We are blessed to have such great friends across America and around the world. Visiting them whenever we get the chance is one of my favorite pastimes. So having Christmas vacations that align means The Man and I can often travel during the holidays.  2012 wasn’t a big year for adventures afar, so we were pretty happy to get out of the state for Christmas 2013.

I won’t bore you with a lot of words.  Here are images instead.

Happy New Year! 

I don’t have any photos with the Knipes (whoops) but their cat sure is friendly 🙂

obligatory Times Square photo

I also adore the tile art that decorates the NYC subway stations. I find it absolutely fascinating. And why are tunnels and subways always lined in tile? Is it because you don’t have to paint it, and it sheds water?

Iconic NJ fuel tanks. “Drive Safely!”

Our trip into DC (after we left NJ) found us visiting mostly with friends, but we did slip out for a trip to see Arlington Cemetery — my first. The changing of the guard is a powerful moment.

There’s a little rooftop bar tucked next to the Empire State Building on 32nd Street. Their plaza offers an amazing view of the famous landmark.

The new Freedom Tower being constructed at the WTC site is impressive. We try to visit the WTC area when we’re in NYC…. my first trip to NY happened just 10 days after the 9/11 tragedy. I will always remember the sea of “Missing Person” posters that surged over the city in the wake of that tragedy. Visiting the WTC to see the rebuilding is always a fitting tribute.

A surprising highlight of the trip came on Monday evening. The Kennedy Center provides a free concert every night of the year (!) in what they call their Millennium Stage, which is tucked at the end of the massive 4-story lobby. The Roosevelt Dimes performed and they were AWESOME. I highly recommend them.

Christmas at the Rockefeller Center

Arlington. It was a very cold day.

I could stare at architectural details all day. And NYC is full of them. This is a random building on 14th Street.

Union Square, NYC

This is the interior of the Cort Theater where we saw the play. Such a lovely, older theater in the Broadway district, a couple blocks from Time Square.