End days

Friday, April 7

Today I was up at 7:15 to shower and pack.  We had planned to leave at 8:15, but by the time we checked out, it was 8:30—not too bad.  Then we carried our bags to the subway station and took the A line to the AirTrain (just like Sunday, but in reverse).  Then we found our terminal, checked in, and went through security (the lines were very short but very slow).  By the time we arrived at our gate, we only had about 45 minutes until the plane left.  We got water and ate a snack from our snacks we packed from home, then boarded the plane. 

This is the hallway of our hotel--can anyone say The Shining?

This is a room in the hotel past the bar (if you are intersted in
more photos of and information about our hotel, check my
blog post from last April 2016, Last Day NYC)

We arrived on time in Minneapolis, where we called Randy to come pick us up.  Tired, but happy to be home. 

Welcome to America! (America is open today)

Wednesday, April 5

Today Anneliese was busy all day, so Shelby and I were on our own.  We slept in a bit, but had tickets for the Statue of Liberty at noon, so we were a bit tired after getting to bed so late the night before!  We saw the Statue of Liberty, then Ellis Island and got the last ferry back from Ellis Island at 5:15.   Luckily, we had booked tickets ahead of time and could go in the reserve line which was a fraction of the other line--although we were still in line for about 45 minutes due to the slow security.  They only tickets available were for the outside--pedestal and crown tickets are sold out into July.   I was at Ellis Island a year ago, but in that time they added a ton of new exhibits--we couldn't even see everything.

Then, we saw the ball that was hit by the World Trade Center (9-11) and some globes with environmental and peace themes.  Then we saw the bull and ferocious girl on our way to the train to take us uptown.

A really, cool old subway station

Once uptown, we went to Rockefeller Center.  There were many steps to go through.  Again, since we had advance tickets, we were able to go right into the short line.  Then up, and through security, then up again, and up again!  Eventually, we were on the top, then went up more stairs to go up as far as you can go!  It was still hazy and very cold and windy.  We stayed, waiting for the sunset and the lights on the Empire State Building, but finally left, freezing.  (the lights turned on as we were heading down).  It was very cold and windy, so we found a place to eat dinner, then headed back to our hotel around 9:30 (it took two trains).

The Crystal Waterfall

Photos from Top of the Rock

We reserved tickets for the Tenement Museum tomorrow with Anneliese (she participated via text to find a good time for her).

Manhattan Sampling

Tuesday, April 4

Today, we were meeting Anneliese for lunch, so Shelby and I decided to go exploring in the Village (our hotel is in the East village and we would be meeting Anneliese probably in the west village).  We randomly wandered up and down streets, sometimes even crisscrossing where we had already been.

This was part of a sculpture where St. Vincent's hospital used to be.
It has all of "Song Of Myself" by Walt Whitman printed out (it's a VERY long
poem).  The hospital is well known because it treated the victims of the Triangle
Shirtwaist Fire, the victims of the Titanic, and had the first AIDS clinic in New York.
The picture of the sculpture itself didn't turn out.

Signs of spring!

A Village street

This used to be a courhouse on the site of what used to be
Jefferson Market.  The Times blasted the architect for
planning a beautiful building in (then) a bad neighborhood.
It is now a public library (and what a library!)

The courthouse that wanted to become a library

A sculpture

Cute cafe

pretty church

Shelby with sculpture

We then met Anneliese at an Asian place for lunch before walking her to her afternoon class and heading to Midtown.  We had tickets for Top of the Rock to go up to the observation deck of Rockefeller Center at 7:15.  Well, it drizzled most of the afternoon, but we saw a lot.  For Shelby, we went to the Hershey store, the M & M store, the Lego store, and the Nintendo store.  We also went into Grand Central Terminal and the Central Library.  We were cold before the time for our Top of the Rock so we found a Starbucks and had hot chocolate and a warm treat (I had a scone and Shelby had a muffin).  When we got to our place to go up to the Top of the Rock, we were told that visibility was very poor, in fact the top of the Empire State Building wasn't even visible.  We could change our time for the next night which was supposed to be better.  So we changed for tomorrow night.  They recommended 6:40 because there are many steps to get up there.

Shelby at the Hershey store

Shelby in Times Square

More signs of spring!

The world's most narrow building

beautiful carving on the side of this building

Grand Central Terminal

New York Central Library

Rockefeller Center

Lego Store

Nintendo Store

We then met Anneliese at Washington Square.  We were still kind of full from our Starbucks warm-up, so Anneliese took us to the best view of Manhattan--upstairs in the Kimmel Center (the student union).  So we looked and found some seats to talk for awhile.  We eventually each grabbed a slice Artichoke pizza (that's the name of the place, not the type of pizza), then went to a local pub to hear a Celtic music session.  Unfortunately, we got there near the end of the session so we only heard a few songs.  Then Anneliese went to the Jane with us--we were hoping to use one of the tables in the cafe or the bar and play cards and talk.  Well, they wouldn't let us in the bar because the girls aren't of age and the desk clerk said that we're not supposed to go in the cafe when it's closed and that he doesn't have keys for it.  So----we just went to our room and all three of us sat on my bed and talked.  Until 2:30 in the morning.  Then Anneliese left to go sleep on the couch at the radio station she works at on campus (for a variety of reasons--it's a long story).    So by the time Anneliese left and Shelby finished her shower, we did't get to sleep until after 3:30.  Agh--I'm too old for this!  :)