Vacation...(Part 3)

Newark, New Jersey / New York, New York
Let me just start by saying that if I never drive in a big New Jersey city again, it'll be too soon. Driving to our hotel in NJ was craaazy!!! First, their roads are (a) confusing and conjested and (b) terribly marked. I'm so used to Michigan where the roads in the city are clearly marked. Not NJ! I'm just thankful I didn't have to drive in NYC. That would have been the end to my sanity.

Ground Zero
Me

So yeah, the trip there was pretty much easy (until we got to the city part of it). We only got "lost/turned around" once and that was in a...parking lot... rather embarrassing, but we got a good laugh out of it. We arrived at our hotel at a decent time and checked in. On the way into the hotel, we were beginning to worry that we had just driven ourselves to a dirty, drug ridden place...the outside and the surroundings were rather creepy, but we walked in and it was pretty swanky. =0) But enough about the boring stuff.

Me & Jessie

We decided not to go into NYC that day (Thursday) just 'cuz we were exhausted. However, Friday we spent all day there (which isn't hard to do). We took the subway into the city and walked to Battery Park, where we got on a ferry to Liberty and Ellis Island. I had been to New York before, and I had seen Lady Liberty from a distance, but never on the island. She is breathtaking (and HUGE). I got some amazing shots of her and of the city from across the water. We had thought about taking a walk up the pedestal, but there was so much more that we wanted to do that we decided not to. Instead, we bought some souveniers and left for Ellis Island. We didn't get much time there, so I don't really have a lot to say about that Island. The one thing I'm going to say is that I don't think I'm meant to really see it. The first time I went there, we had about 45 minutes to see everything and get lunch (that was a little over 4 years ago). This time around, same thing, we had about 45 minutes to see everything and get something to eat. Needless to say, neither time did I really get to see all of Ellis Island. Oh well, maybe next time. =0)
Top of the Empire

We got back to the mainland and headed off to the Empire State Building. I was determined to see it during the day. The last time, it was nighttime and I didn't get a single picture. So, we got there and waited in line....got past the picture area, waited in line some more for the elevators, and then waited and waited and waited... LOTS of waiting in line, but we eventually got to the top and it was SPECTACULAR!! To get a 360 of the city is quite amazing. All the cars look like matchbox cars and the people, well they look so tiny. We also got to watch the sun set over the city. It doesn't hold a candle to Michigan sunsets, but it was still a pretty cool sunset. We caught up with each other and headed back down the building.

It was time to head back to the hotel for the night. It was dark out and walking the streets back to the subway wasn't as scary as I expected. I've learned, you just keep your belongings close to your body and look straight ahead, like you're on a mission - that way, you'll blend in with every other New Yorker and you're less likely to get mugged (atleast that's what I told myself). =0)

(If you want to see the full size pictures, just click on any one of them.)

Next: Day 2 In NYC