The Big Apple

My last day in New Jersey (or what was suppose to be my last) was spent trying to see as much as New York as possible.  We started early and packed in the day.  We first went to the memorial at ground zero.  This was really neat.  The waterfalls and reflecting pools where the towers once stood was such a peaceful setting.

Surrounding the outer perimeter of the pools are all the names of the 9-11 victims.

I hadn't really heard of the survivor tree until I saw where it stood adjacent to the two falls.  This tree survived the rubble at ground zero and is now being nursed back to health.

A view from the memorial looking up at the new freedom tower.  I cannot imagine what it looked like with 2 towers standing that tall from this point.

We visited the fire station across the street and dropped off some SB swag to the firefighters.  They were running drills so were unable to come out.

 I loved the murals that depicted that day and some of those lost on the exterior of the fire station.

From there we ran across town and caught the ferry going to Liberty Island and Ellis Island.  Looking back at Manhattan....

I'm not going to lie, Lady Liberty is massive, however I kept thinking it didn't seem that big.  I really thought it would be bigger.  In fact when we were looking out from the empire state building I could not see it.  We got off the ferry just long enough to snap some pictures and get back on...although we missed the first ferry and so decided to grab a quick bite to eat on the island....worst burger ever.  I think it came out of the Hudson!

We opted not to get off at Ellis Island just because of time.  It was bitterly cold on the water and we were ready to get back to land.

While rushing through the streets (pretty sure we were lost) we stumbled across Wall street and the New York Stock Exchange.

We also happened upon Trinity church in lower Manhattan. We popped in to take a quick snapshot and get warm.  A beautiful church.

Our last stop was the Museum of Natural History.  We made it just a few hours before they closed and so we had to prioritize what to see.  I have no doubt you could spend a few days in this 4 story museum.

I was mostly interested in seeing the exhibits used in the filming of Night at the Museum which we were told was not actually filmed there but they did have a few exhibits from the movie.  You may recognize Rex, who might I add is not at the entrance and although massive kind of hard to find.

 This guy...."Dum Dum".

And I was looking for the Teddy Roosevelt head (from the movie)to send to Chase since he is doing his President report on him when we ran into the life size replica.

It was an exhausting fun day in the big apple!  I was ready to go home.