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Friday 2:00 am
I don't know why but I got up, grabbed my
suitcase, and made my way up the Goodhue Parking lot (the education building parking lot) even though we weren't leaving until 3 am.
Friday 2:35
Woo hoo other people are arriving! We load up in our vans and head out into the unknown!!!
Friday around 7 Pm
Stuck in construction traffic in Pennsylvania, oh well, we had fun goofing around in the van's. Dr B is hilarious especially when she has been driving all day long! After we get out of traffic we make our way to Newark, New Jersey. We drop our vans off at Enterprise, they shuttle us to the Airport, we hop a shuttle in the airport and make our way to the train station. After we jump on a train bound for Penn Station we arrive and jump on a subway...a little scary but also exciting. We get off the subway and make our way up the steps.. and there we are Times Square at night with all the lights blazing. What an amazing sight! I was taking video with my camera and trying to drag my suitcase along at the same time. It was pretty funny. You'll have to check out my pictures on Facebook! We finally make it to our hotel after 18 hours of traveling. Our hotel is right off TS which is pretty neat, and we get a really nice room with comfy beds! That night we explore TS, take pictures, and eat at Bubba Gump's shrimp on TS. Then we collapsed into bed!
Saturday 7 AM
Rise and shine!!!! I wake up to a beautiful view out my hotel window, where I see a cruise ship out in the river or bay or ocean, I'm not sure which bc NY geography is kind of confusing. We eat at one of the 5 million McDonalds, then go to Central Park which is not as impressive as I hoped until we see the fountain and all the statues. Next we run intoa 26k walk for Breast Cancer and talk to the ladies who are participating-very neat. Instead of going to the Natural History Museum we go to a fall festival which is huge and has lots of good food and shopping without the sales tax. Next is the Emipre State Building which was fun. I took some really great pictures, if I do say so myself, and I saw the Flatiron builiding and the Chrysler Building (which is my favorite). Even though I'm scared of heights I really liked the view, and couldn't believe how small the statue of Liberty looked! Little Italy is next on our stops. My friend Stephanie, Dr. B, and I eat at La Mela which apparently means "apple". We can't understand the menu and there is much shouting, toasting, an singing happening. Finally we all get alfredo because we understand what it is. The food is good but very expensive I've never paid $20 for a meal before! As we walk down Little Italy we see the rest of our group at different and much nicer restraunts, we also talk to a pair of friends who are visiting NYC from Australia. They are very nice and we have a great conversation with them. After Little Italy we try, unsucessfully to find China Town. What we find instead is a very stinky, dark, and scary place. That was the only time I was a little scared in New York, and I wasn't really scared because we were in a big group. Later we found out that we were behind China Town! lol.
Sunday
It was really hard to wake up, because we were all so exhausted from the long ride and the walking but we made it to the hardest place to visit I've ever been. Ground Zero was right in front of me before I had time to prepare for it I'd heard it said that you couldn't understand the size of WTC until you saw it. They were exactly right. It was overwhelming. Even with the construction going on it was easy to remember the was the WTC looked on 9/11. I took lots of pictures and video but had a hard time speaking because I kept getting choaked up. People still leave flowers..people still post flyers for the missing..five years later. As we walked around the site, I caught my breath when I saw how close Fire Station 10 was. I think they lost six members. The door to the station opened and I saw a firefighter..I wanted to ask "Were you there?" Because sometimes, even when I was standing there, it was so hard to believe that people went through it and still go on living. How can they go to work everyday and look out the window and see the place where their friends died? What bravery and courage.... I was glad that I could look and remember, but I was also glad when we left..Battery Park was where we got on the ferry for Liberty Island. After the security and the ride in which I took tons of pictures we arrived at the Lady. Wow. I was so excited to be there I couldn't stop singing "Like lady Liberty she reigns over all she seeesss!!!" from Miss Congeniality. Then I took even more pictures and had close encounters with pigeons. We couldn't stay long because we had to get back on the ferry for Ellis Island. Wow. Again. What a beautiful place. To me it was a symbol of hope, maybe even more so than the Statue, because I could literally feel the history. You could almost see different cultures, in different dress, hear different languages, and children playing, and people nervous but excited.They had made it from whatever fear, despair, or tyranny that had held them- they had made it to a place of hope and opportunity. The museum was so tangible because you could see the pictures of those new americans, you could look at the treasures they had brought from home, and you could read their names. I would love to go back there and explore even more.
Sunday was a full day because we also went to Broadway. We saw Hairspray in the Neil Simon theatre. It was absolutely fantastic!!! I loved it. Rach we've got to go sometime and take Paige so we can see the Phantom of the Opera. I wish I could watch a Broadway show everyday! After this we went to Hard Rock Cafe which is the coolest one I've ever seen! The food was even good which suprised me! Then we went back to the hotel to sleep!!!
On Monday morning we packed up and took our last look around. I was glad to be going home, but sad because I was suprised how much I really liked the city. When we got on the subway I felt like a local, as we boarded the train and sped towards Newark I sighed a little. Then it was back in the van in New Jersey and a long trip back home....
I don't know why but I got up, grabbed my
suitcase, and made my way up the Goodhue Parking lot (the education building parking lot) even though we weren't leaving until 3 am.
Friday 2:35
Woo hoo other people are arriving! We load up in our vans and head out into the unknown!!!
Friday around 7 Pm
Stuck in construction traffic in Pennsylvania, oh well, we had fun goofing around in the van's. Dr B is hilarious especially when she has been driving all day long! After we get out of traffic we make our way to Newark, New Jersey. We drop our vans off at Enterprise, they shuttle us to the Airport, we hop a shuttle in the airport and make our way to the train station. After we jump on a train bound for Penn Station we arrive and jump on a subway...a little scary but also exciting. We get off the subway and make our way up the steps.. and there we are Times Square at night with all the lights blazing. What an amazing sight! I was taking video with my camera and trying to drag my suitcase along at the same time. It was pretty funny. You'll have to check out my pictures on Facebook! We finally make it to our hotel after 18 hours of traveling. Our hotel is right off TS which is pretty neat, and we get a really nice room with comfy beds! That night we explore TS, take pictures, and eat at Bubba Gump's shrimp on TS. Then we collapsed into bed!
Saturday 7 AM
Rise and shine!!!! I wake up to a beautiful view out my hotel window, where I see a cruise ship out in the river or bay or ocean, I'm not sure which bc NY geography is kind of confusing. We eat at one of the 5 million McDonalds, then go to Central Park which is not as impressive as I hoped until we see the fountain and all the statues. Next we run intoa 26k walk for Breast Cancer and talk to the ladies who are participating-very neat. Instead of going to the Natural History Museum we go to a fall festival which is huge and has lots of good food and shopping without the sales tax. Next is the Emipre State Building which was fun. I took some really great pictures, if I do say so myself, and I saw the Flatiron builiding and the Chrysler Building (which is my favorite). Even though I'm scared of heights I really liked the view, and couldn't believe how small the statue of Liberty looked! Little Italy is next on our stops. My friend Stephanie, Dr. B, and I eat at La Mela which apparently means "apple". We can't understand the menu and there is much shouting, toasting, an singing happening. Finally we all get alfredo because we understand what it is. The food is good but very expensive I've never paid $20 for a meal before! As we walk down Little Italy we see the rest of our group at different and much nicer restraunts, we also talk to a pair of friends who are visiting NYC from Australia. They are very nice and we have a great conversation with them. After Little Italy we try, unsucessfully to find China Town. What we find instead is a very stinky, dark, and scary place. That was the only time I was a little scared in New York, and I wasn't really scared because we were in a big group. Later we found out that we were behind China Town! lol.
Sunday
It was really hard to wake up, because we were all so exhausted from the long ride and the walking but we made it to the hardest place to visit I've ever been. Ground Zero was right in front of me before I had time to prepare for it I'd heard it said that you couldn't understand the size of WTC until you saw it. They were exactly right. It was overwhelming. Even with the construction going on it was easy to remember the was the WTC looked on 9/11. I took lots of pictures and video but had a hard time speaking because I kept getting choaked up. People still leave flowers..people still post flyers for the missing..five years later. As we walked around the site, I caught my breath when I saw how close Fire Station 10 was. I think they lost six members. The door to the station opened and I saw a firefighter..I wanted to ask "Were you there?" Because sometimes, even when I was standing there, it was so hard to believe that people went through it and still go on living. How can they go to work everyday and look out the window and see the place where their friends died? What bravery and courage.... I was glad that I could look and remember, but I was also glad when we left..Battery Park was where we got on the ferry for Liberty Island. After the security and the ride in which I took tons of pictures we arrived at the Lady. Wow. I was so excited to be there I couldn't stop singing "Like lady Liberty she reigns over all she seeesss!!!" from Miss Congeniality. Then I took even more pictures and had close encounters with pigeons. We couldn't stay long because we had to get back on the ferry for Ellis Island. Wow. Again. What a beautiful place. To me it was a symbol of hope, maybe even more so than the Statue, because I could literally feel the history. You could almost see different cultures, in different dress, hear different languages, and children playing, and people nervous but excited.They had made it from whatever fear, despair, or tyranny that had held them- they had made it to a place of hope and opportunity. The museum was so tangible because you could see the pictures of those new americans, you could look at the treasures they had brought from home, and you could read their names. I would love to go back there and explore even more.
Sunday was a full day because we also went to Broadway. We saw Hairspray in the Neil Simon theatre. It was absolutely fantastic!!! I loved it. Rach we've got to go sometime and take Paige so we can see the Phantom of the Opera. I wish I could watch a Broadway show everyday! After this we went to Hard Rock Cafe which is the coolest one I've ever seen! The food was even good which suprised me! Then we went back to the hotel to sleep!!!
On Monday morning we packed up and took our last look around. I was glad to be going home, but sad because I was suprised how much I really liked the city. When we got on the subway I felt like a local, as we boarded the train and sped towards Newark I sighed a little. Then it was back in the van in New Jersey and a long trip back home....
lethargic
cheerful
excited
cold
groggy
sleepy
indescribable
blank
determined
bouncy
hopeful
tired