New York: Day 3

The next morning we got up and decided to get on one of the tour buses so that we could see more of the sites. We took the bus for a little while and decided that wasn't the way we wanted to see NY. We really couldn't get off the bus when we wanted to. We took it to Ground Zero and then got off the bus. Ground zero was very somber--even still. There was so much hussle and bussle until you were close to it--then there was a silence. We were both surprised at how quiet everyone was while walking by the construction site. This was not the best part of the trip, we were far from our hotel and we weren't sure where we were, where we were going or how we were going to get there. So we found water and walked along the edge for a mile or two. (Lexi would probably say 20) We saw Battery Park and the Ground Zero monument.

We finally came to Ellis Island and the Staten Island Ferry. So we jumped on. The Ferry gets you pretty close to the Statue of Liberty, but not close enough in my opinion. I would love to take a different Ferry and actually go to the island. I think that if I ever get back to New York that that is one thing I want to do. Seeing the Statue of Liberty was AWESOME! Something I have wanted to do my whole life. I am so glad that I was able to fufill this dream.
We had a hot dog from one of the carts because I said I wanted a NY hot dog and we had to cross it off the list. We decided not to get back on the bus to go back to the hotel, instead we decided to walk. That was a long walk. It was at least 5 miles back. We saw a lot, but my legs were getting tired after yesterdays adventures. But it was fun, we saw a guy filming something, we don't know what, but we took a picture anyways...
We walked to the Empire State Building and decided to go up to the top. There are really long lines and a whole lot of people in there. The Building was fun to see, but I don't think I would ever go to the top again. It took about 2 hours to get to the top. Just standing in lines and then we were only at the top for like 10 minutes and then the long wait down. There were a lot of people so it was hard to see much anyway, and it was expensive. Something funny that happened, we were talking to this family, they had a baby girl with them. The employees were letting them go through the line, to get down, a lot faster than anyone else. When they asked them how many in their party--they said 5. They had included Lexi and I with them so were able to get out of there really fast. It had Lexi and I laughing for quite a while. We could definately see a lot from up top. This is where the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade starts. That was fun. We found the Chrysler Building. "I want it to shine like the top of the Chrysler Building" (Annie) We drove past Madison Square Garden on our bus ride to Staten Island.

We barely made it back in time for our next show. We grabbed some Philly Cheese steaks from a vendor cart on the road. And gobbled them down.

We saw "Guys and Dolls" The costumes were great and the set was incredible. I wouldn't say I could recommend the show. Especially if young kids were going to watch it. It is a little on the skanky side. It was good, but not great. The way they moved from set to set was pretty amazing, one of the best that I have seen.
On our way home we saw this guy making the most incredible paintings with only spray paint and a few tools. Mostly a spackle thingy...we watched him for a long time.

Today was Shirsten's 18th birthday, so we had lots of fun desserts to sample and sat around and visited with everyone. Then it was off to bed.