Having some fun in the big city...

Besides all the site seeing & planned events, we also just enjoyed being in the city that never sleeps! And some of us did our best to take advantage of that! There's something to be said about grabbing an espresso & pastry @ 3 AM! :} Our little hang out across the street was a place called 'The Social'. Gave you that 'Cheers' kind of feel....nice meeting place, or inbetween spot.

Probably the funnest of these places had to have been the Piano Bar, 'Sweet Carolines'. With having a name like that, and having some huge Niel Diamond fans with us, we just had to! Anywhere that get you to sing & dance for hours on end has to be a good place. They covered all the classic sing-alongs, even did a little Bon Jovi & Abba for us! :}

The sax player for Billy Joel

Some of us just had to dance the night away one night, we did this at a place nearby, The Mean Fiddler...fun times! Especially when they did a little clip of the Old Rock Classics from ACDC, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi (again :}) . Though that's when I realized we really were the old ones. Some younger people there weren't quite sure how to dance to that! :}

Our night of walking around Times Square, stopping at Planet Hollywood for a little snack

Getting lunch at Carnegie Deli...oh, now there's a sandwich! And the cheesecake?...Yummm!!

One thing about this trip, between dancing & walking, you definately can get your exercise in NYC without ever hitting a gym! And you need it after all the good food!!!

The Sites of NYC

Where do I even start with this one? As I mentioned, we really tried to see as much as we could, though there's still a lot to see. We took the tour bus around the city to get a brief of Manhatten. You can't help but be in awe of all around you! So many historical places to see!! I would have to say there were two spots that really are breathtaking. The first would be seeing the Statue of Liberty, and getting to go up on the pedalstool (you used to be able to go all the way up inside; but, it's now closed up since 9/11). The pedalstool itself is still real high up, gives you a great view of the city & you can look up inside. It was amazing! It makes you all the more proud to be from America! The cast of her foot...makes you realize how huge this really is!

We also went over to Ellis Island & walked through the American History Immigration History Center. There included the Wall of Honor naming over 25 million immigrants that came through the NY Harbor from 1892 and 1924. It really put things in perspective how this country has formed. I had to catch a few names for the family heritage...thought this was pretty cool!Of course, the other breathtaking spot, would be seeing Ground Zero. I can't even tell you what it feels like to walk up to that location & know all that's happened there. They have just started the reconstruction, 7 years later. One tower is all ready rebuilt, Tower 7. There will be a nice memorial there & think they've come up with a good plan to still make this location a place of rememberance. It was strange walking down through that area, recognizing places I'd seen over & over during all the clips of that day. Some places still being repaired even. Again, gave you real sense of pride for our country & how we came together after that. Though very sad to see too.
Tower 7-the 1st one to be rebuilt (pretty cool picture I think!)

The Tiles For America (tiles made by a bunch of school kids after 9/11)

I also admired seeing many firehouses around the city & how they've all done their part to put a rememberance of that fatal day. Of course it was also cool to see The Empire State Building, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Maceys, and more. And visiting the different areas like Litty Italy, shopping in SOHO, Wall Street, Upper Manhatten, etc. I loved seeing so many neat buildings, churches, museums, sculptures, big ads & lights, etc...it was everywhere!! I wish we had more time to go in more of these places...next time!!