For Open House New York weekend this year, we tried to be as prepared as possible and both were logged on exactly at 11AM on the morning reservations opened. We had a lot of competition, so didn't get everything we wanted, but did get quite a few new places to check out.

We started the day with a nourishing, well maybe calorie filled, brunch at the Square Diner in Tribeca. Then we headed to the Woolworth Building for a 1:00 tour. We had been talking up the weekend for awhile and had convinced Evelyn's dad and his girlfriend to join us for the day. The Woolworth Building was the tallest building in the world from 1913 to 1930 and truly has a magnificent lobby. The tour was interesting, learning about Mr Woolworth and Cass Gilbert, the master designer, and just getting to soak in the beauty of the building.

Our next stop was to see the old maps of Manhattan in the Civic Center building. The office of the Manhattan Borough president opened up as part of the OHNY weekend and has an amazing collection of maps dating back to the 1800's. We enjoyed locating our apartment on one of the maps and being able to recognize some of the streets and also identify those streets that no longer exist.

We stopped in to tour the Federal Building on Wall Street, open as part of the OHNY, but a site that didn't require a reservation. It is one of those buildings we always walk by, but have never been inside. To our surprise, we learned it is open to the public during the week and is considered a National Park. Inside there are interesting displays explaining the history of the site, from when George Washington was sworn in as our country's first president, to a Customs House, and the original City Hall.

Our last stop of the day was the September 11th Memorial for an evening lighting tour. Neither Evelyn nor I had been to the site yet and didn't know what to expect. It is a very moving and reflective place and seeing it in twilight was especially emotional. The lighting tour was led by members of firm that designed the lighting for the site and they spoke about their experience being a part of the project. It was a different perspective to the memorial and interesting to hear about the thought process behind lighting one of the most famous memorials in the country. They stressed the importance of creating a place for reflection, where everyone felt secure even at night, while also focusing on only three sources of light - the pillar lighting, LED lights in the fountains, and the illuminated names of those lost.

Check out more of our photos from OHNY Weekend on our Instagram account

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