On our last full day in New York, we decided to go see the Statue of Liberty (you know, that big statue in Ghostbusters 2?) and made our way to the Staten Island ferry after taking 2 subways. We were on the wrong side of the ferry so we didn’t get much of a view!
We arrived at Staten Island and thought we would walk around a bit, but it was pretty drizzly and there wasn’t much to see. So we just waited to take the ferry back again and made sure to get a good spot on the far back left side this time to take in the view.
The statue is so iconic and I was pretty happy to see it in real. I couldn’t stop taking pictures of it.
We also had a great view of the city skyline – all of the buildings were shrouded in mist because of the rain, but it made the city look beautifully mysterious.
Afterwards, we decided it was high time to get to it and shop – luckily there was a great selection of stores within walking distance from our hotel. We visited H & M, Victoria’s Secret, Forever 21, a little place called Express that had great skinny jeans, and Macy’s. Macy’s was really something else. On the outside it claimed to be the biggest store in the world, and we rode up through the 9 floors to prove it. It really was – men’s clothes, purses, perfume, make-up, men’s clothes, a bridal section, a floor devoted to Christmas, and there were full living rooms on display on the furniture floor.
To counteract our expensive and delicious lunch yesterday, we stopped for street vendor food – 2 hotdogs and a large pretzel each. We sat outside and watched the people go by – a lady in a charcoal grey business suit and hot pink flip flops talking animatedly on her cell phone, two lines of school children in red and white uniforms, a large man walking a small fluffy white dog. People-watching doesn’t get any better than it is in New York.
Another thing I love about New York is that you never know what you’ll see around the corner. At one point we saw this house fully decked out for Halloween.
We also saw a tribute to Steve Jobs outside the 24 hour Apple store on 5th avenue – people had left apples, candles, messages, even an old keyboard or two to honour the Apple CEO.
We had made dinner reservations at a place called Keen’s Steakhouse for our last dinner in the city, and it was amazing. The atmosphere was romantically posh, and everything from the bread, to the wine, the carefully cooked steaks and sides of fluffy mashed potatoes was delicious. We split a crème brulee for dessert and then walked around the city, taking in the night. We saw the Hater building (OK, the Haier building – but doesn’t it look like Hater?) and the Empire State building lit up against the sky.
The next morning was still rainy, but we wanted to make the most of it before catching our afternoon flight. We decided to head down to NBC Studios, and once we discovered the tours were sold out, we still had a blast wandering through the NBC store, exclaiming over Smelly cat t-shirts (Friends), a “No Soup For You” Apron (Seinfeld), and bobble heads of each of the Office cast members. We also checked out the Rockefeller Center – I had hoped to go up for the view at Top of the Rock, but the buildings were disappearing into the misty sky and I don’t think we would have been able to see much. Next time!
Walking the 20 some blocks back to our hotel, we took in a few more sights, like the New York Public Library, and then stopped in at Grand Central Stations for a meal at Juniors. We’d been told to sample the cheesecake there, so we went in for lunch, and our server informed us that it was National dessert day, which meant we would get a free piece of cheesecake with our meals! Perfect. And it was perfectly delicious, too.
It’s been a bit of a whirlwind this past week, but I had such a wonderful time in New York City. I’d love to go back someday. Now it is back to reality, laundry, and sorting through photos of our amazing wedding and honeymoon.
