Travel Tales

Young Chang

Tom and Mary Ralph visited the Big Apple and surrounding areas for the

first time last month and did, they proudly admit, all the touristy

things people do in New York City.

They went to the Statue of Liberty, ate dinner at Tavern on the Green,

took a carriage ride through Central Park and even went to see the “Today

Show” one morning.

The Costa Mesa couple did all this with some college friends from

Marquette University in Milwaukee. Now in their 70s, the Ralphs kept in

touch with friends from their youth. Together, the travelers started in

Niagara Falls and made their way up to the city of Niagara, in Canada,

and back down to New York’s various nooks.

“We had this planned for Sept. 23, 2001. We had tickets and

everything. We canceled,” said Tom Ralph, who is retired from General

Mills. “So we rescheduled the trip.”

Mary Ralph, 70 and a retired nurse, said one of her highlights was

visiting Niagara Falls, but that the entire city of New York made a

lasting first impression. She loved New York for all its little parks,

the friendly people and the musicals. She said she would return in a

second.

Tom Ralph said the beauty and power of the water at Niagara Falls

impressed them.

“And we were thoroughly impressed with the beautiful Canadian city

that’s on the Canadian side. There are flowers. Such a well-kept city,”

the 71-year-old said.

From the falls, the couple drove down the state of New York to

Cooperstown, where they saw the Baseball Hall of Fame. From there, they

visited Hyde Park, where Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidential museum is,

and then drove to the U.S. Military Academy at Westpoint.

“We got to see the graduating class practice their drills on the big

field,’ Tom Ralph said.

The couple and their friends drove through New York’s smaller streets

through the Finger Lakes and stayed away from the freeways.

“We had our fill of driving the freeways in California,” Tom Ralph

said. “It’s a different type of lifestyle.”

In New York City, the travelers watched two musicals -- “Thoroughly

Modern Millie” and “Mama Mia” -- visited Ellis Island, toured Manhattan

and visited the site where the World Trade Center once stood. Because it

was their first real time there -- Tom Ralph had been there on business

before -- they weren’t struck as much by the the absence of the Twin

Towers, as by the sheer emptiness of the space.

“All we could really reflect on was the fact that this was big open

area now,” Ralph said.

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