or – South Dakota farm girl in the Big City!
We started our day at a run – way too much to do with only a day to do it all. We skipped breakfast (but not my coffee) and took the airport shuttle and then transferred to NJ Transit and headed into Penn Station, NYC! The commuter train was nicer than I remembered from when I was taking commuter trains from CT into the city back in the 80’s but that is hardly worth complaining about. We wandered about Penn station a bit and exited to the street to look about us and give Monica her first view of the city from within. Then we dived back into the city within a city which is the NY city subway system. Its amazing how many stores/shops hide underground! It took us a while to get subway tickets since we got in the obviously wrong line – the woman in front of us did not speak English and was buying her single ride $2.75 ticket with assorted coins that she kept dropping. I was reaching for my wallet to just pay for the ticket when Monica jumped in and retrieved the dropped coins and plugged them into the machine for the hapless traveler. So off we went, through the turnstile and on to the platform – one false turn as we were on the platform for the express trains and as we had not planned to go to Harlem or the Bronx, we went down and over and got the local that we needed and headed uptown. An uneventful ride later (no subway fire, no undetermined delays, no power outages) and we reached our destination, bought our double decker bus tickets and were finally touring New York City! Weather was in 60’s, partly cloudy and windy but quite comfortable at that point. Our tour included the Statue of Liberty boat so we decided to stay on the bus until we got to Battery Park and get off there and then back track to Ground Zero. Traffic was very much stop and go but as we got further downtown it was obvious that it was more than normal. The tour guide annoced that there was a demonstration down along wall street and we would have to walk for about 15 minutes to get there. So off we went… right smack into the middle of the demonstration. Monica was like a true New Yorker – she sallied forth and just pushed through the mob – yes, it was just like being on the subway at rush hour, no modesty allowed in the effort to navigate the packed humanity. Fortunately, the protestors were wearing light blue t-shirts and Monica’s purple one was distinctive enough such that I didn’t lose her although my somewhat lesser height required that I periodically bob and weave and hop up & down. We did get through and were able to exchange our vouchers for ferry tickets. Our timing was pretty darn impeccable as we did not have to stand around and wait. It took a bit of time to get through security but the ferry was waiting and we climbed aboard. I’m not quite sure what to say here – if you’ve been to see the lady, you know the impact of that first-hand view … if you haven’t, put it on your list.
After the Statue of Liberty / Ellis Island ferry ride we went on a quest for a NYC hotdog from a hotdog stand. Not much of a quest as they are everywhere!
Then we backtracked over to Ground Zero. The last time I was in NY, the memorial had not yet been constructed, although the ground had been cleared. The memorial fountains were impressive. Two towers, two fountains. Beautiful, inspiring. This is where I have trouble writing – the words are hard to find for the impact.
We re-traced our steps then and eventually hooked back up with our tour bus. I have to say, I’m glad we did the tour bus. I’ve been to NY multiple times and was generally rushing about to see this site or another. The bus gave me a chance to really look at the buildings. It’s cool to see the juxtaposition of the old buildings and the new. Its fascinating to watch how they restore and build within the confines of the tight streets. Eventually, we neared the UN building but again were stymied as they were prepping for a visit from the President. We opted to get off and hie our own way to Rockefeller center.. From there we headed out to find a restaurant with craft beer. A bartender in Watertown NY had given us the name of a restaurant that she liked so we plugged it into our handy-dandy smartphones and started walking; eventually ending up at Heartland BrewPub. Ahhh,,,,, nothing quite like a good beer after a day of sightseeing! We had a couple of pints each and some very decent pub fare and headed back down to Times Square and the night tour. By this time it was very windy and chilly so we first stopped into a souvenir shop and found toasty warm sweatshirts. (oh nooooo…. forced to shop again!!!!!)
For the night tour we decided to be selfish and take outside seats one behind each other on the outside each and across the aisle from the tour guide. Our tour guide turned out to be the same as the one we had had in the afternoon who had a really fun way of presenting NY. A really pleasant couple sat down next to us and we had really entertaining conversations during the ride. They were unable to dispel the myth of the moose for me, however. (Ha! You thought I would not find a way to bring that up during my NYC travelogue!) The night tour took us over the Manhattan bridge and into Brooklyn. The city skyline was all that it should be from that direction. We also got to see the worlds largest Trader Joe’s there in Brooklyn. Although we were chilled to the bone, we had a great time joking around with everyone while we saw the sights.
When we got back we hitched a ride on an empty tour bus on its way home, and they dropped us off at Penn Station so our weary legs could rest. We reversed our route and returned safely to our New Jersey hotel at around midnight.
And thus endeth Day 12.
AZ girls A to Z Adventure 
