New York City . . . . what do you think of when you hear those words? I think of LARGE!!! No wonder it’s called the BIG APPLE. The buildings are big, the shops are big, and there is a large amount of Taxi’s & people everywhere. The Apple store is enormous, FAO Swartz (the toy store) is 4 levels, the M & M store is 4 levels, the American Girl Place is three levels, and Central Park is 800 acres. Everything is BIG!!
The tallest completed building in the city is the 102-story Empire State Building, which was finished in 1931 and is 1,250 feet and 1,454 feet by its very tip top shape. It’s also is the third talledst builing in the United States and the 19th tallest in the world. It stood as the tallest building in the world until 1972, when the 110-story twin towers of the original World Trade Center were completed. At 1368 feet and 1362 feet, One and Two World Trade Center briefly held the title as the world's tallest buildings until the completion of the 108-story Willis Tower (then the Sears Tower) in Chicago in 1974. The World Trade Center towers were destroyed in 2001, and the Empire State Building re-took the title as the tallest building in the City. On April 30, 2012, the new One World Trade Center officially surpassed the structural height of the Empire State Building with steel reaching to 1271 feet and will be completed in 2013. The second-tallest building is the Bank of America Tower, 1,200 feet high, including the spire. Tied for the third tallest are the 1,046-foot Chrysler Building, which was the world's tallest building from 1930 until 1931, and the New York Times Building. New York has played a important role in the development of the skyscraper; since 1890, eleven structures in the city having held the title of world's tallest building. Everything is big!!
Of course we had to go to the 9/11 Memorial of the Twin Towers. It brought tears to my eyes as I looked at the hole where each tower was and the water fall flowing into the center hole, representing the hole left in this country. Around the hole was a wall with every single person’s name that lost their life that day either in the building, trying to rescue, or in one of the other planes that crashed. My neighbor growing up was in the airplane that crashed in Pennsylvania – flight 93 – and I found his name on the wall, which really made me cry. It is a very somber experience and most everyone there was very quiet and reflective.
We had a great time exploring this great big city for four days. The first day we went to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Since the only way to get to it is by ferry, and you can take a ferry from the New York and New Jersey side, we drove to the New Jersey side to board the ferry. Approaching the Statue of Libirty is breathtaking. She stands from ground to top of torch, 305 feet and 1 inch high, and with the pedestal she is 151 feet 1 inch high. She is the “gateway to American Liberty” as she faces the Atlantic at the Hudson River entrance and the approaching immigrant ships once coming in thousands from other countries. In 1865 a group of French men lead by Edouard de Laboulaye decided to honor the ideals of freedom in America with a symbolic gift to the United States. The time was right after the Civil War and slavery was abolished, so the timing was perfect. It took 21 years to build in France and it was brought over in pieces to put together here. America was responsible for building the pedestal and in 1886 she stood complete in the New York Harbor. She is supported by steel bars which connect to 4 main pylons and her “skin” is made of a very thin cooper which has turned into her famous green from the salty sea air.
Brandon had decided to ask Madison to our school’s JSB which equivalent to a prom but at a Christian School. This year they are taking the San Francisco Horn Blower Yacht out on the bay on May 5th. On the way over on the ferry, Brandon told us he was going to ask Madison under the Statue of Liberty while doing a card trick. I said, “Awww, that’s so sweet buddy!” And he replied, “What can I say, I’m just a hopeless romantic.” I don’t know if he was serious or just trying to make me laugh, but that made me laugh hysterically. Either way, he was adorable about it! He also asked Mr. Gillette on the ferry if that would be ok with him, and of course he said “yes”!! So when we got to the bottom of the Statue of Liberty, Brandon did his “magic” by doing a magic trick to Madison, and the last card had JSB?? on it. She didn’t see it at first, she just thought he got the wrong card, but when she looked at it again, she screamed, and hugged him!! She was thrilled! It was adorable to watch and fun to have both our families there to be a part of it.
Next we went to Ellis Island which was the “gateway” for about 12 million immigrants beginning in 1892. Ferries and barges brought passengers out to Ellis Island from steamship and doctors watched a immigrants entered the building limp, heavy breathing and doctors had strictly examine them. They had to be completely free of any health problems, children and adults alike, or they would be sent back. Life was challenging but good if they passed through the gateway to liberty!!
After we got off the ferry we went to Hoboken New Jersey to the Cake Boss Bakery in New Jersey. Yum, Yum, so many yummy things to choose from. We bought cannoles and beautiful and delicious individual cakes – Brandon got white chocolate, Brittany got chocolate cake with gonache, and I got dark chocolate mousse cake. WOW, were they good.
Other special things we did this week was spend time with my brother Brad who works there at times and happened to fly in on Monday. Brandon and Dave got to go spend the night with him at the Waldorf Hotel which is where he stays every time he comes to work, compliments of his company. He gets the top floor suite with a huge living room, entry way, bar, bathroom, and private bedroom. He took us to one of his little New York Café’s for lunch on Tuesday, but unfortunately he had to go back to work.
We also got to see some long time friends (from high school), who live in a beautiful apartment off of Central Park. Sherri works a Viacom, which is an entertainment company right off of Times Square. We went to visit her at her work and had no idea she had such a beautiful view. She works on the 52nd floor and we could see all of New York! It was awesome!
Darin works at his apartment teaching voice lessons to about 250 students of which many of them work on Broadway. He has an incredible voice (ever since I’ve known him) and he has been writing several Broadway shows with a Christian perspective , hoping to get them published someday to share the message of Christ. His wife Sherri is also an incredibly talented singer and dancer, and they are a powerful team in the music industry. It was such a joy to see them and catch up. They have 2 adorable kids and one on the way –very exciting. An added bonus was seeing Darin’s sister, Cheryl, who also now lives in New York. It was definitely a highlight of our trip to see Brad and the Adams.
Our kids hit it off instantly! They are adorable and are very fun & my kids loved them!!
New York was a blast but I was ready to be done with it – 5 days was perfect. We saw so many things and shopped our hearts out. The bus tour was fun but keep in mind that if it rains like it did for us, then you sit outside in the rain! We did the night tour to Brooklyn and we endured the rain to cross the famous Brooklyn Bridge.
The teenagers loved it especially because we were so close to the signs overhead. They sat outside in the rain during the night tour. They are crazy, but they loved New York and bought sweatshirts that say I <3 NY!!!
On Wed. we were leaving New Jersey but we spent some time paying bills, cleaning out the RV, and visiting with Shelley’s cousins. The cousins got baby chicks this morning and this kids were extremely excited about that. Shelley’s cousins kids decided to name their chicks each after all of us – so there was a Brandon, Brittany, Brooke, Madison, Christian, Grace, Shelley, Tim, Pam & Dave – isn’t that adorable??
We got on the road to drive to Newport, RI and entering the George Washington bridge, we had to pay an incredible sum of $26. Then we had to pay 3 more times at different toll roads, which brought the total for the day to $40 - ouch! Of course they charge double for RV’s!!! We were warned that the New Jersey tolls were high going towards Boston, but I had no idea. I guess we just swallow deeply and move on!!
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