Day 6: The City (and tourist family) That Never Sleeps

Another full day again today in the Big Apple. We decided to experiment with the Subway today, so we walked to the station nearest our hotel and purchased day passes. After living in London, I am a HUGE fan of underground public transport but also HUGELY annoyed by looking like a tourist and not knowing what's going on. Unfortunately, with only one day to become acclimated to the system, we walked around with stunned looks and maps in our hands most of our time there. This is okay; we didn't know our way around the city, but still... very touristy. We took the subway to the end of the island where we got in line for the ferry to the Statue of Liberty.

We were able to make it onto the day's first ferry and were thus the first visitors to Lady Liberty. (The early bird gets the worm.) We went through airport-like security multiple times. They all tell us the city's very tight "since 9/11." When we got to the Statue, we went through the museum, learning its history and facts about the design of the statue. Did you know she wears Yellowbox?


We climbed many stairs (still sore from yesterday's walking) to the observatory of the statue. Unlike the Empire State Building, this observatory offered a great view of the Manhattan skyline and Ellis Island. Interesting fact: the Statue of Liberty's exterior is made of copper and is the same thickness of two pennies stacked on top of one another. There's a lot of support inside, but she's just a thin shell. Some nice Australian blokes took this picture for us:


And of course, they couldn't resist... (This picture was actually taken yesterday, but it fit today's subject matter better.)


We got back on the ferry and rode to Ellis Island before going back to Manhattan. This was an immigration center at the turn of the 20th century. Millions of immigrants entered American freedom through that port. We walked throughout the museum and learned about the island's history. One interesting thing I didn't know about was the picture brides. Women in the United States would sign up for this program and correspond long-distance with men in Europe to make arrangements for their immigration, agreeing to marriage upon their arrival into the United States. They said that some changed their minds upon meeting, but many of these marriages were performed right there in Ellis Island. (Can you imagine standing with other women and counting down the line of men to see which one would be yours?) It was a neat stop. From here, we again boarded the ferry and went back into the city.

Next stop: Wall Street and Federal Hall. We saw the very patriotic building of the New York Stock Exchange which was right next door to Federal Hall, our nation's first capitol. George Washington was sworn in on the steps of Federal Hall to be our first president. We then got Blimpie sandwiches and made our way onto the slightly more crowded lunchtime subway and rode into the Bronx. We saw Yankee Stadium and visited the team store (didn't buy any goods) and got back on the subway. We got off the subway at Grand Central Station. It wasn't as crowded as we expected and was really pretty. I was about to fall asleep, so I went into a cafe and bought an iced coffee. On our way out the other side of the station, the nice employees of Eight O'Clock Coffee were there giving out free cups of coffee and other goodies, so more coffee. With this double caffeine, we were ready for our next stop...


With a little bit of shopping done, we returned to the hotel and got ready for our evening on the town. Our broadway tickets were for tonight, but before the show, we went to dinner at a neat place called Ellen's Stardust Diner. It was a fifties-style restaurant with singing waiters. We heard the people at the table behind us talking, and on our way out, we asked them where they were from. Turns out, they were Tennesseans in NYC for a mission trip with City Uprising. The man is preaching next week at First Baptist Lawrenceburg, Tennessee (my grandmother's church and our church from when we lived there!) Small world.

We then walked through Times Square to the theater district to see Phantom of the Opera. It seemed to be a sold-out show, and was very well-done. On the way back to the hotel, we enjoyed the lights and livelihood of Times Square at night.



We got back to the hotel, exhausted from a long day of touring the city, and CRASHED. Today Show in the morning... just a few short hours away.