Our Happily Ever After: 2009 Vacation Part 2

The second part of our vacation includes visiting the Big Apple for two VERY busy days. We left Ithaca Saturday afternoon and drove to Matt's Aunt and Uncle's house in New Jersey. We arrived in NJ that evening, and Aunt Carol and Uncle Wally were amazing hosts. They fed us delicious meals, helped us plan out our time in NYC, drove us into NYC, and treated Katie and Ben just like family. We are so thankful for everything they did for us while we were there and for the chance to visit with them.

We woke up early on Sunday morning and made the trip to the city. Matt's aunt drove us to Battery park for our first sightseeing adventure. We took a ferry out to Liberty Island and Ellis Island. I remember Matt pointing out the statue of liberty from the park and then it sinking in that we really were in New York City. We got there early and didn't have to wait long for a ferry. When we got to Liberty Island, we took a free tour around the island and learned some of the history of the Statue of Liberty. It was interesting to learn more about it. She is made of copper and is the thickness of two pennies were just a couple of facts we learned. We also enjoyed getting some views of the city from the Island. Whenever I think about the statue of liberty, I just remember dressing up as her for a program when I was a first grader. My grandma made my costume, and I'm sure my mom still has my homemade torch somewhere :)

Our ferry to Liberty Island

On the ferry with Lady Liberty in the distance

On Liberty Island

View of Manhattan

One of the 40 some pictures Matt took of the Statue of Liberty

After spending some time at the island and Matt taking lots of pictures, we boarded the ferry and went to Ellis island. I thought Ellis Island was a neat place to visit. There just seemed to be so much history in those buildings. I'm not sure if any of my relatives came through Ellis Island, but it would be interesting to find out. While on Ellis Island, we took a tour of the ferry station where immigrants boarded to head into the city as well as some of the medical facilities used to house immigrants with diseases and illnesses that had to be treated before they could leave the island. We also took a little time to tour the museum in the main building and learn about some of the immigrants and the process of open immigration that occurred in the U.S.

Ferry Station on Ellis Island

A view of the registry room on Ellis Island

After a whirlwind tour of the museum, Matt and I hopped back on the ferry and then caught a subway to Times Square to see the Lion King. One of the most clear memories I have of our trip was stepping out of the subway station right into Times Square. I guess for some reason, I didn't expect to be right in the middle of the action when we came out of the subway station. That was wake up call #2 that yes, we really were in NYC. Matt and I walked along Times Square and grabbed a quick lunch before heading to the theater.

They recently closed off some of the streets to traffic, so people just hang out in the middle of the road.

Seeing the Lion King was one of my favorite parts of our time in NYC. I was amazed by the costumes, set design and special effects. The animals were amazing, and they had the cutest baby elephant costume. The set allowed for the cast and propsto come up from under the stage which made for some great effects. The stampede scene, although probably the saddest part of the story, was really cool in how they made it look like a real stampede. In one part of the play, they arranged stars in the set to look like Mufasa which was really neat as well. The music was great, the costumes were beautiful, and the storyline was inspiring. Overall, it was a great show, and that deal Matt and I made that one Broadway show was enough (because of the price) even if we go back to NYC someday is null and void. I'm ready to see another one already :).

Yup, we saw that!

After the show, we caught up with Katie and Ben for a little more sightseeing. We walked around Times Square, did a little shopping, and saw a couple other touristy things. We walked through Macy's and rode the escalators up all nine floors. We were amazed at how huge that store is. I have no idea where they get all the merchandise to fill up nine floors. We also saw the Empire State Building and Madison Square Garden. We ate dinner at a cute 50's diner. The waiters and waitresses were all aspiring Broadway stars, so we were constantly entertained with song and dance while we ate. After dinner we decided to head back for the evening. That turned into more of an adventure than we were expecting, but after traveling to two different train stations and multiple subway rides as well as a mad dash to make the train, we arrived back in Ramsey, ready for a good night's rest, before we did it all again.

We slept in a little bit on Tuesday and made it to the city around 10. We spent most of the morning touring this museum:

Matt and I watched a planetarium show and walked through the museum looking at all the animals and dinosaur bones. They had a neat aquatic exhibit. I think we were a little disappointed that we couldn't find a lot of the characters from the movie, but we still saw a lot of neat things. That museum was huge, but we took the approach of seeing a little bit of everything. I think we made it through the entire museum (minus the closed exhibits or exhibits that cost extra), but we were walking pretty quickly through a lot of it.

Dinosaur bones at the front of the museum

What would a trip to the museum be without a picture of Matt with some elephants.

Ben and Katie spent the entire day at the museum, but we ditched the museum after lunch and headed to central park. We walked around a little in Central Park and saw a little castle in the park that Ben and Katie had found the day before. Then we decided that it wasn't everyday we were on vacation in NYC and decided to take a short horse and carriage ride through the park. It was romantic and beautiful and fun to people watch a little bit while we were on our ride. That was another one of my favorite moments in NYC.

Central Park

After the carriage ride

I had heard (and seen pictures) of this famous dessert restaurant in NYC, Serendipity, and I was dying to try it out. Katie decided the museum was more interesting than dessert, so I drug Matt with me :). I got their famous frozen hot chocolate and it was delicious. I would love to go back, but I'm a little glad it's all the way across the country because I would spend way too much time there if it was closer.

This would be the ultimate girls' night.

Matt got cheesecake. He said it wasn't as good as the one I make, but he had to say that if he wants me to keep making cheesecake for him :). It was still good. He gave me a bite.

After our dessert, we had a little bit of time before we needed to meet up with Katie and Ben to head back to NJ, so we decided to squeeze in a little more sightseeing. We headed to Rockefeller Center and took a few pictures, walked past NBC studios and also got a quick look at St. Patrick's Cathedral. It was breathtaking. Then we raced back to the subway station and headed toward the train station. The ride home the second day was a lot smoother and less stressful than the first day. When we made it back to NJ, Aunt Carol and Uncle Wally had generously grilled hot dogs and hamburgers for everyone before Katie and Ben headed to Ithaca. The meal was delicious, but a little bittersweet because I knew those were the last few minutes with Katie for another long stretch of time. Matt's aunt and uncle were so thoughtful to get Katie a birthday cake since it was her birthday. After dessert, we said goodbye to Katie and Ben and geared up for the next part of our vacation in Montauk.