I’m On a (Ferry) Boat!, uploaded by amybaeder.

While on our way to New Jersey and in our spare 12 hours, we ventured to Manhattan. We rented a car, drove into “the city,” and stood in several lines to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I could have spent more time at Ellis Island, but we had to catch the last ferry back to Manhattan. We took the subway up to Times Square, bought tickets for (500) Days of Summer, and then dined at Trattoria Tre Colori, a delicious Italian restaurant a few blocks away. After watching the movie, we took a cab (not a cash cab) back down to where we parked our car, all the while lamenting the honk-happy drivers and the expense of having a car in New York City. We had quite an adventure, and packed quite a bit into such a short time frame. I can’t wait to go back, but next time, we will spend more time there, and we’ll leave the car behind.

Green Beans, uploaded by amybaeder.

Here’s a coffee roaster from Rozark, a roasterie in Rose Bud, AR, just a few minutes outside of my hometown. You can see the beans inside are still greenish before they experience several minutes of 400F+ temps. We got a private tour, so I felt quite educated before going into the Burke Museum’s coffee exhibit. More pics from the roasterie are on my flickr page.

P8090845, uploaded by amybaeder.

In case I didn’t mention this before, I posted new pics to my Flickr account after we got back from Arkansas, New Jersey, and New York. This is one of my favorites from a quaint town called Clinton, NJ where we spent a weekend for Justin’s grandmother’s memorial service.

In other news, we’ve had a cool, rainy labor day weekend. I’ve gotten lots of cooking and planning done, but less hiking and fewer outdoor activities than I would like. School starts Wednesday–my 8th year of teaching!