I decided that while we were gone, we would re-visit our last trip to NYC, especially for those of you who weren’t hanging around in 2011. When we’re back in town, there will be dance recital recaps, beach fun and new adventures in the Big Apple. You can find this original posts here and here.
December 15, 2011: …alternately titled, “the one with all the pictures”! We took so many pictures this day that I’m going to have to split it up into two posts! I knew that seeing the Statue of Liberty would be cool, but I had no idea that I would love it as much as I did. We took a ferry cruise from Battery Park at 9 o’clock on Saturday morning. After standing in line and clearing security, we were statue bound. It a gorgeous day, cold and crisp, not a cloud in the sky. The water was choppy and I prayed the whole way there that I wouldn’t throw up.
When I stepped out onto the deck of the boat and saw her, I was amazed. I told Josh I was a little emotional. Knowing that throngs of immigrants sailed into the harbor, unsure of their future, greeted by such a magnificent creature was hard to wrap my mind around.
The monument itself is closed for construction this season as the parks & recreation departments do some interior renovations. While I was sad not to peer out from her crown, I was still honored and thrilled to be standing at her feet.
The picture below… the one WITHOUT the statue in it is something of a joke. I took a picture of another couple and in return they took one of us. We couldn’t stop laughing when we saw it. The Statue of Liberty was NOWHERE to be found! I’m convinced he didn’t even look at what he was snapping.
The view of the city, the bridges and Brooklyn from Liberty island were amazing.
This is our ferry ship and the view once we boarded it again for Ellis Island.
I was kind of sad to bid her farewell, but the pictures that Josh snapped from the bow (the water was too choppy, so I stayed inside) are incredible. You can see here how small we are in comparison and the construction equipment nearby.
And if you look right in the middle of the photo below, you can see the only image I have of the Empire State Building from the outside!
Ellis Island was also unbelievably gorgeous. You can read more about the island here, if you’d like some history.
We were able to walk around and view the baggage rooms, dormitories and inquisition areas of the facility. There were original passports, boarding documents and money from countries all over the world. I wished we had done some family research before our trip because for $5, you could run searches for your relatives and print out the records from their admission to Ellis Island.
On our way back to the city, we decided to sit on the top deck of the boat and it was COLD! We still had lots to see this day, so check back tomorrow for lots more images.
December 16, 2011: After seeing the islands Saturday morning, we boarded the subway and headed for Madison Square Park. Josh really wanted to see the Flatiron Building (sorry for the weird lighting).
and I really wanted to each a late lunch at the Shake Shake.
Y’all! I am NOT kidding when I tell you this is the best cheeseburger and fries I have ever had. They had the first fountain DP we had seen all week, the hamburgers were cooked to order and the cheese on those fries was melty, cheddar-jack goodness. I’m serious. I’m still dreaming about it and Josh has already told me he’s definitely taking the hour commute to eat there next time he’s in town for work!
It’s hard to tell from this picture, but next to the tree is a man we lovingly referred to as Coach. He had his hair in a topknot and was doing tai chi in the park. With a sword. Priceless.
After lunch, we boarded the subway again for the Brooklyn Bridge. All morning we had been seeing people dressed up as Santa Claus and other festive characters all over lower Manhattan. We didn’t really think much of it until we came up out of the subway tunnel near City Hall and saw this. This picture doesn’t do it justice. The block was full of Santas and every direction you looked the were pouring down the streets. I’d venture to guess they numbered in the four digits. They were happy and singing Christmas carols and flat out hilarious. It wasn’t until hours later that we saw this.
The Brooklyn Bridge was gorgeous. We took the walking path to the halfway point and then came back. I would have loved to walked the rest of the way to shop and eat, but we. were. exhausted.
Then we had the brilliant idea to head to Midtown and see the Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Not sure if you remember or not, but it was SATURDAY. I’ve never seen so many people in one city block and these are the only two pictures I snapped. I was otherwise too busy fighting for my personal space and yelling at people for pushing and shoving.
After almost witnessing a murder attributed to road rage between a very large man and a taxi driver, we took respite at St. Patrick’s. Gorgeous. I’m sad we couldn’t stay for the evening mass, but it was nice just sitting on a pew and watching patrons visit tombs of the saints and light candles.
Our plan for Saturday evening had always been to watch the Heisman ceremony from Times Square and cheer Trent Richardson on, but we could do nothing but hop the train back to Tuckahoe and crawl back to our hotel room. We were in our pajamas indulging on room service by 6:30 that night. We are old and boring!
