the U.S. Civil War, 33 percent of all U.S. paper currency in circulation was counterfeit.

According to one U.S. study, about 25 percent of all adolescent and adult males never use deodorant.

Most humans can guess someone’s sex with 95 percent accuracy just by smelling their breath.

In 1995, each American used an annual average of 731 pounds of paper,

more than double the amount used in the 1980s.

Contrary to predictions that computers would displace paper, consumption is growing.

May29

Does Your Vote Count?

Posted on May 29, 2012 by Tales and Travels of the Tin Man

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Let me begin by informing you that the photographs and much of the historical content of this blog is not my original research.

I received an email containing much of this information from my WONDERFUL friend of many decades (since she was my undergraduate English Professor, actually)

To see something of her click on: Reflections – A Visit to Pennsylvania

………..so the story begins………A True Story of OUR Mothers and Grandmothers who lived only 90 years ago…..

Remember, it was not until 1920 that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote……..

…………at one point, innocent and defenseless women were jailed for picketing the White House….

…… carrying signs asking for the vote……..

……..and by the end of the night, they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden’s blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women. Women wrongly convicted of “obstructing sidewalk traffic”!!!
Lucy Burns, pictured below, was beaten and then left hanging from shackles on her wrists that were chained above her head…….she was left in this manner, throughout the night, bleeding and gasping for air………

Dora Lewis (below) was hurled into a dark cell, causing her to smash her head against an iron bed frame. She was knocked out by the blow; her cell mate, Alice Cosu, thought Dora was dead and became so terrified that she suffered a heart attack. Affidavits describe the prison guards as grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.
Thus was the unfolding of “The Night of Terror” on November 15, 1917.

This was the night that the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to ‘teach a lesson’ to the suffragists who dared to picket Woodrow Wilson’s White House for the right to vote.

For weeks, the women’s only water came from an open pail; their food was infested with worms.

Alice Paul, pictured below, was one of the leaders among the women and began a hunger strike. The guards tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. Alice continued to be tortured like this for weeks until word of her treatment was leaked to the press

Pictured below is Mrs. Pauline Adams in the prison garb she wore while serving her 60 day sentence.

………Miss Edith Ainge of Jamestown, New York………

……..Berthe Arnold Graduate of CSU…….

……….conferring over ratification of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution at the National Women’s Party Headquarters, Jackson Place, Washington D.C.………
Left to Right: Mrs. Lawrence Lewis, Mrs. Abby Scott Baker, Anita Politzer, Alice Paul, Florence Boeckel, Mabel Vernon (standing)

It is jarring to imagine Woodrow Wilson and his cronies attempted to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be permanently institutionalized.

To his credit the psychiatrist stated that Alice Paul was strong and brave and that did not make her crazy.

Below is Helena Hill Week from Norwalk, Connecticut, serving a three-day sentence in a Washington D.C. prison for carrying a banner that stated: “Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

……….so it is with this recollection of facts that I implore you to not let all this hard work and suffering be in vain…..VOTE

Iron Jawed Angels (gloucestercitynews.net)
The Suffering to Gain Suffrage (jdjournal.com)
Iron Jawed Angels: America’s distorted history (intrepidreport.com)

Apr1

Times Square – New York

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Tales and Travels of the Tin Man

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When we heard that Priscilla Queen of the Desert was playing

at the Palace Theatre on Broadway, we knew a trip to New York was on!

This show is sooooooooooooooooo much fun and represents the highest of camp.

………….and we got a poster signed by the entire cast!

We booked a room at the Hilton and were lucky enough to get a room on the top floor with a most fantastic view.

We looked out upon the New Year’s Eve ball

and so enjoyed magnificent views of the city……….

with the view downward just as wonderful

hold on Dorothy we are not in Kansas anymore……

Did you know that Times Square was formerly known as Longacre Square, until it was renamed in April 1904

after The New York Times moved its headquarters to the newly erected Times Building,

which is now called One Times Square.

We so enjoyed the lights – sounds – most of the smells and the excitement of Times Square…………..as we walked about I could not help but think of Rebecca Romijn Stamos as she said:
“I still can’t believe that I walk down the runway once a year in high heels and underwear for Victoria’s Secret. And that this is worthy of being broadcast on the Sony JumboTron in Times Square.”

so much to see