What a rush New york is!!!
Whooeee! We took the New Jersey Transit train from
Middletown, NJ into New York both Saturday and Sunday. It was 1 hour and 12 minutes each way. Not the express train, for sure. However, and
express train
did blast by us while waiting along the track,
assaulting all of our senses and scaring the daylights out of us! The dirt and debris swirled up higher than our heads! Good thing we did not have dresses on, for surely they would have been straight up in the air with our bums exposed for all to laugh at! Joy decided that this was how they keep the wide berth around the tracks free of liter. Sure does work!
How fun to have the friendly conductors come to your seat to punch your tickets! Just like in
Polar Express!
We were able to cram many, many things into the two frantic days, though we just scratched the surface of experiencing the Big Apple. Most of our time was spent on Manhattan Island riding tour buses and hopping off to visit fascinating spots..................... like The Statue of Liberty! We decided to just view Lady Liberty from our ferry, as the lines were laden with tourists, such as ourselves. It was a very moving moment, though, to get a sense of what those poor, sick and, more often than not, persecuted immigrants must have felt as they sailed past this great symbol of freedom, promising them great hope for their futures.
Just a beautiful sail boat trolling around Liberty Island
We did, however, disembark the boat at Ellis Island.
After touring Ellis Island, I can see how it was actually a place that filled the immigrants with fear and dread. What they endured there is nothing short of
treachery. Imagine being sent back to whatever it was you fled from, and after enduring such hardship on the ship over if you failed any portion of their exams! Or seeing one of your beloved family members rejected and sent away, while the rest of you stayed here.
Hall of Registry
We could see the top of the great Empire State Building from all over the city. Did you know that a
plane accidentally flew into it, too? I can't remember when
that happened, but it was the 79
th floor that was struck. It was able to be repaired, having been strong enough to withstand the collision, unlike the Twin Towers. I wonder, though, if that is why on the 80
th floor you need to exit the elevators and catch a different set of
elevators on the other side of the building in order to continue on up to the top.
Joy and I (Shirley) went up to the top one night, and to skip the long lines on the 80
th floor, we climbed 6 flights of stairs to arrive at the top. You can see forever! In all directions! Incredible!!!
Central Park was another one of those most amazing things in the center of the huge city! You have little or no idea from inside the park of the hustle and bustle of the city that is surrounding you!
We only just touched the grand park! We saw the south end, and some of the east side only.
One can see the reflections of the skyscrapers in the pond!
This is the Delac
orte clock in the zoo section. It is quite grand!
On the hour and the half hour, the little men bong the bell with their hammers, and the animals march around the clock pedestal! So wonderful :-)
Of course, no trip to New York now-a-days is complete without stopping by Ground Zero. Very solemn. A beautiful memorial has been erected across from where the buildings once stood, where anyone can leave flowers for the victims.
A large empty void sits where the once majestically tall buildings stood. They were twice as tall as any building around them, and you can see how tall some of these are. Yet nothing was damaged except those two buildings. God certainly spared America of far more destruction than occurred on that fateful day.
A visit to the Carnegie Deli was finally accomplished our final night!
Bagel with a
ton of cream cheese from the deli!
We also experienced authentic New York Pizza! YUM!
Exhausted, but feeling like we had had enough of the craziness of the City for a while, we have now returned to Aunt Toots to recharge before we head out for D.C. this Thursday!
How fun to have the friendly conductors come to your seat to punch your tickets! Just like in Polar Express!
We were able to cram many, many things into the two frantic days, though we just scratched the surface of experiencing the Big Apple. Most of our time was spent on Manhattan Island riding tour buses and hopping off to visit fascinating spots..................... like The Statue of Liberty! We decided to just view Lady Liberty from our ferry, as the lines were laden with tourists, such as ourselves. It was a very moving moment, though, to get a sense of what those poor, sick and, more often than not, persecuted immigrants must have felt as they sailed past this great symbol of freedom, promising them great hope for their futures.
Just a beautiful sail boat trolling around Liberty Island
We did, however, disembark the boat at Ellis Island.
After touring Ellis Island, I can see how it was actually a place that filled the immigrants with fear and dread. What they endured there is nothing short of treachery. Imagine being sent back to whatever it was you fled from, and after enduring such hardship on the ship over if you failed any portion of their exams! Or seeing one of your beloved family members rejected and sent away, while the rest of you stayed here.
Hall of Registry
We could see the top of the great Empire State Building from all over the city. Did you know that a plane accidentally flew into it, too? I can't remember when that happened, but it was the 79th floor that was struck. It was able to be repaired, having been strong enough to withstand the collision, unlike the Twin Towers. I wonder, though, if that is why on the 80th floor you need to exit the elevators and catch a different set of elevators on the other side of the building in order to continue on up to the top.
Joy and I (Shirley) went up to the top one night, and to skip the long lines on the 80th floor, we climbed 6 flights of stairs to arrive at the top. You can see forever! In all directions! Incredible!!!
Central Park was another one of those most amazing things in the center of the huge city! You have little or no idea from inside the park of the hustle and bustle of the city that is surrounding you!
We only just touched the grand park! We saw the south end, and some of the east side only.
One can see the reflections of the skyscrapers in the pond!
This is the Delacorte clock in the zoo section. It is quite grand!
On the hour and the half hour, the little men bong the bell with their hammers, and the animals march around the clock pedestal! So wonderful :-)
Of course, no trip to New York now-a-days is complete without stopping by Ground Zero. Very solemn. A beautiful memorial has been erected across from where the buildings once stood, where anyone can leave flowers for the victims.
A large empty void sits where the once majestically tall buildings stood. They were twice as tall as any building around them, and you can see how tall some of these are. Yet nothing was damaged except those two buildings. God certainly spared America of far more destruction than occurred on that fateful day.
A visit to the Carnegie Deli was finally accomplished our final night!
Bagel with a ton of cream cheese from the deli!
We also experienced authentic New York Pizza! YUM!
Exhausted, but feeling like we had had enough of the craziness of the City for a while, we have now returned to Aunt Toots to recharge before we head out for D.C. this Thursday!
Wow! What a whirlwind tour! Central park looks a lot different in September than January!
ReplyDeleteNo musical theatre, though? No worries, you may be able to still catch a show at the Folger's Shakespeare theatre in DC. Have a great time - good luck seeing everything you want to!
Wow, what a trip! A perfect snapshot of what must have been a very long two days!
ReplyDeleteAmazing photos once again... what an experience you are having! I love looking at your magnificent photographs along with your thoroughly entertaining, informative and oft times humorous captions!
ReplyDelete