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Well it's been 6 years since I was in NYC but not much has changed. Some of the shops around Times Square have changed (seem to be more retail shops then before), one side of the road has been closed through Times Square and become more pedestrian friendly but it is still as noisy, busy and smelly as ever.
We flew into La Guardia (which I have never done before) and it looked like Trump's private plane was sitting off to the side as we landed. Luckily our bags made it (I was unsure if they would considering we were flying stand by) and we decided to head into the city by taxi, hoping there wouldn't be traffic jams which would bump the meter but all good. Checked into the hotel, dumped our bags and headed out to Times Square which is just around the corner. Decided to go to somewhere easy for dinner, Dallas BBQ. They have jumbo sized drinks and good cornbread. This restaurant is huge and is so busy but we were watching the staff when a table departed. About 4 staff members descended onto the table, one to clear, one to clean, one to set and one to sweep the floor. Table cleaned and reset within a minute and ready for the next group. Very professional.
Took in the sites of Times Square before heading to bed. I know, boring but we were tired. Yesterday morning we had a bit of a sleep in before heading out. We decided to walk up to the cafe where we were meeting Ninette for lunch which was about 30 blocks uptown and a couple of avenues across town. We took our time, wandering up 5th Avenue and doing some window shopping. Lots of work happening on buildings around here. Walked past Trump's Tower, only a couple of police left there (but they had big guns) and the side road was still shut down. No protesters around.
Made it to the cafe and has a wonderful reunion with Ninette, something I've been looking forward to since we decided to do the trip. Ninette and her husband Mayer founded Summit Camp, where I worked for a wonderful 10 summers (well 7 amazing summers while they still owned it and 3 great ones after they sold). When they sold the camp and left for the last time, Mayer had left Doc (stuffed dwarf) hanging on his door. I insisted he take it, instead he gave it to me and I still have it to this day, pride of place in my display cabinet.
We had a wonderful time catching up and after lunch, we went back to their apartment so I could see Mayer who was unable to make lunch. Had tears in my eyes once again, as I never really thought we would see each other again. This couple is responsible for so many amazing memories for myself and so many other people around the world. They are very special people. Ninette took mum and I up to the rooftop which has wonderful views over NYC and a beautiful rooftop garden. Very special 4hrs of catching up which went way to quickly.
Mum and I caught the subway back to the hotel and just had a small bite to eat before having another early night as early morning today. We had booked tickets for the 9/11 Museum for 9am, trying to beat some of the crowd. It has been a while since I have been to the site. When I first came to NYC in 2002 I of course visited. At that time, they had a platform you could get timed tickets for to view "Ground Zero" and St Paul's Chapel still had all the memorials clinging to their fence that had been placed by people looking for family and friends or to remember them by. I haven't really been back since as it has mainly been a building site.
The museum has been done really well. They say leave a few hours to visit. Well we entered at 9am and left at 3.30pm and still didn't see it all. The only issue was it was so cold inside, I felt frozen and by the end I wasn't taking it all in as I just wanted to get out and thaw which I felt guilty about. They have artifacts spread out though some great halls, with great descriptions. You could take photos of these artifacts but once you entered the "September 11, Historical Exhibition" you couldn't take photos. There was so much information on what happened that day, good timelines for each of the planes that were hijacked and each were treated equally. There were recordings from people who have recorded what their memories were of that day and also recordings from people's answering machines. Needless to say, there were tissues at certain exhibits and they were well used. How could you not be affected by this.
They also had an exhibit on what led up to the attacks, the immediate aftermath but also information on the 1993 bomb that was let off in the carpark. After this attack, the WTC improved their emergency response, etc and it is probably because of this more people did not die. We didn't get through the South Tower Gallery and exhibits on that side. Will just have to come back one day.
It was good to get outside, even though it was 32 but it was just so cold in there. Make sure you take a jacket if you go, regardless of how hot it is outside. We spent some time at the Reflecting Pools which have been built in the footprints of each of the two towers. Around the pools, are the names of all those killed on 9/11 and also in the '93 bombing Still building work happening around, but they have done a good job so far.
We walked down to Wall Street, security has been ramped up around Stock Exchange, checked out the new "Fearless Girl" statue that appeared over night a while back. Could hardly get near the Wall St Bull due to all the tourists trying to get selfies. We caught the Staten Island Ferry across to NJ so mum could get a bit closer to the Statue of Liberty. I have been over to Liberty Island previously but mum has only seen it from the shore of NYC. The ferry passes Ellis Island and Liberty Island. I can't believe the ferry is free and it runs every 15 mins. It is a lot bigger then I thought, fitting about 3000 people. Crazy.
Reached NJ and turned around and came back. Wandered through Battery Park before heading back, you guessed it for another early night. It has been a long day today and mum isn't feeling the best with a cold getting the best of her today. We were going to try and do a show, we had entered some digital lotteries for Aladdin & Hamilton but had no luck and didn't get back in time to get tickets for anything else. Looking forward to tomorrow as we have tickets to see Bette Midler in Hello Dolly...yay
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