We left for New York on March 15th. We left from Los Angeles, so Luke and Ashley picked me up around 3:30 AM. I wore a Greg Norman sweater, Derek Lam slacks, and Blondo boots.
That night at 7:30, we had reservations to go to the Empire State Building. We walked down there form our hotel in Times Square and saw a lot of the tall buildings and beautiful architecture.
The Flatiron Building was covered in scaffolding.
This was our destination!
Here is the entrance.
As you go up to the elevator, they have a King Kong display where you can take funny pictures.
The view is stunning, and even though I am afraid of heights I enjoyed it. It was windy and cold.
On March 16th, we took the morning ferry to the Statue of Liberty. It was foggy.
This is the path to the statue.
This is the museum that tells all about how it was made and the fundraiser that it took to get the statue erected.
The Statue's pedestal sits on the remains of Fort Wood, built in 1810 in the shape of an eleven-pointed star.
They have a life-sized replica of her feet in the museum.
Here's how the scaffolding looked while the statue was being erected.
Some of the souvenirs that were sold to raise funds for the statue.
The museum.
Then we went over to Ellis Island. Over 12 million immigrants passed through this small place to be processed, from 1900-1954.
It was also under renovation. There are scaffolds and cranes covering this city. The gloomy weather was perfect to view this somewhat creepy tourist site.
The giant halls had different exhibits.
This bridge view is pretty.
The sun started to come out, and we got some nice views of the Statue of Liberty as we went back to Manhattan.
This is one of the boats.
The view of Manhattan from Ellis Island.
We got back and walked past the American Stock Exchange.
In the afternoon, we went to the 911 Memorial. This building is One World Trade Center.
This is the Oculus, which seemed to be a mall.
There were several gummy bear sculptures around the Oculus.
This is one of the two 911 Memorial Pools.
This stairway allowed many people to escape.
Here are some of the interior girders, all twisted.
Here's a fire engine that got squished by falling debris.
This is what the site looked like.
The museum was very interesting and also very tragic. A few people cried as they went through the exhibits.
We had noodles for dinner. Mine were pork gyros and pork liver. Yum.
The next day, March 17th, was St Patrick's Day. it was freezing - 25 degrees. We went to the parade.
Here are a lot of pictures of the parade. It was four hours long, but we probably only watched it for two hours.
Then we went to FAO Schwartz.
Here is the giant keyboard from the movie Big.
Then we walked along the High Line to go to Chelsea Market. The High Line is a footpath constructed from an old railroad track.
Lots of vendors in Chelsea Market.
We decided on a butcher shop restaurant. Someone got the pig head!
After that, we went back to Times Square. We took the subway a lot during this trip.
On Wednesday, we had the first day of our Hop On Hop Off bus.
It was cold again.
The famous Louis Vuitton building that is designed to look like a stack of LV suitcases.
We got off at Central Park. The Met was closed, so we went back the next day, as you will see.
This building is called Belvedere Castle.
The skyline on the South end of the park.
The El Dorado apartments, a very famous and expensive building.
We walked all around and enjoyed the views. It was finally getting warmer!
Lots of horse drawn carriages out.
This is Columbus Circle. They were filming in a couple of locations in Manhattan, so lots of streets were blocked off.
This gigantic pot shop was right on the corner of the street where our hotel met Times Square.
We ate at a famous NYC Deli called Junior's. I had a cup of matzoh ball soup and a chopped liver appetizer. It was delicious.
On Thursday, we went to see Saint Patrick's Cathedral.
I lit a candle for my mom.
These are their latest murals.
A lot of saints have individual alcoves.
The nave.
The altar.
Two of the tabernacles.
More tributes to different saints.
Then we walked by Rockefeller Center. The Zamboni was out grooming the skating rink.
Times Square was going full blast at noon.
Then we went back to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Some nice bronze sculptures.
A king's bedchamber.
The armor displays were fantastic! They showed many types of armor and how it worked and even had the gear that the horses wore.
Then we went to the European paintings. Look at this candle flame!
A sarcophagus.
The Egyptian geese!!!
We had dinner at a restaurant that we saw from the bus. I got a wedge salad and a Vesper. The salad was great, but the Vesper tasted like gasoline.
There was a pianist/singer playing while we ate.
On Friday March 20th, we went to see Grand Central Station.
This guy was really good.
They had a long food hall, lots of meats, cheese, and bakery.
One of the trains peeking out.
Afterwards, we went to the American Museum of Natural History. They are very proud of their dinosaur skeleton collection.
First, we saw a presentation about how the Big Bang really happened.
Then we got to the dinos! First, the predatory meat-eaters, the big scary guys.
Even the little ones had lots of sharp teeth.
The brontosaurus was gigantic!
The plant eaters were much cuter.
Here's stegosaurus!
Triceratops.
Lots of little low to the ground guys with big sails.
The saber-toothed tiger!
A narwhal.
Pterodactyls!
Reindeers and equus horses.
Sloths.
Elk/Moose type of creatures.
Longhorns.
Mammoths and elephants.
The biggest skeleton in the entire museum.
Turtles and tortoises.
Then we went to the American Birds exhibit. Of course, a bald eagle.
An osprey.
Osprey versus hawk. osprey has blue feet and hawk has yellow feet.
Okapi.
That night, Luke treated Ashley and I to a wonderful prix fixe dinner at a restaurant called the Peak. We also got admission to the viewing deck on the 101st floor called the Edge.
I am very afraid of heights, and it was very windy.
This is the view.
Here we are, with the Empire State Building behind us.
Here's the menu. You get an appetizer, and entree and a dessert.
This is my cocktail. It's called a Concrete Jungle Bird.
Ashley's had rosemary and Red Bull.
I got scallops as my appetizer. Perfect.
And a veal chop for my entree. Yummy.
My dessert was called The Egg. You use a knife the crack the white chocolate shell and then the ice cream is coconut and the yolk is passion fruit. It was delicious.
Ashley got fig sorbet.
Then we went back to the Edge for some nighttime viewing. I stayed inside.
And then we flew back home! Our flights both ways were flawless. I had a wonderful time!
