Day 2 - NYC

We met up with everyone in Times Square to start out on our adventures.

Saturday morning we got up and headed over to Rockefeller Center.  On the way there we noticed that Fox was outside filming live coverage for their morning show.  I made my Fox news debut :)

30 Rock

On our to do list was "Top of the Rock."  I must say I believe the view from the top of Rockefeller is 100 times better than that from the Empire State Building.  We had an awesome view of the city, water and Central Park.  I can't imagine how beautiful it is on a clear day. 




Central Park from Top of the Rock






My travel buddy

Awesome view of the city and Empire State Building

Mom and I split away from the group to see some things that no one elsereally wanted to and our first stop was Grand Central Station.  Several comical things happened here.. (1) I knew that there was supposed to be a "famous" clock and staircase at the station but wasn't sure which ones it was.  Well, we went to the tourist information booth and the guy had no clue!  He points to a random clock and goes "Well, there's a clock?"  (2) I wanted to see the front of the terminal (we entered from a side entrance) so we asked a security guard which direction was the front of the building, aka the main entrance...her response "I dunno.  Check with information."  REALLY?!?! You work there and don't know where the main entrance is?!? 

I found the main entrance.. no thanks to the kind people that work there!

After Grand Central it was on to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  We really would have liked to have gone up in the crown but we didn't know you had to book tickets like at least a year before you go because they are in such demand and they only allow a couple hundred per day to go up in the statue.  Even though we had bough a NY Pass to cover attractions, we still had to wait in line for a ferry to get out to the islands.  We waited about an hour in the sweltering hot sun.  As if waiting that long wasn't bad enough, we had some rude foreign people behind us that were COMPLETELY in our bubbles.  But alas, we made it.   

 

 

Isn't she majestic?  Plus, a lot bigger up close than what you'd think.

Our next stop was Ellis Island.  By this point we were running short on time and didn't really get to spend as much time there as we would have liked.  Waiting for the ferry to get to and fro really cut into our time.   



Immigration Building on Ellis Island



Basically the whole reason for the trip to Ellis Island was to see my great-grandfather's name on the "wall."  I think Mom was disappointed because what the family paid for isn't what is actually there as the display/memorial.  I still think it's pretty cool. 

Once we got back to the city we had to hurry back across town to get ready for our dinner reservations with the group at Sardi's.  From there it was on to Wicked!  I had no clue what to expect with Wicked and I have to say I was really pleased with the play.  I thought it was a lot of fun, easy to follow and very funny.