D.C. and New York City in September

During these crazy economic times I got the opportunity to go to two of the busier spots in the country as far as the topic of economics is concerned: Washington, D.C. and New York City. I was working in the Federal Reserve Building in Washington, D.C., and while I was working in New York I was working just a block away from the New York Stock Exchange in the Financial District. Very interesting!!

This is the third time I've gotten to D.C. in the past 1+ years, so I knew where to head to see some of the stuff I had missed the first time around. Unfortunately, there is still a lot more I wish I could see. Before I left for D.C. I was able to get online and get a reservation ticket to go to the top of the Washington Monument. It's a neat view from up there, and I've posted some pics here showing some of what you can see from the top of the monument.



On the way down the elevator inside the monument, you get to see some pretty neat rock carvings donated by each state as part of the monument. Some are very impressive!

While in D.C., one of the people I was working with was kind enough to give me a tour of the Federal Reserve Building. I was fortunate enough to get in to the Board of Governors room just after they had completed a meeting and got to sit in the chair at the head of the table there. In New York, I mentioned already that I was working very near to the New York Stock Exchange. I was about 2 blocks south of the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway where Trinity Church is located. I was even able to spend some time to go to Liberty Island and Ellis Island to see the Statue of Liberty and the building that was used for immigrants arriving in New York. The statue was neat to see, and I was able to spend some time on Ellis Island trying to track down my great-grandfather, who came to the U.S. in the early 1900's through Ellis Island.



I had a great time in both cities. It was fun getting around on foot and using the subway systems that both cities have. You get to experience so much more of the cities that way. I'm looking forward to going back again!