Mom and Dad are lucky to have a friend of the family with a timeshare in NYC....my fave place in the whole world!! He wasn't going to use his timeshare this year so he offered it to Mom and I this winter...we sat down with him to book the dates and the earliest we could get was this August! Not long after we made our reservations my brother decided to get married Labor Day weekend...and mom kinda bailed on me. I wasn't about to let this NYC trip go to waste, so my good friend Kelly from Texas decided to join me. This was my 9th visit to the Big Apple and it never gets old. She hadn't been to New York since she was little, so she was extra excited to visit again.
We had some rain delays in Chicago on our flights through to La Guardia, but we landed safe and sound. Our first night in town I had gotten tickets to see War Horse at Lincoln Center....it was amazing and one of the hottest tickets on Broadway right now....
The play uses puppets to portray the horses and they were really great...and very life like. You did feel as though real life horses were up on stage. It was a very emotional play and I was glad that we were seeing this show at the start of the trip.
Lincoln Center.....
Kelly's to-do list included just two things....the Statue of Liberty and the World Trade Center site....so on Sunday we headed down to Lower Manhattan to take in both...
I realized after uploading my pics this was the only picture I had of the two of us....our attempt to get a self portrait with Lower Manhattan in the background....ha! ha!
I swear that every time I go to the Statue of Liberty...it is cloudy and gloomy out...not great photo opportunities...but it did start to clear off while we were on Liberty Island so I was able to get a few photos with blue sky.
We hopped off the boat at Ellis Island as well...I hadn't been there in about 10 years so it was nice to tour through the museum again. Ellis Island served as the main site for entrance into the US from Europe from 1892 through the 1950's.... Ellis Island was finally closed in 1954. The top two countries to 'use' Ellis Island were Italy and Russia.
It was really amazing to think that they processed up to 3000+ immigrants daily through these buildings...the steamships were so packed with people seeking a better life. We watched a short movie at the museum where immigrants recounted their journey over to America...the conditions on the ships were sometimes unbearable and many entered this country with only the clothes on their backs. Everyone had a different reason for leaving their homeland but many talked about how it was such an odd feeling to think that the policeman here in America would help you...many immigrants were fearful of their governments and were fleeing to America to get away from police that could/would potentially kill them. Many had family waiting for them....but many did not...and that is how NYC came to be....it was a city built by immigrants and that is still very evident today. You can sit in a park or outside cafe and within minutes see people from every continent on earth....it's awesome! It's the best people watching in the world.
One can also imagine if for just a short time what life on the boats would be like...maybe something similar to being on the tour boat dropping you off at each stop...they jam pack the boat and you are herded around like cattle.
My ancestors arrived in this country before Ellis Island was used....but it was still a very cool feeling to walk through the halls and rooms and know that this was how most of us came to live in this country. I often wonder how different my life would be.....
Lower Manhattan's skyline.....
After we were finished in Battery Park we walked up to the WTC site...it still gives me goosebumps every time I walk past it....there still isn't much to see, although they are making progress on the Freedom Tower that will sit on site. The memorial isn't opened yet so it still looks like a construction site.
One of the items on my 'to-do' list was to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge...it's 1.3 miles long and since we were down in the area we headed on over....we narrowly missed a torrential downpour on the bridge. Right before we entered the pedestrian walkway it began to pour...we ducked into a pharmacy quickly to wait out the rain. Many of the people we met coming off the bridge were not so lucky!
That night we met one of my friends from high school who lives up in Boston in the Meatpacking District for dinner. I hadn't seen Danielle since we graduated high school 16 years ago....we danced together at the same studio. She rode the 'China' bus 4 hours to meet us...the China bus runs every 15 minutes from Chinatown in Boston to Chinatown in NYC and only costs $15! It was so great to see her and catch up!
Revel restaurant in the Meatpacking District...
I don't think we've changed a bit! Ha!
The next day we spent a lazy day in Central Park...we had beautiful weather. I had wanted to go through the Central Park Zoo....but given that we woke up kinda late and the line for tickets was still pretty long, I tabled it for my next trip. You still could see some of the animals, like the sea lions in their enclosure...
We bought a hot dog and a pretzel and just enjoyed the sun and the park. We watched the people and ran across many musicians and performers showcasing their craft. We walked along The Mall, came up on Bethesda Fountain, and saw the Loeb Boathouse.
Central Park really is amazing in that it is truly an oasis from the city...one would never know you are in the middle of NYC.
After the park we headed to the TKTS booth in Times Square to get theater tickets for the evening. We ended up with our first choice of Avenue Q...1/2 price...it was playing off broadway and it was hilarious!
I wanted to spend our last day in the Guggenheim art museum...but Kelly twisted my arm and drug me by my hair down to Soho shopping :) One can find anything in Soho...whether you are looking for high end shopping or street bargains...it's all there. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant I had seen featured on the Food Network.
We were enjoying our Yukon Gold Potato pizza outside when my chair began to shake and the plants around us began to wobble...it lasted about 15 seconds or so. I stopped mid-sentence and sarcastically asked Kelly...'are we having an earthquake?'....I looked around and no one else seemed alarmed, so I went on with my story chalking up the movement to a large truck driving by or possibly a subway train beneath us. About 10 minutes later Nathan texted me and asked if we had felt the earthquake that just hit Washington, DC....'no way!'....'really?!?'....yep...a 5.8 earthquake had hit in Virginia while we were sitting at lunch....so cool....
After we were done in Soho...we headed back to Times Square and the TKTS booth...again we were fortunate to get our first choice tickets and went to see How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying starring Daniel Radcliffe and John Larroquette...it was probably the best show I've seen on Broadway and Daniel Radcliffe aka Harry Potter was brilliant!
After the show we headed to the top of the Marriott Marquis in Times Square to enjoy the revolving restaurant...we had so much fun....can't wait to go back!
