The Big Apple

Skyscrapers, theaters, museums, shopping, bustling crowds----New York City.  City population 8,008,278....elevation 54 feet. The city's early history laid the foundation for that "New York state of mind"---a powerfully independent, rambunctious outlook on life.  Both the Dutch and English spent years battling over the possession of Manhattan after its official discovery in 1609 by Englishman Henry Hudson ( the Hudson River's namesake).  Fifteen years later, financial powerhouse Wall Street received its name when the Dutch finagled the purchase of Manhattan from local Indians for an astounding $24 and erected a wall denoting the new colony's northern boundary.  After much tug-of-war, New York changed hands for the last time in 1674 with final bragging rights going to the British. While the city originally consisted of Manhattan sandwiched between the East and Hudson Rivers, it eventually incorporated the surrounding boroughs of Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island. Well that's your history lesson about how  New York City came to be via the 2010 edition AAA tour book.  Saturday (April 16) we will be landing at JFK airport in the Big Apple for my first trip to New York City.  Our first sightseeing point of interest will be the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site.  One of Teddy's famous quotes "Speak softly and carry a big stick."  So I will heed his advice and speak softly to the pople of New York City while visiting and the big stick I carry will be my walking cane!