Every year, in remembrance of September 11, the city send up lights from Ground Zero where the towers fell. It was a clear night, so we went up to the roof and Tom took these shots of those poignant light beams.

This was almost 2 years ago and today Freedom Tower (now the tallest building in the US), that we've slowly watched go up, is now complete and almost ready to open!

Brunch and a trip to the High Line in Chelsea with friends!

It's hard to see from these photos, but for those of you that aren't familiar with it, the High Line is an elevated park over Chelsea (Manhattan) that was converted from an old railway line. It's about a 1 mile stretch, and you can see views over the west side of Manhattan, and admire some of Chelsea's graffiti along the way!

Welcome to Coney Island, the Blackpool of New York! Home of the famous Nathan's hotdogs (and hotdog eating contest), a 100 year old Big Wheel, and one of the world's oldest wooden roller coasters. When we had friends visiting from Boston, we decided on a day trip to see what all the fuss was about. Clearly we weren't the only ones with this idea as the place was packed, and there were hardly any free spots on the beach!

The thing I remember most clearly from this day was how insanely hot it was. Our first September in the US, and we were expecting summer to have wound down. Now we know that the heat lasts way until the end of September. Hooray for long summers!

Quick tip- if you ever do visit coney island, avoid these rickety old roller coasters... We may look happy in the picture above (before it set off), but throughout the ride we were clinging for dear life!