This 'n That Of NYC

Teri and I posed outside of One World Trade Center - not really knowing what the "one" meant until we tried to find the dessert place which was in building #4!

Our yummy desserts and coffee!!  It was good to just sit down and enjoy our desserts while reflecting on the 9/11 museum!  And boy were those desserts good!!

This is a picture of our bus that we took from NJ into Manhattan each day!  It sure worked out great to ride this bus with the locals!

 Goofing off on the bus that evening on our way home!  Since we had just eaten the desserts, nobody really wanted dinner so we found a store and bought wine and chips to take back to the house - a perfect dinner!

And here's a couple pics of our apartment - it also had a complete kitchen and a bedroom!  Looking at the picture now, it's funny to see that tv hanging on the wall because it sure didn't get turned on!

So another great day in NYC - and just one more left to enjoy the sights!

An AMERICAN Day

The Statue of Liberty and 9/11 were on the agenda for Thursday!  We left plenty early knowing we would hit traffic going into Manhattan and Teri found the subway in no time!!  We bought subway tickets and waited impatiently for the subway to arrive - it was SO HOT down in the subway that we were sweating!!

It was a quick ride down to Battery Park and then a walk to where we needed to be!  We decided we had time to grab a quick bite at Starbucks so grabbed breakfast sandwiches and coffee before we headed down to the building to pick up our tickets!

Picking up the tickets was easy - I had ordered Crown tickets (which were special tickets to walk all the way up to the crown and these MUST be ordered in advance as they are limited) that needed to be picked up by 8:00am.  Our time to go into the Crown was at 10 so we thought we could go over early on the ferry and get all our pictures taken of the Statue before we walked up. But we weren't allowed to get on the ferry yet!  The guy taking the tickets said we had to wait till the 9:15 ferry!!

We walked back over twice trying to get on earlier but each time he said to come back at 9:15!!  Teri and I ended up walking around Battery Park to kill the time and found this cute merry go round!!

We finally got let through to head to the ferry!  Security is like going to the airport - very thorough - but the ride over was nice and we made it to the Statue of Liberty in no time!!  We had to rent a locker to put our purses in and were only allowed to carry up our phones (for our camera use).

We took the elevator the first phase that took us up to the pedestal - there the security guard told us to get a drink of water and some fresh air outside before we started up the steps!  They do warn you before you ever purchase your tickets, that you must be in good physical health to attempt the steps - they are very narrow and wrap around just like a spiral staircase - claustrophobic people are not advised to go up - right!!  Guess who's claustrophobic!!  But I was going to climb those steps no matter what!

The 3 of us headed up and what they said was true - you are constantly going in a circle and you use the railing to kind of do a hand over hand pulling to help you get up!  We took a couple of breaks on the way up and we all did great climbing those 146 steps!

It's actually quite small at the top!!  There were 2 security guards up there along with one other family that were just ready to head down!

We were all proud of ourselves for making the journey up, knowing we will probably never do it again!!  The way down was almost harder than going up and it's sure hard on the knees!

And then it was down to the front of the statue to take a few more photos!

We got back on the ferry and went over to Ellis Island - very interesting to walk through the main building and see where the immigrants came through!!  There were a lot of different rooms that showed the process of their paperwork, getting checked out by the doctor, tests that were given to the children and lots of photos and memorabilia.  We walked around for over an hour and then headed back on the ferry to Battery Park so we could head towards the 9/11 monuments.

Along the way we ate at a restaurant that played an important part on 9/11 - the restaurant was used as an emergency first aid station - there were several photos that depicted that day!

9/11 was a very somber and emotional experience - we had no idea what to expect - but the museum was well done!

This beautiful wall of blue is explained in the next picture.

These steps withstood the collapse of one of the buildings.

Can you imagine the force of the plane that hit the building, bending this steel beam?

The flag with pictures of those that lost their lives on 9/11.

There were many videos to watch, recordings you could listen to and so much to see that it was just overwhelming.......................we finally got to the point where we just had to leave the museum and go outside to the reflecting pools which stand where the twin towers used to be.  All the names of the ones that lost their lives that day are etched into the border all the way around each pool.  Note the reflections of the buildings on the edge of the pool.

And finally The Survivor Tree - the only tree left standing after the buildings fell that day.

We were all glad that we still had one more day in NYC because we were totally drained after seeing the museum and the pools - it's amazing the emotions that surface from that horrible day!

What better way to boost our spirits than to go have dessert and coffee!!  More on that next...........

A Bronx Tale

Our ferry tour was also included on the Hop On Hop Off ticket so we found the place to get on and got some awesome seats looking out at Manhattan and New Jersey from the water.

We've all decided that these buildings look like Lego's!!  The people that work on the upper 1/2 of these buildings sure have some awesome views of the water!

And if I'm recalling correctly that's the Empire State Building - but all the facts and figures seem to fade from my brain after I return home!

We saw lots of bridges from the ferry and I believe this one is the Brooklyn Bridge.

The ferry took us over to the Statue of Liberty and it was fun to get pictures from a distance.  When you're on the island, you're too close to get the full effect!

Still wearing our long sleeved tops as the ferry ride was windy and cool!

After our ferry tour we raced home to change clothes - we honestly thought we'd have time to relax but decided to head on back and see how much time we had.  Luckily the bus ride was super fast coming back so we walked close to where the show was playing and found this Irish Pub which was PERFECT for our leisurely dinner!  We FINALLY felt super relaxed and thoroughly enjoyed our meal!

I can't remember the name of the drink I ordered but it was great - but I do remember I ordered Shepherd's Pie and it was delicious!!

And then it was time to head into the theater to see A Bronx Tale!  We were all excited to see it and the musical was EXCELLENT!!!!  Loved Loved Loved it!!!  And I would see it again in a heartbeat!

The theater was very nice and after that lovely meal, we were thristy of course so had to shell out $5.00 for a bottle of water!!  But it sure tasted good! 

We talked about going out for dessert afterward but opted to just head back to the apartment and eat chocolate covered blueberries that I had brought!  And would we get to sleep in the next day?  Absolutely not!  Another jam packed day was ahead of us!

TV Stars!

One forgets the noise of the city at night!  Cars, trucks, buses - but the worst is the car alarm - especially when it goes off 3 nights in a row!!

4:15 came a little early when you don't go to sleep till 11:30!  We dressed in our awesome matching t-shirts and made our way in the dark out to the bus stop!

Traffic wasn't near as bad as the night before so we made good time on the bus getting to our drop off point!

Here we are standing in line to go through security at 5:45am!  Yes, it's still dark out!  We had fun visiting with the people in line!

 After security, you went and found your place to stand!  They also had a place to make your own poster if you didn't bring one!

 A selfie standing in OUR spot!

 We stood there a LONG time - and slowly it began to get light!  Check out our t-shirts and buttons we received!

Yes, we all shook his hand!!  Once the Today Show started, they had tv's outside so you could see what was happening inside but you couldn't hear!  You could also walk over to the window and be seen sometimes!

 The back of our shirts!

 Everyone loves Hoda!!  She came out a couple of times - stops and talks to people - and came right over to us and asked if she could take a selfie with us!  When the camera went around the square, we were shown on TV and also could get a couple of quick glimpses other times!  Many people replied on Facebook that they had seen us!  So that was exciting!

 It was fun being there and now I can say I've been on The Today Show!!

By 8:30 we were ready to eat breakfast!  Not an easy task in NYC - I think everybody there grabs a bagel or sweet off a food cart and gets coffee from Starbucks!!  It was difficult to find an actual place that was open that cooked food!!  But we finally found a place, even though you walked through a line and ordered!  The omelettes tasted great that morning!!

We caught the Hop On Hop Off bus after breakfast for our Day Tour of Uptown Manhattan!  Though you can't see them very well here, we're wearing our long sleeved t-shirts that they handed out at The Today Show!  It was cooler than normal and when the wind came up, we were kind of cold so the shirts came in handy!

The height of most of the buildings was breathtaking!!

This is an apartment building with a guy beside the rope who is washing windows - you wouldn't catch me up there!

A beautiful church - many are pretty old and all I could think of is where do these people park that go to church?

I'm always reading about New York "brownstones" in many of my books - and I finally got to see one!!  It's hard to imagine that some of these places are huge inside because they all look rather small from the outside!

The tour was long because we kept getting stopped with all of the traffic - again, it's hard to imagine driving around Manhattan - many of the roads are only 2 lanes each way!

Next up that afternoon - the Ferry Tour!!

Sisters Trip 2017 - NEW YORK CITY

After all the planning, the researching, and the endless hours spent on the computer booking our trip, it FINALLY arrived!

New York City - here we come!!  I headed to Denver the day before and spent some precious time with Jessi's family before heading to the airport the next morning!  At this stage of my life, I DETEST driving in the dark!  And my flight was early enough that I had to drive in the dark the next morning - but did it have to rain too?  I had the directions to the parking place (we have found a new one that we really like!!) put on my phone but even then I missed one turn because it was so dark and rainy!  But I made it and that's all that counts!

Patty and Teri arrived earlier than I did but we all met up and headed outside to meet the driver that was picking us up - his name was Manny and was originally from Cuba!  Very fun to talk to BUT hard to understand as his accent was so strong!  Accents are NOT my strong suit!

I had booked us an apartment through VRBO in Union City, NJ - right across the bridge from Manhattan.  It was very reasonable to rent and the best part was we each had our own bed!!  Besides the king bed in the bedroom, the living room had 3 couches that were hide a beds so we quickly unpacked and set up the beds!

Our "ride" into Manhattan was on the "chicken" bus, as dubbed that by the people that ride it I guess!  We walked 1/2 block and it picked us up in a minute - I believe the most we ever waited for it was 3 or 4 minutes!  By that time of day, traffic was pretty bad and we got our first taste of how New Yorkers drive!!  CRAZY!!!!!

The bus was cheap to ride - $3.00 per person each way - and you just handed the driver your money each time you got on!  Most of the people riding the bus were workers but it worked out perfect for us!

We sure knew we were in NYC when we stepped off that bus - honking taxis, blaring sirens, loud buses and lots and lots and lots of people......................It was pretty shocking to the system!

Teri was our navigator for the trip and she does an excellent job of reading the maps and knowing where we needed to go - we had our itinerary all typed out (with tickets purchased in advance for most of the sightseeing) and she led the way every day!!

After dinner, we headed for our first tour which was the hop on hop off bus tour for a night tour of New York!!  We sat on the top and were glad we had our jackets!

Of course we were amazed by all the skyscrapers - and I can't imagine living in one of those, all those stories high!!  Times Square - a VERY busy place!

The bus ride was fun and our guide told us names of most of the buildings which of course I don't remember!

See the people on the street?  There were people everywhere!  Hundreds of people - and you feel like you're dodging people all the time!

 This was a cool looking building!

 This picture reminds me of being on a movie set!!

 Traffic - traffic - traffic!!!  There was never a lack of it! 

Patty and Teri on the bus -we were all snapping away but our cameras couldn't begin to capture the beauty of the NYC skyline!

Our feet were tired once we got back to our apartment - especially when Teri told us we had walked about 5 miles...................sleep didn't come easy to me that night with the 2 hour time change!  And I knew it was going to be an EARLY morning too!