New York City Trip: Day 3

Original Post Date: March 15, 2006

Back on the ferry again. This seems like the best place to write. Although, I need to write more during the day, so I don’t have to do it all at night. Sometimes I forget the order we did things and then it just took too long. I don’t think I got to bed much before 2 last night, and I was up at 6:30 this morning. Eh, who needs sleep? I’m in New York!!!

Well, I’m now sitting in a Starbucks in the East Village. I’d feel like a true New Yorker if I didn’t look like a total tourist. Oh, well.

Today has been SO WINDY!! Insanely windy, in fact. I’m very sick of wind now. The sun was shining, but the wind was cold. Enough!!

We started out the day doing our new favorite pastime: standing in line. We went to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. First, we stood in a massive line to get on the ferry. We had to go through security (which this time entailed taking off jackets, scarves, & belts.) Then we got on the ferry, which is much smaller than the Staten Island Ferry. And since it was windy, the water was choppy. Fun stuff! I got my sea leg, though. Go me! Once we got to Liberty Island, we had to go through Security again (after we had to pay a dollar to store our backpacks, since they were not allowed.) This security checkpoint had something new, though, and totally different. It was this air thing. You stepped into it and then these blowers blew at you, blowing your clothes in weird places. I don’t know how it does any good, but it was pretty cool. (Oh, and I had to take my belt off again. Curse the terrorists!)

We finally made it into the pedestal. When you first walk in there is a huge replica of the torch (Actually, I think it’s the original torch.) It was gorgeous! Then we made our way into the museum. It was a fascinating look at how the statue was designed, originally built, and then brought here. There were several great photo ops, which we, of course, took full advantage of. (Ah, the fun of accosting statues.)

They don’t allow anyone to climb up into the statue anymore. They haven’t since September 10, 2001. (The Park Ranger said that there had already been talk of closing it prior to that, due to it being unsafe. Hard to evacuate in an emergency.) We were able to climb all the way to the top of the pedestal. So many stairs. I thought I was going to die. We think it was about 10 stories up. (I should have done Stairmaster before coming.) We took pictures on the observation deck. It was super windy, of course. Got some great shots of the Manhattan skyline, including one of me hugging Manhattan. (I’m such a dork...and proud!)

Going down the stairs was way easier than going up. Once we got down, we spent a lot of money in the gift shop. Afterwards, we ate lunch at the snack bar there on the island. I had my first New York hot dog. Not bad! It was totally packed inside the building, so we braved the cold wind, and pigeons, to eat outside on the terrace. (Pigeons = rats with wings.) It was so cold!!

Next we caught the ferry for Ellis Island. Now, I have wanted to visit Ellis Island ever since I took American Immigration at UNC. I wish we would have had more time to spend there. We didn’t watch the movie or take the tour, but we did look at several of the exhibits, all totally fascinating. I want to come back here. Not to the Statue of Liberty, per se (except for the grounds), but definitely Ellis Island.

It was almost 3:00 by the time we got back to Manhattan. That took way longer than we had planned, but that was okay.

Next we caught the subway up to the World Trade Center. Ground Zero. I wasn’t sure what to expect at the site. It’s been 4 ½ years since that horrendous day. There is basically just a big Fence around the entire area. It’s still a massive hole in the ground with part of the foundation showing. It was the eeriest feeling, being there. Everywhere else in New York is so loud. Around there, this is a hush. I don’t think it’s a conscious “Oh, I have to be quiet here” kind of thing. It’s hard to explain. There is just a reverence. There is a train station underneath, or I guess right by there. People just walked through without making too much noise. It was seriously the quietest place we’d been all week. There is going to be a memorial built, but it’s going to take awhile. It looked like they were still cleaning up, but it was hard to tell. Maybe they are just reinforcing. Not sure. But wow, oh, wow. What an amazing place to be. I’d like to go back once the memorial is completed.

It was then time to figure out what to do next. It was about 4:00. We needed to get over to the East Village to see if we could get tickets to Blue Man Group. We had heard they were sold out, but wanted to check just in case. We got to see the Trinity Church on our way to the subway station! There’s not a cave full of treasure underneath, so we didn’t go in. Oh, well. Once we got on the correct train, we made it up to Astor Place. (Shauna and I are even now. We have both gotten on the wrong train once.) We found the theatre and went to the Box Office. I asked the guy if they had any tickets at all for tonight. He said they had actually just had some “limited view seats” returned. (GASP!!) And could we have 4 tickets? Yes, we could!! Further proof that you should never assume a show is sold out. Always check the box office. $65 a ticket (not bad at all) and we are seeing the Blue Man Group at 8:00 tonight! Yay!!

We are now waiting for Guizella & Steph to get here. I’m not sure what happened, but all the girls ended up on the Uptown train instead of the one to South Ferry. Shauna gave them instructions on how to find us, but they aren’t here yet. It’s almost 6:30. We’re not too worried yet, but I hope they get here soon. Nothing worse than getting lost in New York!

OH! MY! GOSH! The Blue Man Group ROCKS!! I have loved their music & loved their DVD, but seeing them in person is like nothing else. Now I’ve seen a lot of shows, and I thought I had seen it all, but Blue Man Group tops it all in terms of pure, hilarious fun. The music is so cool, they are just fall down funny, and it’s a total blast to be there! PVC pipe will never be the same to me again. And streamers. And black lights.

I can’t even begin to describe the show in its entirety. It’s something everyone should experience for themselves. Many of it I had seen & heard before. Some was new. All of it was SO MUCH FUN!!! Laughing burns calories. I probably dropped a pound tonight. ☺ It’s like a Rock Concert-Performance Art-Mega Experience. The first three or four rows have to wear ponchos. What does that tell you? I have never had more fun in a theatre. Seriously.

Oh, I should say that Guizella & Stephanie found us okay. They just had trouble with Rush Hour. We went to a Pizzeria called “Familia’s” or something like that. “New York’s Favorite Pizza”. Apparently it’s a famous place. Signed pictures on the wall of Barbra Streisand, Nicholas Cage, & Ashley Judd. The pizza was really good, too! I had spinach. Very, very good! And cheap! I paid $4.00 for a big slice and a lemonade (the 1st lemonade I’ve found so are, by the way.)

We walked so much today. We are all in serious pain. I could hardly walk after sitting at Starbucks for so long. Ouch!!!! I’m in great shape now. Bolder Boulder anyone?