New York Vacation - Day 3: Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island

We went down early for tickets Saturday morning and were able to get the last Monument passes given for the day. After waiting in line for what seemed like forever, and going through airport-like security, we finally got on the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. It was a bit of a letdown. We had to wait in more lines to go through yet another round of security in order to go in the monument, where you are allowed to climb the 156 steps up the stone base. No one is allowed to climb up into the statue itself anymore. It had some nice views, but I’m not sure it was worth the long lines to get in there. If you didn’t have a monument pass, all you could do is walk around the outside of it. And it was so windy, and pretty cold, that it wasn’t the most pleasant experience.

We took the ferry from there to Ellis Island, where we realized we were pretty pooped. Bill was the only one who walked through the entire building. You can only see the main building at this time – the rest are being renovated. We took the ferry back to Battery Park – there are some great views from the boat – and it was practically dinner time. We went back to Little Italy for dinner this time and had a wonderful meal at Da Nico’s. The food was absolutely fabulous – the best we had the entire visit. There isn’t much left of Little Italy – it is getting swallowed up by Chinatown. We were impressed with the street vendors and their fresh produce. All the markets had great looking food and reasonable prices.

After dinner, we got adventurous and took the subway to Times Square. It is impressively busy with huge TV screens many stories tall. There was a large police presence and it didn’t feel dangerous at all. The stores were jammed, just like the streets, but we managed to get some Easter goodies for the next day.

New York Photo's: Day 3 (Select slideshow in album to view pictures)

New York Vacation - Day 2: Lower Manhattan

Our hotel, the Marriott Downtown, was in lower Manhattan, a mere 2 blocks from Ground Zero. We started there in the morning and walked to St. Paul’s Chapel, which was across the street. We then went to Trinity Church, Wall Street, New York Stock Exchange, and the Federal Building where George Washington was inaugurated. It was the original capital building for the U.S. before they moved to Philadelphia . We continued on to tour the NYPD museum and then went to the South Street Seaport. After lunch we split up. We visited the Maritime Museum. Dad and Marie went to Battery Park to get ferry tickets for the next day to visit the Statue of Liberty, which didn’t work out because the ticket sales ended before they were able to get any. Misty, Dawn, and Grace went shopping at Century 21. Apparently the place is quite a zoo, but it does have good deals.

After meeting up at the hotel, we walked past City Hall down to Chinatown and Little Italy where we had dinner and dessert, respectively. We walked back to the hotel thinking that we really needed to learn how to take the subway.

New York Photo's: Day 2 (Select slideshow in album to view pictures)

New York Vacation - Day 1: Travel, Travel, and more Travel

Our trip started poorly, in that we had to leave Natalie at home due to an ear infection that hadn’t cleared up. The doctor told us if we took her she might rupture her ear drum and have permanent hearing loss. It wasn’t worth the risk, given that we had the option of leaving her with Grandma and Grandpa Ashforth. It was hard to be away from her over Easter, but it was the best choice, given the situation.

We left Redmond Wednesday night (3/26/08) and connected in Seattle. The Seattle flight was 1.5 hours late due to a mechanical problem, and we missed our connection in Detroit. All direct flights to La Guardia were booked, so they transferred us to another airline that was supposed to connect through Cleveland. However, that flight was cancelled due to a mechanical problem as well. All other alternatives had us arriving at 5:30 in the evening or later (we were originally supposed to arrive at 8:00 AM on Thursday) and they still had us connecting through Cleveland. We finally convinced them to let us take a direct flight from Detroit to JFK, getting in a little after 3:00.

So we finally made it to New York, but what about the baggage? Luckily, my dad had the next direct flight from Detroit to LGA (that we were unable to get on) and our bags were on the plane with him! He brought it to the hotel for us, so we lucked out.
After finally arriving at the hotel after a LONG 1h 45m cab ride through rush-hour traffic (is it ever NOT rush hour there?), we had dinner at a nearby restaurant and spent the rest of the evening catching up with my dad, Marie, and my sisters who also joined us there.

New York Photo's: Day 1 (Select slideshow in album to view pictures)

Finally the weather turned sunny on this last Saturday and the family was able to get out and take a stroll in the old neighborhood.........it sure felt good after being stuck inside due to weather.

So It Begins

Today I'm taking the first steps on creating a family blog, so comments and suggestings welcomed :)