NYC: Day 2, 3 & 4

(Sorry for the delay in posting this. As I was drafting this, my computer decided to quit until now. Hopefully, I can catch up with no problems anymore...)

Things feel incredibly different since our mission has changed from the stress of getting stuff done before we leave, to see as much as possible before we have to go! There is an incredible amount of stuff to see and do here. But at least, I wrote a list of top priorities and we did most of it, and still have one more day. I thought I'd better write what we have done down before I forget it all.

We bought a 48 hour pass on the double-decker buses that go around the city. You get to get on/off whenever you want to. On day 2, we went to Chinatown for lunch. We saw a hole-in-the-wall with meat hanging in the window, and there we ate a feast! Then, the Empire State Building, where the line was an hour+ wait and who knows how much for the ride up. So, we ditched fast. There was no line at the Rockefeller Center, it's 70 floors high, and it was only something like $18. We were so glad we already did that the day before! After that, Ground Zero, which is just such an incredibly huge mess. To think of what happened there really humbles and saddens you.

Then, the Staten Island Ferry. Before we went on this, I looked over at the prices for a ferry ride around (no to) the Statue of Liberty, and it was something like $18. Instead, we took the Staten Island Ferry for free, and rode right past the statue and saw some great views of the Manhattan skyline.


On day 3, we started at Grand Central Station. Another huge place, but this time a great masterpiece! We went to lunch at the Oyster Bar for some Bloody Mary oyster shooters, more oysters, and even more AND fried calamari. What else can I say.... Complete decadence! :-) As we left, we ended up strolling into the Audi dealership right outside Grand Central Station for some drooling over the S8. I suppose we had good buzz after all those oysters! I never thought I'd ever be so impressed over a car since I bought my Audi, but yes I am. Next, we walked over to the Waldorf Astoria to get back on our bus. Since we had a couple minutes to kill, checked out the lobby. That place, just like Grand Central, was another masterpiece. They just don't build like they used to! On display in their lobby was a book where they wrote down their meeting plans and there was a wedding plan from April 10, 1915 and only cost $1054. Can you imagine?!?! Last, Central Park for a horse-carriage ride, carousel ride (with horses again, this time wooden) and some play time in the park.

Day 4: Our 48 hour passes were to expire in 10 minutes when we hopped on the uptown bus. (Yes, I'm trying to squeeze every penny out whenever I can!) This loop had less sights to hop off and see, but it was a nice architectural tour, and we couldn't hop off anyway. If we tried, we'd probably not be able to get back on since the passes would be expired. It was a bit much for us to sit through, but we saw John Lennon's house where he was shot and where Yoko and Sean still live. Strawberry Fields in Central Park is across the street from their house. I would have loved to see the Gugenheim (sp?) museum's architecture, since it was designed by one of my favorites, Frank Lloyd Wright, but unfortunately, it was all covered up. Must have been renovations. Anyway, we hopped off at 5th Ave and went to the Apple Store (GREAT customer service!) where I was drooling over a new laptop. Then, FAO Schwartz so Kai could play around, and for lunch. I do have to mention that I was impressed with their simple menu there, because there were several selections of organic foods and free-range sandwich meats. I can't believe Kai didn't insist on getting anything more than a $3 pen with pink feathers on top of it! Later that day, we hit up Toys-R-Us where there's an overpriced ferris wheel that we rode. Again, at least she didn't want to walk out with the entire store. We ended the day with dinner at Ruby Foo's asian cuisine. Although not authentic at the least, it was walking distance from our hotel, and I figured it was going to be the last Asian food for a while, since we'd be flying to Europe the next day. Little did I know.....