The Green Women

^^^That was Andrew's idea

Here is our Green Woman of the Morning... the Statue of Liberty 

or otherwise known as the Green Lady.

The first thing we did our second day in NYC was the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I wanted to do this at the
beginning of the day because I didn't want it to be so crowded and wait in lines. Guys, that is the time to go!
Our ferry was not that crowded and when we leaving the islands you could see how the number of people coming
had significantly increased. 

^It was not free, we just had already paid for it with our City Pass^

This is at Ellis Island in the upstairs room where immigrants came through and filled out their paper work.
So crazy to imagine and think that some of my ancestors were probably in this exact same room. The
history in that building! And if those walls could talk I would probably have never left the island. 

I was reading about the artifacts and the stories behind them and Andrew had long before left me. He comes back and I say,
"I'm trying to hurry!" I think I was only 2 or 3 exhibits in and he had already toured the whole thing. He was shocked with
how far I got... or didn't get. He just cruised through that museum just like the Met. But for me I was in awe! 

Our next few stops were quick- just a see and go (with a picture). 

We went to the famous bull. It's up for sale if you want it, for $5 million and it needs to stay 

where it is, and you need to pay for cleaning and security. Just in case you were interested.

^George Washington planned the Revolutionary War in that pub behind us.^

^And this is where he was inaugurated as president.^

The churches we saw in New York were beautiful. And this man came and wanted a 

selfie with us. Sometimes I just really love people. 

^Alexander Hamilton is buried at the Trinity Church cemetery.^

One thing that I really enjoyed was walking down Canal Street (a.k.a. China Town)

It was such a unique place that I really loved.

^The food at the Dumpling House was so good. Those dumplings... my mouth is currently watering.

The plus side was the food was really cheap (and it has an A grade for cleanliness).^

And boba is one of our favorite things ever and Utah's boba is just not up to par. 

New York's boba is definitely a do again thing. 

One of my favorite things of NY was going to the top of the Rock. Not the tallest building 

in the city but I loved how we could be outside, visit different levels, see Central Park, and 

it wasn't too crowded. 

Ah, this place was so beautiful!

Our Green Woman of the Night was Elphaba from WICKED! 

Seeing this musical has been one of the top things on my bucket list

 FOOORREEVVVEEERRR!

I would have been happy seeing it anywhere it was available but in NYC was the top choice. 

It actually happened in my dream location!

Wicked was soooo good. Before I saw the play I would ask anyone who had seen it to tell me the plot, what the songs 

meant, etc.  so I had envisioned a pretty good idea of what it would be but honestly, it was so different from what 

my imagination had come up with. Such a magnificent story and a talented cast, it was a dream come true.

(and did you get my green women references?)

Welcome to NEW YORK!

We started off our day by going to the 9/11 memorial and museum.

It is such a beautiful place and exhibit.

To reflect back and remember the events that happened on the very location where we were standing was heartbreaking. Knowing how many people were lost and seeing the missing person flyers that their families put around looking for them, it hurt. 

The museum is directly below where the towers were and you are still able to see the original foundations of both of them. Knowing how much fear, pain, shock, heartache, and faith took place there 16 years ago was a lot to take in. Andrew and I spent 3 hours in the museum and it was like going back to 2001 and seeing it on the news and hearing about the acts of heroism again, but this time it was up close. I remember that day and even though I was across the country I remember how those events brought our country closer together. I think it happens there again in that museum.

This is the Freedom Tower that stands on the Twin Tower Plaza. 

It's 1776 feet high because we claimed our independence in the year of 1776. 

It is also currently the biggest tower in the U.S. They built the Freedom Tower taller 

than the Twin Towers to show that we are going to 

keep growing.

that we are not afraid 

and that we will be better than we were before. 

This is the Survivor Tree that is located on the plaza. 

It was the only tree that remained after the towers collapsed. 

They took it away for awhile to help it gain its strength back and then was brought back to the memorial site. 

This tree says a lot. Despite what we have gone through we can continue to grow. 

This tree is bigger than it was before. 

^When a name has a white rose, it marks that it's their birthday. It made those names more real.^

If you ever plan to visit the memorial here are a few tips:

+ Go in the morning. We arrived early and were able to tour the grounds and when the museum opened
we walked right in and did not need to wait in a big line.

+ We bought a City Pass which also helps skip the line but if you don't do that I heard it's better to buy your tickets
online because you miss the line to simply buy tickets (there's a line after to enter). 

+ Make sure you have plenty of time to go through the museum.
You don't want to rush past anything because you're hungry or you have to be someplace else. 

One of my favorite things from the day (and part of the whole NYC experience) was walking the Brooklyn Bridge. 

It was rainy, wet, and my hair went semi crazy but it was amazing to see the cars driving below, 

the views, and the Statue of Liberty off in the distance. If I were to do it again I would do it at night 

and I would do it walking towards Manhattan, not Brooklyn. 

That bridge is beautiful and nothing like what we have in Utah. 

We walked to Juliana's Pizza which is very similar to MidiCi's. We got a small and we had leftovers

(which is saying something after all that walking!) 

Because of the rain we were trying to do a lot of the inside activities so we headed over to Grand Central. 

That place is hoppin!

^And do you see that black rectangle? It's meant to be there... kinda. Workers were cleaning the ceiling and that 

gray rectangle was left to show how dirty it was. It was caused by cigarette, cigars, and  pipe smoke.

Before it was cleaned people didn't know the ceiling was blue.^

The food in NY is so good. We went to Tal Bagels and I almost died. I wasn't really into it at first and I 

told Andrew  I would only take a bite but I ended up eating half of the bagel, it was that good. We got

 scallion cream  cheese with  salmon (and I am not a fish person, hence I will only  have one bite) but it 

was probably my favorite food while in NY. 

We headed over to the Met which was also included on our City Pass. While we were there we  found

out that it is a pay as you wish  with recommended prices. We are not art people so we kinda just

cruised around that museum real quick and then we headed to Times Square which is always a site! 

 ^And that is a wooden escalator in the Macey's. I'm all into into that original stuff.^

We ended our day with Vietnamese food. Andrew's favorite. 

And the price was actually not crazy overpriced. Same as it is here. 

and... i'm really trying to avoid the gym right now. 

i want to do everything but that. 

like sleep, cleaning, watch netflix, 

(and all have been done).

but i think i better go. 

i'll regret it later. 

byyyyeeee.