Thursday morning we set out to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We didn't get as early of a start as we had hoped, as we have been sleeping in most morning despite our alarm being set for 7:30. After a breakfast of Nutella/Banana French Toast and a Dr Pepper we took the red line subway to the end of the line. We found the ticket line not as long as we thought and seemed hopefully until they started announcing that the wait for the boat is 1 1/2 hour long at this time. Poor Lisa's senses were assaulted several times by the woman's perfume behind us. We even switch lines, only to have her follow us. After we got our tickets they tell you to exit the building and get in line. What they should have said was turn around and exit the building from the way you came in, as that is where the line for the boats ended. Here is a helpful hint for those thinking of going to the Statue and Ellis Island, come in from the Jersey side or purchase reserve tickets. If you know when you are planning on visiting the monuments go online and purchase your tickets for a certain time. This will cut your standing in line time down to NOTHING!!! The reserve line was completely empty, while we stood in line for an hour and half before even boarding the boat.
For the next year the Statue of Liberty is under renovation so there is no going inside of her at this time. It's still worth a quick visit to the island and get an up close look at her and great view of the city. And they have a nice gift shop with clean restrooms.
There she is Miss America
We then headed over to Ellis Island for a quick lunch (grilled cheese kids meal was perfect size and cheap). The main area of Ellis Island has been turned into a museum. You can take a guided tour, rent headphones or do what we did and wander by yourself. Unfortunately by this time my feet were absolutely killing me and I would have given anything for a good foot massage, but instead I took full advantage of the benches they have around the museum. The museum is set up well and they have moving stories of how the immigrants were treating once they arrived on the island, which was not very well to the majority. They were quickly evaluated on health and mental state, even though the majority of them did no speak English and couldnt' communicate. Their possessions were taken away and families were separated for days, months or forever without explanation. Welcome to America! But as you go through the top floor museum you'll read stories from people who found happiness and new lives in the States. It is a great history lesson to go through here. The only disappointing thing was we thought you would be able to look up family members who passed through here. If you could we missed it. I would think they have it all online now, but it would have been meaningful to view a passenger log or some sort of record with your family name on it while there. Especially since Lisa knew of family names to look up that come through the island.
The exterior/entrance to Ellis Island
The Great Hall
Lisa's "tanline"
Lisa mentioned Carnegie Deli for dinner as they are suppose to be famous for their cheesecake. While she napped and I iced my knee (as it finally began to show since of pain and swelling) I looked online at the menu. NOTHING but meat. Carnegie Deli is famous for pastrami on rye and cheesecake. Not really vegetarian friendly. I decided to look through our guide books for something else in the Hells Kitchen area as we had good luck there before and it's close to Carnegie Deli for dessert. I found a recommendation for an Italian place called Nizza http://nizzanyc.com/ They had a lot of pasta, pizza and salads that were more suited to Lisa and plenty of meat and pasta for me. We decided it was a good plan and headed out to there for dinner. It's a dark little spot close to the theaters, so we thought it would be perfect to go around 8 when the shows are going on. We got a table right away. I ordered the Chicken Saltimbocca that was over garlic spinach. It was the best meal of the trip. We then headed out to Carnegie Deli for dessert. When you walk in you get a huge whiff of MEAT. The deli portion is in the front and then the restaurant is in the back. On the way to our table we passed several skyhigh sandwiches. Not realizing the cheesecake would be just as big, Lisa and I both ordered a piece of NY cheesecake. We should have shared one piece instead. Lisa wasn't impressed by the dessert at all. I thought it was good, but nothing to write home about or tell others to come for. I would have taken a Fat Witch brownie or Milk and Cookies over it. But still something to check off our list.
May 18, 2012
Friday was our last full day in NY and we decided to make the most of it. We started off by heading to Zabars http://www.zabars.com/ on the Upper West side before venturing into Central Park. It wasn't quite what we were expecting, the little cafe attached to the store was out of bagels (grant it was close to 10am by now), so we had to go back into the actual store, as the other bagel shop, H&H, had shut down or burned down (we couldn't really get a straight answer from anyone on the street). Funny thing was I was watching You've Got Mail this weekend and there is a scene in at H&H and Zabars. We ended up getting bagels and cream cheese (fresh) and walked towards Central Park. We found a bench in the shade close to a dog park ,so as we had our breakfast we oooh and ahhhed over all the dogs going by. For a crowded city, there were a ton of dogs being walked everywhere we went. Lisa and I would of course squeal in delight, while the owners (or walkers) would quickly drag them in the direction away from us. Only a few let us attack their dogs with love, while mostly people acted like we were trying to steal them whenever we tried to make contact with them. Also a note that I never once saw a stray cat in the city. Only a few in windows, but never saw a stray running the streets.
Lisa feed the birds while we ate and then we headed towards the Park. We walked down Central Park West until we got to the Dakota Hotel. This is of course where John Lennon lived and was killed and where Yoko Ono still lives today. We walked passed all the pedicabs and entered the park at Strawberry Fields. I sort of thought Central Park http://www.centralparknyc.org// would be like Golden Gate, and it is and isn't. It is, as it's smack in the middle of the city, has streets for cars to cut through, and lots of people laying around enjoying the day. But it is HUGE!!! It also reminded me a bit of being in Giverny, France at Monet's Garden where every turn there was something pretty to take photos of. It was very easy to navigate and just wander the park and admire the beauty of nature. We found the Bethesda Fountain pretty quickly which lends you by the lake and the boat house. While taking photos of the fountain I overheard a pedicab telling his fares to go see the Bow Bridge, so of course we followed. On the way there we saw a bride on the way to her wedding which was taking place on the other side of the bridge and right on the lake. Apparently, this bridge has been in many movies and TV shows (Sex & the City to Spiderman). I found a bench in the shade and just sat back and enjoyed the view of the lake with boaters rowing by.
Bethesda Fountain
The Lake
The Boat House
The Bow Bridge
The Bow Bridge
We continued walking pass some street performers and heading down towards the Mall. This is an area canopied by Elm trees. Again it's in a lot of movies and TV shows based in New York City. The one I always think of is in When Harry Met Sally and they are walking to the Met Museum and it's all pretty in fall colors. 
The Mall
We wandered the park some more, stopping at the dairy gift shop and pass where the ice skating rink usually is onto the Gapstow bridge before exiting the park.
Gapstow Bridge
At this point we were both hungry as it was after 4 and we found another good Italian place around 5th Ave. I had the Penne de Vodka, another great meal, but too big of a portion size for me to finish. After lunch we walked towards Rockefeller Center to go to the Top of the Rock. It was easy to find and we got tickets for the next group with only fifteen minute wait. This time we did purchase a map identifying all the buildings you are looking at from the top. In the elevator ride up to the top you get some weird light show on the ceiling. Once you are outside you see all of Manhattan and beyond. The Top of the Rock gives you great views of Central Park since its closer then Empire State Building. I didn't know there were 3 levels to the outside viewing area, so I ended up taking the same set of photos over and over. But nothing like one guy I stood by who just held his shutter down for about five minutes and must have taken 500 photos in one spot, WHY? 
Central Park
Empire State Building
Prometheus at 30 Rock
After the Top of the Rock, my feet just didn't want to walk on anymore. I seriously felt like I must be missing a toe or something horrific as I seriously couldn't stand on my own two feet. But it was our last day of sightseeing and we were only 10 blocks away from Grand Central Station, so we shuffled over there. On the way we stopped at Bryant Park, where Fashion week is held and Project Runways contestants showcase. But today is was typical NY park where people read newspapers, played chess and met up with friends. Behind the park is the NY Public Library with the two lion statues guarding the entrance.
Bryant Park hotel/park
The Lion "Patience" guarding the NY Public Library
Grand Central Station is the center of transportation in the city. For some reason I thought it was much bigger on TV (but then again doesn't everything look bigger on TV). It has upper scale restaurants on the top level and simpler food on the bottom. 
Glimpse of the Chrysler Building
Exterior sculptor Transportation
Interior of Grand Central Station
We wanted to end our trip with something special and since we weren't impress with the cheesecake at Carnegie, we decided to pass on the cheesecake from Juniors (also claiming to be the best cheesecake in NY) and headed to Serendipity instead, where I know they have the best ice cream. We caught the subway to 59th St which drops you in front of Bloomingdale's and passed Dylan's candy shop and Magnolia Bakery on the way to the little campy storefront. The interior is just as I imagined, you don't really know what is for display and what is for sale. It's like some eccentric old woman's closet. But it's worth it. We had 45min wait and got to play with the cutest little Pomeranian while sitting outside. Unfortunately, we got sat next to a table of 4 screaming kids. One of the waiters even had to come tell them to quiet down or leave. But once we ordered our ice cream or in my case their famous Frozen Hot Chocolate with peanut butter added, nothing really mattered. I don't remember exactly what Lisa ordered, but it included chocolate ice cream with peanut butter and a ton of hot fudge. It was sooo good and the perfect way to end out trip. 
Exterior of Serendipity
Lisa and I enjoying our ice cream
We got back to the hotel after midnight, probably when most New Yorkers are just starting to head out for the evening, and started our packing up for our return home. I didn't notice it during the trip, but apparently Lisa bought so much such that we had to have me sit on the suitcase to close it. Luckily we had our olive oil purchases shipped home so there was nothing breakable in there. Saturday we woke up and finished repacking our suitcases, hoping everything would return home with us in a timely manner and headed to the street to meet the airporter. I was so exhausted by the time we boarded the plane and got in our seats, I fell asleep almost immediately on take off and didn't wake up until the last half hour of the movie the Vow (just in time to catch a glimpse of a shirtless Channing Tatum though). We arrived in Sacramento, after a slight delay through Denver and happy to see our luggage did too! My mom picked us up and I was happy to be home to see Lulu and Charlie greeting me with kisses and dog hair. It was a great trip and I can't wait to go back and see everything I didn't have time for.
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