new york things – part 2

Welcome back to Max and Lisha's excellent adventure school trip to New York City.  We started fresh tired, but excited, as we looked forward to fun waiting us Saturday morning.  We walked a few blocks to the Sbarro where we did not have pizza for breakfast, but were surprised with a delicious breakfast buffet.  Following breakfast, we caught the subway and headed to Broad Street, where we got to see the Charging Bull up close and personal (some more than others, but we won't go there!).  We walked to the ferry at Battery Park, viewing The Sphere before heading over to Liberty Island where we had a quick stop to see Lady Liberty herself -- she was awe-inspiring and beautiful.  After hopping back on the ferry, we left for Ellis Island where we toured the immigration museum.


After returning on the ferry, we headed up Broad Street, where we saw the sidewalk markers commemorating each ticker tape parade, starting with the first one for the dedication of the Statue of Liberty (on Max's birthday, October 28, but 112 years before!). Passing the New York Stock Exchange, we stopped for lunch and then headed to Trinity Church (recently most known for it's part in the movie National Treasure) before heading down Wall Street to see Federal Hall.  As we were leaving the area, we saw the Red Cube where Max had fun 'holding' it up.  It is the smallest building in NYC -- yes, they had to have a building permit for this work of art since it was shaped like a cube.

The next part of our trip was much more surreal, as we entered the area commonly called Ground Zero.  We saw what is officially called the National September 11 Memorial Plaza and visited the Preview Site and St. Paul's Chapel (which served as a base for hundreds of volunteers for ten months after the attack on September 11).  Although I have no personal association with anyone who died that day, it was an emotional time.

By now, my body was beginning to fight and was no happy with me for spending so much time on my feet walking.  When we returned to the hotel, I propped my feet up on pillows for about an hour before we readied to go to dinner and to our last Broadway play, Lion King.  Both Max and I were totally spent and Max slept through the last third of the play.  By the time we returned to the hotel, we were ready to sleep and happy that we had an extra hour in the morning to sleep.
But, Sunday morning came and with it the rain.  Fortunately, we were prepared with our rain ponchos and we were fortunate that the rain was light.  We started the morning by taking the subway to the American Museum of Natural History where we spent several hours trying to absorb as much as possible, as quickly as possible. Max thought the tapestry made totally with spider silk was pretty cool.
We headed to the New York Public Library Main Branch which is the home of the famous Rose Main Reading Room and also houses one of 48 remaining copies of the Guttenburg Bible.  Max and I could have spent all day there and I had to tear Max away from a book when it was time to leave.  At that point, I think we both were running on fumes.  But, we were not finished for the day.  We left for Grand Central Terminal  (see Max with our tour guide, Robert in the terminal) where we had a quick tour and a quick lunch before spending our last few hours in the city at Time Square.  We finished up our last minute shopping for souvenirs and rested our weary bones at the one place Max continued to talk about whenever we had passed it over the past 3 days -- the three-story McDonald's at Time Square.

So, we met our group at the M&Ms store and headed back to the hotel where we caught our tour bus back to La Guardia for a delayed, turbulent-filled ride through lightning back home to Alabama.

05.06.10