EXILED FROM CHINATOWN: the girls take on the big apple! THE END!!! p.25

[teruterubouzu]

I've been to New York a few times, but never on a girl trip like this one. It looks like you guys are having so much fun! Your dinner looked really swanky too.

 

[Charleston Princess]

Oh, I love all your pics from Top of the Rock -- those sunset and night ones are my favorites!

Dinner looks very yummy!

Yikes about the homeless guy! That would have scared me to death to have some stranger put his arm around me!

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

another great update, the statue of liberty is pretty small to begin with isnt it?

do you know if you can go up in it anymore?

 

[MagicShell]

You had great views from the top of the Rock. I would be so scared to go up there. They sure is a different view at night. I love to see all the lights. Times Square looks so cool, that is the number 1 thing that I would want to see in NYC.

 

[LISAMWDW]

Great update! So cool! Love the Top of the Rock! Good choice!
Great pics!
The Blue Fin looks so cool! I like sushi but can't do it raw!

Can't wait for more!

 

[StefnMike]

Awesome trip report. Can't wait to read more.

I live so close and even worked in the City (down the block from FAO) and haven't been to more than half of the places you have.

 

[troobabiee7]

Your pictures came out sooooo good!! I love the Top of the Rock... isn't the elevator ride the best?!!! So fun! Blue Fin looks good too. I'm glad you girls had a great night!

 

[dawz1026]

Your photos are great.I forget how nice Central Park is.I need to go more.
You look so great in that pic on top of the rock -looking over your shoulder...really beautiful photo! Looks like you had a blast so far!

 

[punkin413]

I am so terrified of heights that I don't know if I could do that!!!! It looks beautiful up there, but I would really, really have to calm my nerves first!!! lol!!!!

brooke hates heights too but she did fine once she was up there because it's so pretty.

What great pictures from the top of the Rock!!!!! When I was in NYC my friend said that cell phones don't work because you are higher than the cell phone towers. I wouldn't have known that either! That restaurant looks really nice and LOL with Brooke and her modeling!

i guess in my mind i think that cell phone towers are taller than everything so you'd get a good signal up there. but i live in the country so they ARE taller than everything around here!

What a fun night!!

I looooove Top of the Rock! Your sunset photos are beautiful! Visiting Top of the Rock was one of my favourite parts of our trip - we went up there first thing in the morning and it snowed while we were up there! So magical! Lots of happy memories up there.

And dinner looked delicious! Especially your caesar salad - look at all of that parmesan cheese, yum!

Thanks for another great update!

how cool that it snowed! i had forgotten about that. the salad was yummy for sure!

what a fun night
it seems like you did a great job with planning the trip!

i had help! brooke and anna really chose a lot of the stuff we did because i had never been there before and they had. then i put everything on a map to see what was close to what. and then we all sat down on the phone one day and planned it out.

I've been to New York a few times, but never on a girl trip like this one. It looks like you guys are having so much fun! Your dinner looked really swanky too.

it was such a great time! i do want to get ray there someday though. i think he'd love the history.

Oh, I love all your pics from Top of the Rock -- those sunset and night ones are my favorites!

Dinner looks very yummy!

Yikes about the homeless guy! That would have scared me to death to have some stranger put his arm around me!

it was so pretty up there! that homeless guy was scary because he just sort of came out of nowhere.

another great update, the statue of liberty is pretty small to begin with isnt it?

do you know if you can go up in it anymore?

yeah, it's smaller than i thought it was. you will see closer pictures of it at the end of the next day. when we were there you couldn't go up in it. i don't think you've been able to for awhile now. but someone told me on the today show a couple weeks ago they went up so maybe they're opening it back up?

You had great views from the top of the Rock. I would be so scared to go up there. They sure is a different view at night. I love to see all the lights. Times Square looks so cool, that is the number 1 thing that I would want to see in NYC.

it was so pretty up there! my sister got over her fear really quickly once she was up there because it's not like you're looking straight down or anything. we saw times square every day/night because we stayed so close by.

Great update! So cool! Love the Top of the Rock! Good choice!
Great pics!
The Blue Fin looks so cool! I like sushi but can't do it raw!

Can't wait for more!

yeah, it was a great decision to go there instead of the empire state building. i loved seeing the ESB from across the skyline!

Awesome trip report. Can't wait to read more.

I live so close and even worked in the City (down the block from FAO) and haven't been to more than half of the places you have.

thanks! i hear that a lot - that when you live there, you don't go see a lot of the things you do when you visit.

Your pictures came out sooooo good!! I love the Top of the Rock... isn't the elevator ride the best?!!! So fun! Blue Fin looks good too. I'm glad you girls had a great night!

thanks! that was only like half of them but i posted the better ones. i LOVED the elevator ride. brooke, not so much. blue fin was sooooo good! you should try it someday before a broadway show. it's right on times square so it's pretty close.

Your photos are great.I forget how nice Central Park is.I need to go more.
You look so great in that pic on top of the rock -looking over your shoulder...really beautiful photo! Looks like you had a blast so far!

thanks! thanks about that picture. i have it as my user picture on facebook! i love that you can see central park in the background.

 

[punkin413]

so now we're on to monday, may 25th in our trip. this was memorial day and we had lots planned for this day, the most important being to see the world trade center (WTC) site. i thought it appropriate to see it on memorial day.

on the way out of times square we saw that they had closed down southbound traffic and were putting chairs all in the street. i asked the guy what was going on and he said they were showing movies on a big screen for memorial day. pretty cool! but we wouldn't be there to see any of them!

oh, and look what we passed as we were walking away from times square.....

they were setting up for the ultimate hot dog show down!!!!! if ray were with me he would've made us stay and watch that. he's fascinated by these things when they come on TV.

we got breakfast at a little bagel shop south of times square and then went to wait for a double decker bus to take the downtown tour (the day before we had taken the uptown tour). we waited probably 5 minutes before a bus came and then we were off!

here are some pictures from the bus tour. this is macy's, the world's biggest department store. i thought the building with the big red MACY'S sign would've been macy's but it wasn't - they just advertise there!

madison square garden.....

oh, i have to mention our tour guide. he was a little asian man and i could actually understand him this time! he said his name was "mr. google" because he knew everything. this guy was TOO FUNNY!!!!! we really enjoyed him. he really did know everything about NYC. at one point we passed victoria's secret and he said that was his favorite store. then he said, "you know why? because i love wearing their underwear. but that's between you and i. that doesn't leave this bus!!!!"

this is mr. google.....

anyway, more pictures from the tour.....

a REALLY big post office.....

we went right past the empire state building....

this is the flatiron building. it was one of the first skyscrapers and measures only 6 feet across at the narrow end.

this was the first street in NYC to have electricity. see the old street lights?

anna and brooke enjoying the tour....

we passed this area called "tiles for america". apparently kids made these after 9-11 and they are still hanging on this fence.

this is greenwich village, where a lot of famous people live. mr. google said that none of the shops would be open because this area is full of vampires and they don't come out until dark. he was right....everything was closed!

this is how i imagined everything in NYC would look when i was younger.

if i'm not mistaken, this is the building where the last scene in "ghostbusters" was filmed.

before long it was time for us to get off at the WTC site stop. i want to do that update separately since it was a really important part of the trip for me and i want to take my time in writing it. so that will be here next time!

 

[joy13]

Great update! That bus tour is really nice - sounds like you had a much better tour guide this time!

 

[Spartangirl]

Great updates...Top of the Rock looks amazing! What beautiful views......many years back I visited NYC and we went to the top of the Empire State Building (since Top of the Rock was being worked on). Seems like the views are much better on Top of the Rock than the ESB. Wow! Blue Fin looks like a wonderful dinner....yum! Glad to hear your bus tour was better this time! Can't wait to hear about the WTC site. It had to be quite an emotional experience....I can't even imagine....the Twin Towers were still standing on my last vist...

 

[DisneyLaura]

Dawn I am loving your NYC TR. I read the whole thing today. When me and DH went to Central Park we only went inside a little. We had been walking all day and our little feet were hurting and tired. I love the pictures of the mall part and the fountain beautiful. Can't wait to see the World Trade Center pictures. I think next time we need to buy those tour bus passes.

 

[Cat0727]

Great updates! Top of the Rock is awesome, I went last summer when it was pitch black out so I couldn't see Central Park. Next time I definitely will go just before sunset! In your picture of Greenwich village, next to the shop is the yard of the elementary school I went to! Looking forward to the WTC update, I used to live 4 blocks away from world trade.

 

[Charleston Princess]

It looks like it was a gorgeous day!!! Love how the look of the city changes the farther downtown you go!

 

[AussieAngel]

Mr Google... how funny!

Sounds like a good tour guide!!

I love how the different areas of Manhattan all feel so different. You could walk 3 blocks and you feel like you're in a totally new city.

 

[punkin413]

Great update! That bus tour is really nice - sounds like you had a much better tour guide this time!

thanks! yeah, at least i could understand the guy!

Great updates...Top of the Rock looks amazing! What beautiful views......many years back I visited NYC and we went to the top of the Empire State Building (since Top of the Rock was being worked on). Seems like the views are much better on Top of the Rock than the ESB. Wow! Blue Fin looks like a wonderful dinner....yum! Glad to hear your bus tour was better this time! Can't wait to hear about the WTC site. It had to be quite an emotional experience....I can't even imagine....the Twin Towers were still standing on my last vist...

the views from top of the rock were really beautiful. you'll have to check it out next time! i can't even explain how it was to see the area where the WTC was. very surreal.

Dawn I am loving your NYC TR. I read the whole thing today. When me and DH went to Central Park we only went inside a little. We had been walking all day and our little feet were hurting and tired. I love the pictures of the mall part and the fountain beautiful. Can't wait to see the World Trade Center pictures. I think next time we need to buy those tour bus passes.

thanks! the bus tours are great! saves a lot of walking and you're learning about everything as you go, that is if you can understand your tour guide!

Great updates! Top of the Rock is awesome, I went last summer when it was pitch black out so I couldn't see Central Park. Next time I definitely will go just before sunset! In your picture of Greenwich village, next to the shop is the yard of the elementary school I went to! Looking forward to the WTC update, I used to live 4 blocks away from world trade.

so cool that i got a picture of the school yard! that's too funny.

It looks like it was a gorgeous day!!! Love how the look of the city changes the farther downtown you go!

i know! all the different areas are so unique but they are all really pretty for the most part (except for china town which we will get to later.)

Mr Google... how funny!

Sounds like a good tour guide!!

I love how the different areas of Manhattan all feel so different. You could walk 3 blocks and you feel like you're in a totally new city.

he was awesome! i loved the different areas too. so distinctive from each other!

 

[punkin413]

i thought about doing this tomorrow but i feel it really appropriate to do this update on independence day. kind of funny that we went here on memorial day and i'm writing about it on independence day. anyway, here goes.

after we got off the tour bus we headed a block down to the WTC site. basically there's nothing really there right now. there's a very tall fence there so it's blocking the actual site and you can't see what's inside. i knew this going in and we actually thought about not going there, but just couldn't bring myself to go to manhattan and not see this area. this was probably the biggest event of my life and i would always regret not seeing where it took place.

here's the area where the world trade center towers once stood.

it was very sobering to stand there and realize what happened at this very spot just 7-and-a-half short years ago.

about 50 yards east of the WTC site stands st. paul's chapel. what's amazing is that after all was done on 9-11, this little chapel was still standing. of course it was completely covered in dust and looked horrible, not a beam was broken. amazing! anna had told me about a church behind the WTC site and that we should go in it, but i never imagined all the things i'd see there.

this is on the gate as you enter the chapel yard. this gate is literally right across the street from the WTC.

as you walk through the chapel yard they have signs everywhere stating facts about the chapel and its history. these are just some of them.

here's the chapel itself....

this was taken standing in front of the chapel and looking back towards the WTC site. you can see the big blue fence and how close it is.

more chapel pictures....

this bell is the bell of hope and was given by a church in london as a symbol of solidarity of the british and american people after 9-11. it was cast by the same foundry as big ben. it's been rung several times since it was dedicated on 9-11-02 for different world events in remembrance of victims of terrorism.

this church quickly became a gathering/organization center for volunteers after 9-11. it's amazing what was done in this relatively small church. as you can see, it's not a big building.

continued in next post: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=32559797&postcount=279

 

[punkin413]

it was so touching to see everything inside this place. it still makes me cry to think of what happened here. i can't look at these pictures without getting emotional. it's really overwhelming to see everything we saw there, which i will share below. but most of all what gets me is that it didn't matter what race, sex, religion or nationality you were....everyone came together to help at that time and it really is such a moving experience to see how it all was done here.

i can't think of words to express how it was to see all this so i will just let the pictures do the talking. i tried to take pictures of the plaques that went along with different things so i would remember what they were later.

these really got to me. i can't imagine how it felt to have a friend or family member missing during this time.

the chapel from the front looking to the back....

they had this video playing about the events that day. i watched for awhile but had to move on at some point because it was just upsetting. that's brooke watching the video.

more memorials.....

like i said, it was a very emotional experience. i know i shed a few tears. we all split up as we walked through here because it's just something one needs to experience themselves without someone looking over their shoulder. i'm really glad i came to this church because it's something i'll always remember.

they had a little stand where you could buy souvenirs. i started to look at the books they had but the one i looked at first had pictures of the people jumping out of windows on 9-11 and i couldn't deal with that. i had nightmares for days about that very thing and so i figured looking at those books probably wasn't a good idea. i ended up getting a couple of post cards. the one on the left is just an angle of the rubble left that looks like a cross and the one on the right is of the chapel before the towers fell with the towers in the background.

brooke got jon (her boyfriend) a pin or tie-clip thing (something like that) of st. michael, who is considered to be the patron saint of the military and law enforcement. jon is in the army. well, technically he's not right now because he's in college but he was only discharged for 4 years to get his degree and then he's going back. anyway, she told me that she really thought he would like it because 9-11 is the reason he joined. i had no idea of that until she told me on that day. he was living in new york at the time and just felt the need to do something, so he joined the army.

so anyway, i hope you enjoyed that and didn't cry too much. i know it still makes me cry every time i see these pictures.

i hope all of you that are celebrating have a great independence day! it's so great to live in this country and we are all very lucky for our freedom and i'm so thankful for those who have put their lives on the line for it!!!!

 

[monkey68]

Those pictures made me cry. I personally don't think I could ever go down to the site again. If I'm driving down the West Side Highway, I will not look at that side, I just can't. They say that the Towers were such a major place in NY, that everyone in NYC either knew somebody or knows somebody who knew somebody who died on 9/11. Obviously I don't know every NYer, but I do know that out of the ones I know, it's absolutely true. I know that I personally could probably talk about everything I saw and experienced on 9/11, type for 24 hours straight, and still not be done. There's a lot in your TR that I haven't done, and I've lived in NY my entire life, but going to the Twin Towers site is something I will probably never do, I've lived through it once, I don't want to do it again. So I'm glad you were able to give us your take and I was able to read it behind the safety of my laptop, if that makes any sense.