empire state of mind: part 2

"It couldn't have happened anywhere but in little old New York"

Tuesday:

I had booked a trip to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island the week before we left. We went to a Pret for breakfast (what's with all these cafeteria style places in NYC?) and then headed down to the ferry where we caught the ferry to New Jersey. It was the most beautiful day in NYC. The sun was out, there was a slight breeze, and it wasn't humid...well as much as it was the day before. Ellis Island was super informative (we did an audio tour) and the grounds were beautiful. We tried looking up our ancestors who came over but we didn't have enough information to be successful. Next we were off to the Statue of Liberty. We mostly sat outside and just relaxed and looked up at her while listening to the audio tour. It was neat seeing her up close.

After the tour we headed back to Manhattan where we took the subway back to Brooklyn to change into some jeans and head to dinner....at the infamous Grimaldi's pizza in Brooklyn. We waited in line for close to an hour and half. Worth it! I was like a kid in a candy store. The pizza was delicious. I really like thin crust...not to mention tomato, basil, and mozzarella is my new favorite combination! We met a few locals that were sitting by us and our tables were the loud obnoxious groups...singing to the music ( we are the champions by Queen!) and laughing! The best! After we hung out by the Bridge and looked at the city lights then went to a nice bar for a few drinks. Then walked across the Bridge. It was a long night...but so worth it!

Wednesday:

We were going to wake up early and go to the Today show... but with the late night the night before + drinks...it wasn't going to happen. We still wound up in Rockefeller center. Beautiful area! We walked around 5th Ave and checked out St.Patricks as well. What a iconic church..it's so beautiful. We made our way up to Columbus Circle and Central Park. We played in this around for awhile and then decided to get our butts to The Met. I was in awe of this building. It's amazing. We only had 2 and half hours in the Met before it closed...so we power walked through the thing! I saw so much...too much..my brain was in information overload. We sat outside on the steps for long while after to just soak it in and to let our feet rest. We took the bus back down 5th...and went to Grand Central Station. We ate dinner a the infamous Oyster Bar inside GCS. The wait staff was kind of rude but we were mostly immune to this by now. I had a the Manhattan clam chowder and an appetizer of the Crab Cakes. It was yummy! After we went down Lexington back to the Crumbs cupcake shop we spotted on the way to GCS. I have had Crumbs cupcakes before from a shop in LA. They are delicious! I had the Red Velvet. We had the perfect window seat and just enjoyed people watching while munching on our cupcakes. Sugar overload we walked back to Radio City music and decided to do the Top of the Rock at night. STUNNING! The city that never sleeps is gorgeous at night. I don't know why people would choose to go to the top of the Empire State Building instead of the Rock? You can see central park, the empire state building, times square....everything. We were up there for over an hour! After we took the F train home. The subway was extra crowed tonight with a lot of people around the same age. I guess Wednesday is a good night to go out in NYC?

More to come!

Just an FYI.. all pictures are taken by me... unless it's a picture of me. ha.