New York City!

About a month after moving to Maryland, Adam and I sat down and planned/talked about some of the things we wanted to do on the East Coast while we were out here. They included adventures such as DC (of course), Williamsburg, beaches in the Carolinas, camping at Assateague Island, Boston, and many more. 

Adam said his one request was to see the Statue of Liberty, and so (in May) we purchased the next available tickets to Lady Liberty's crown -

this last weekend we finally made our trip up to NYC

 (yes, we had to reserve 5 months in advance!)

We decided to drive up to New York, rather than taking the train (which was about $100 a person roundtrip). And rather than spending $300 a night staying at a hotel in the heart of NYC, we stayed at Homestead Studios in Rutherford, New Jersey, about a half hour away. It was about $100 a night and they had a full-sized fridge, a stove top, and a microwave, so we were able to cook our own breakfasts and heat up left-overs.  On Saturday morning we parked our car at Liberty Park, NJ for $7 and took the ferry to Ellis Island.

Taken on the ferry  -the only time I needed my scarf -

the rest of the weekend was perfect beautiful fall weather.

We watched a movie about the millions of immigrants that came to Ellis Island, and then we headed to Liberty Island.

There she is! In all her glory! 

Adam loooooooved her.

I was starting to get a bit jealous...

These are the CRAZZZY small spiral stairs we had to climb up to get to the crown. Going down was much worse than going up.

Here we are, cramped in her tiny head. It was so much smaller than I was expecting - everyone had to crouch and squeeze around each other to get pictures of anything. It was so cool!

So there was a man in the crown who would NOT. STOP. TAKING. PICTURES. 

He had the camera I want (the Nikon D700) and a nice wide angle lens, and he was sticking his camera out the windows and just randomly shooting from every angle he could, spinning his wrist in circles. When I did that, this is what I got:

 And it scared me to stick my camera out there for much longer than 3 pictures, so I gave up quickly. 

I hope (for his sake) his came out more exciting than mine.

I figured he'd be a good one to ask to take our picture, since he seemed to be pretty serious about his own.....

but, nope...Blurry, as always. But still cute.

Cutie.

Admiring his new-found love.

From Liberty Island we took the ferry over to Battery Park, NYC. We decided we would stay in the South end for that day, and explore the north end the next day. We hit up Wall Street:

We walked down to Ground Zero, but unfortunately didn't know you have to reserve tickets to see the Memorial -- so make sure you go here to reserve your tickets before you head to NYC. We did visit St. Paul's Cathedral, which became a sanctuary for rescuers during 9/11. They would come to the church for a break, for meals, or to nap on the pews. The church now has a touching exhibit, and is full of letters written to the rescuers, thanking them for their service. I would recommend everyone going here - such a beautiful tribute. 

 We also walked halfway across the Brooklyn Bridge, not because either of us had really planned on doing that, but just because we were walking and there it was. It was crowded and not too terribly exciting, but had good views of the city.

 We were hot and tired after the bridge, so we got expensive ice cream cones that tasted cheap. And Adam knows best - people eating food is always attractive.

 The next day we took the metro up to the North end of town, starting at Times Square. Adam was enthralled with the many moving, talking, shining screens and advertisements and people. We didn't do a show this time, though I really want to see Lion King - so maybe next time. 

Adam kept making fun of me because I was carrying around our Fodor travel book, which had really important information like maps and addresses in it; he said I looked too much like a tourist. 

 Next we began exploring Central Park. We loved it! It was so huge and such a distinct change from the busy bustling city. It was like a little slice of heaven and peace had dropped in the middle of chaos - it was so beautiful. 

 I don't get too excited over Beatles stuff, but Adam wanted a picture of this and I've always got his back. It was crowded, and surrounded by a group of people playing Beatles music and a bunch of people singing along with them. I learned in Europe how to sneak my way forward to get the picture I want (Thanks to Mona Lisa)

Shakespeare and I got to be quite the good friends my last semester in college, so I had to pay tribute to him

 What do you think the people behind me were looking at on her arm? That's what I really want to know...

 We ate at Shake Shack for lunch, which unfortunately I did not get pictures of, but it was SO SO SO good. We watched Something Borrowed (terrible movie, btw) a couple weeks ago and wanted to check out this burger joint. We were hoping for the original-where-it-all-started-outdoor Shake Shack, but stinkin' Fodor's travel book only gave us one location, and it wasn't the one we wanted. The burgers, fries, and Peanut Butter shake made up for our indoor disappointment, though.

We were supposed to be meeting an old roommate of mine at Serendipity, so we put our names on the HOUR AND A HALF waiting list, and then walked around the stores (the 9-story Bloomingdales, the mega-Candy shop, and Urban Outfitters). My friend was sadly unable to meet us, but I was still determined to try out the famous Frozen Hot Chocolates. 

..............

Serendipity was the biggest disappointment of our entire trip.

The long wait was only the beginning. Then our hostess was rushing us, our waiter had zero personality (or manners), the prices were ridiculous, and the desserts not that great. I'm only glad I went so I now no longer have a desire to go again.

 After Serendipity, we got lost underground trying to find our way through the metro system and refusing to leave the station and have to pay for more tickets, I had to go to the bathroom something fierce, our GPS was tricking us into walking in circles, and no one had or would let me use their bathroom. When we finally did find a bathroom (hallelujah Starbucks), there was a long line, with 5 males in front of me. Not a single one of them offered to let me go ahead of them, even though I was visibly tapping and shaking and holding and dancing my entire lower half. Oh well. I survived.

We grabbed a quick slice of NY pizza and watched the sunset over the Jersey shoreline before taking the water ferry back to our car at Liberty Park.

(again with the attractive eating pictures)

We looooved our trip to New York City. It was so much fun exploring together.

Not that we didn't bicker over listening to the dumb GPS, which restaurant to get pizza at, or me peeing my pants in the middle of the street, but that only added to the memories. It was such a blast.

And while we were in NYC, Kaleo was staying at a local boarding kennel. I was a little nervous about it at first, and he came back to us hyper-sensitive, hyper-active, and hyper-barking......oh wait, that's normal.

So all went well.