Back to New York (with a side trip to Downton Abbey)

I haven't been to New York in a few years (you can check out my last visit here), and it's always a fun place to go, so I jumped at the chance to go up for a weekend with Kim B. We stayed right in Times Square, which is great because it's centrally located. But there are SO MANY PEOPLE. I'd never been to New York during the summer (i.e., peak tourist season). It's madness. I thought the Mall in DC was bad during the summer.

A view from the "red steps" in Times Square.

On our first day, we went to the 9/11 Memorial. I thought about going to the newly opened museum, but I figured it would be too depressing (and expensive). The memorial itself is beautiful and incredibly moving.

There are two giant waterfalls in the footprints of the Twin Towers. Around each waterfall is inscribed the names of all the victims.

We saw lots of flowers left by loved ones.

It's gut-wrenching to think that this site is a graveyard for so many people.

This is the "Survivor Tree." It was found in the wreckage and somehow still survived.

And this is One World Trade Center (a.k.a. "Freedom Tower") - the tallest building in the U.S.

Then we walked to Little Italy for dinner...

And cannoli! So good....

We could see the Empire State Building from there, which was lit up in a rainbow pattern for Pride Weekend.

The next day we met some of Kim's friends for lunch near Washington Square Park...

...where we saw some talented break dancers.

Then we spent an hour or two at the Met. I've been there three times and still haven't seen everything! That place is huge.

We stumbled upon this piece, which I thought was pretty cool. It's a taxidermied dear covered in glass balls.

That night we had tickets to The Cripple of Inishmaan starring Daniel Radcliffe.

After the play, the crowds gathered outside the stage door waiting to catch a glimpse of the star.

As we walked through the neighborhood past the various theaters, we saw large groups of people waiting outside each one. It's funny to think that you could hop from one theater to another, possibly catching sight of multiple celebrities in one night. Here's a crowd waiting for Idina Menzel outside of If/Then:

On Sunday, it was on to the event I was most excited about...a visit into the world of Downton Abbey! We drove to Winterthur Museum in Wilmington, Delaware - a fantastic museum in its own right - which is currently featuring an exhibit on the costumes of Downton Abbey.

We got there about 45 minutes before closing, so unfortunately we had to rush through it a bit.

Some of the costumes from the "downstairs" staff. It was fascinating to see all the details up close.

The footmen's liveries all have the Grantham coat of arms on the buttons. This is from Thomas's uniform....oh Thomas, how I love to hate you.

I appreciate the way they included photos and dialogue to put the costumes in context.

Edith's wedding dress (let's all say it together: poor Edith)...

The train of the wedding dress is actually from the period. They started with this piece of fabric and built the dress around it.

I thought the harem pants looked a lot better in person than on tv.

The beading on this dress was exquisite.

Maggie Smith!! She's the best.

The costumes from the famous engagement scene between Matthew and Mary. They had the scene playing on a loop in the background. Now all I want to do is re-watch all the episodes on dvd....