Day 12
Wednesday, June 29, 2016 The Ritz
Today was the big day!!! NEW YORK here we come!
We found out on our way into the big city that our Illinois IPass had been working in all the states we had been to thus far even though we stopped and paid them along the way....ugggg. That wasn't funny to discover, but anyways...
New York is so awesome! It was a little congested, truck drivers are crazy and you wouldn't believe the kinda maneuvers they pulled to get where they are going but all in all, don't drive in the city and you'll do great! We pulled up to the Ritz-Carlton in downtown Manhattan a little early but they parked our car and checked us into one of our rooms. We got lucky with that. Our view of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island was amazing! The kids were very excited to have a telescope in their rooms to check things out. The door man recommended we eat lunch at the Pizzeria next door. We were all about pizza so when we arrived, it was very upscale and we couldn't understand anything on the menu so as Josh googled pizza terms, I checked out everyone else's food on their plates. We pretty much ordered the best PIZZA on the PLANET! Best impromptu food choice yet.
We had a late start to our sight seeing so we headed directly to the The Statue Cruises ticket counter. We decided to get passes for tomorrow to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island so we could take our time and not be rushed. The cashier mentioned to us that if we arrived really early in the morning, they hold Statue of Liberty pedestal tickets first come first serve. We were all over that! The only way to get in the Crown or in the Pedestal is to buy tickets months in advance. This was something we really wanted to do but didn't pre-plan for.
After leaving the ticket counter, we headed straight to the 9/11 Memorial since it was right by the hotel. It was absolutely beautiful and moving to see the waterfall memorials and the single roses placed atop the names of those loved and lost. The new Tower One is a large part of the city scape beyond the Memorial. It is a beautiful piece of Architecture. We were pretty eager to take the tour of the Memorial Museum. It was beautiful, devastating, emotional, intense and dramatic all at the same time. Every person will experience several different emotions as they relive 9/11 at the Memorial. Time flew by as we went through. Never would I have guessed we were there for over 3 hours. Speechless.
When we exited the Museum, we had a little bit of daylight left to kill. Josh decided we should go see the Empire State Building cause there was no better time than the present. We hoped to get up there by sunset but had no clue how long it would take to get up there. After learning how to use the Subway, we made it there in one piece and while it was still daylight. It took just about an hour to get to the top but they do move things along rather quickly. Just as we made it onto the balcony, the sun was already set and the city lights were stunning. Even though people were tripping all over you and wiggling in for the next best view, it was breathtaking and I feel blessed to have seen New York from the top of the Empire State Building in all of its beauty. The kids maybe didn't feel the same but I sure hope they look back and remember these moments.
We returned to the hotel about midnight and ordered room service to be delivered at 6am so we can run down to the Statue Cruise for those Pedestal tickets.
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| Hotel Room View of the Statue of Liberty |
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| Best Pizza Ever |
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| Tower One is stunning |
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| The 9/11 Memorial Falls |
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| The Voss Family at the 9/11 Memorial |
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| Josh and Kim at the 9/11 Memorial |
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| We found this name on the memorial where we were standing and decided to look her and her unborn child up when we entered the Museum. There is a wonderful dedication wall for those who lost their lives and their story is available to read. Heartbreaking. |
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| Last beam standing |
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Statue with memorabilia of 9/11. One of my favorite pieces.
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9/11 Memorial Metro Station
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| Learning the Subway |
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| Subway fun |
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| Empire State Building Entrance |
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| The Family on top of the Empire State Building |
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| View from the top |
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| View from the top |
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| Stunning |
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| We took the stairs on the way down |
