New York, New York!!!!

New York, I finally made it! 
Ever since I can remember I have wanted to go to N.Y. I wanted to know what the biggest city in the U.S. was like.  Well, first impression, it was AmAZinG!  It was big and busy and just everything I thought it would be a so much better.

We arrived in New Jersey late at night and the attendant at our hotel had given away our room.  So we went across the street to a motel.  I realized while Kyle was checking us in that any motel that gives rates by the hour is probably a different kind of hotel, but we decided we had no other option.  So, the next morning we went back to our original hotel and straightened things out!

Broadway Ave.

Kyle with Optimus Prime!

Times Square

N.Y City Sunset

The next day we hopped on a bus and took the Lincoln Tunnel to Manhattan.  It's a pretty neat experience in and of itself, the turnpike literally takes a hairpin turn under ground into the Lincoln tunnel under the water.  It takes about 15 minutes to get to the other side.  The bus terminal is deep under ground as well, and it was a little disorienting finding our way out.  The metro is in the same place and we used both a lot, so by the end of the week we had it all pretty well figured out.  Once we left the terminal we went straight above ground and started walking!  Sad moment in my life was when we walked straight through Times Square and I didn't even know it!  AArrgghh!!!  When we had a couple minutes to sit and take is all in this is what we saw.  It was bright like Las Vegas, with all the billboards and news ads, it smelled like the county fair, and the movement of all the people no matter the time of day was energetic.

Metorology Observatory from the mid-late 1800'

 That day we also went to the central Park and ate lunch, another jewel for my crown!  An absolute dream come true!  Something you wouldnt know about the Central Park unless you were there is that it, like so many other things in N.Y. goes down in the ground.  Not under ground but below street level.  So it moves and flows unlike parks out west where there is more room for it to meander.

Central Park

Notice how happy I am?

This little guy about the size of a chicken.

So life like!

After lunch we walked over to the Natural History Museum.  Any one who as seen the movies Night at the Museum would feel just like they were in the movie walking through here.  The animal sets were amazing and the dinsaur exhibits had so many types that I didnt even know exshisted!  When we left the Natural Hisotry we walked clear the other side of Central Park and just made the last hour of the Gougenhiem.  It was interesting, I found it confusing and frustrating but Kyle, my art buff loved it.  

The Gougenhiem.

Thanks Lloyd another high five for you!

 

Tile sign on the Subway.

On the platform, hot and stinky.

Inside The Empire Building.

The next day, we decided that because our feet hurt so bad that the subway was the way to go!  It was really nice to travel around the city so much faster but the subway itself is not nice smelling.  The first two levels were ok but the third level down smells like gym socks and farts, because there is no air flow, not to mention it's hot!!!  I was impressed though at the attention to detail that we just dont have these days.  Tile signs every where; nice looking and functional too!

On the subway train.

Skyline from the top; oohh, pretty!

Anyway,  we went to the Empire State Building.  When we were at the building I didnt think we were at the right place because at ground level it just looks like any other building, lol!  The inside kind of reminded me of the Ministry of magic from Harry Potter.  We also went to ground zero and even though I was on the other side of the U.S. and knew no one who was invovled I was equally moved that day we visited as the day it happened.  The little visiters center was lovely and the memorbilia was moving being there was almost spiritual.  

The Twin Towers should have been in front of those 2 buildings.  That is outside of the front doors of the visiter's center.

Twisted metal supports recovered from the site,

The time piece from the lobby of one the Trade Centers recovered.

My fav. piece of art drawn by a child displayed at the visitors center.

The New York City skyline from the farey going to Ellis Island.

Eatin' lunch at the Statue of Liberty.

Later, we went to the Statue of Liberty (which is not as big as one might have imagined).  We ate lunch there as well and surprised my mother in law with an impromptu call and made her guess where we were at!  That was priceless!  One of my favorite stops was Ellis Island, I was able to locate ancestors in the ships manifesto and learn more about her.  It was awesome!!!!

Rockefeller Plaza.

Breakfast at Tiffany's (corny!)

Lastly, we went to Tiffany's, I know that it was corny but I had to have breakfast at Tiffany's.  We then tried to get on the Today Show, according to sources our sign was seen.  We took in a little music on the plaza.  I sang along with Carol King and James Taylor.  

The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Egyptian temple.

 The remainder of our day was spent viewing some of the world's most famous art at the Metroplitan Museum of Art and the Modern Museum of Art.  At the Met we took in most of the museum, it took about 8 hours.  We saw statues both originals and reproduction, we saw whole Egyption Temples reassmbled inside the museum.  Paintings that were so much more beautiful than any photo graph, it makes one feel silly that we buy prints of these and say that that is beauty.  We ate lunch in the cafe in the Met and every bite was a taste of what our eyes took in, in art and culture.   The very last place we went was the Modern Museum of Art and it was really cool, but at that point we couldn't concentrate on anything because our feet hurt so bad!  So we called it a trip.  The following morning we packed our little bags, wiped a tear from our eyes,  blew a kiss to Manhattan from our car window and headed for home.  But all corniness aside I would live in New York in a heartbeat!  Maybe, someday, who knows.

THE END!!!!