Last Day in NYC

We packed in so much for our last day in the city, and we still missed some things that we were wanting to do. 

New York has so much to offer and I think you need to live there to experience it all.

We went and to the top of the World Trade Center- which is the tallest building in the United States.

If you are in NY that is something I highly recommend. 

This building is taller than the church office building in Salt Lake and we are looking down on that.

We were so high! 

^Ellis Island^

^This is us in the reflection of the Freedom Tower building^

For lunch we ate at the Shake Shack and it's like the eastern In & Out. My recommendation is
the salted caramel shake. It is unique shake flavor and I want another one.

For the rest of the day we did A LOT of walking. We took the subway only once which made for great exercise
(and heaven knows we needed it after all the NY food we were eating) but it made for exhausted feet. 

I loved all the random statues in NY. It made the city so much fun to see. 

We saw the LDS Manhattan Temple and that place made my heart so happy. There is a church above the temple 

and we were able to walk around and it felt like being home. There was such an apparent difference from outside 

the temple which made it kinda hard to leave.

^We had Levains cookies and those are a MUST have food while in NY.^
If anyone has a good copycat recipe let me know!

One of my favorite parts of NYC was Central Park. That place is so beautiful and there is so much to see there!
 I wish we had more time to wander but at the same time my feet were crying. Next time we will have to rent bikes
and tour the place.

This is the Central Park Spike (I don't think there is an official name so that's what I'm calling it).Way back when 

New York was being developed a surveyor drove spikes into the ground to map out the streets/blocks of the new city. 

The spikes have since been removed or built on but there is one in Central Park that remains and we went on a 

hunt to find it. 

Andrew was so happy! 

And we found Balto. 

After Central Park it was a lot of quick things that we wanted to see. 

Seriously, New York has so much to experience!

^St. Patrick's Cathedral^ 

We went to the Empire State Building which is iconic to NYC! 

It's in so many movies that it's a must see! 

This observatory was my least favorite however out of the 3 we did. 

It was really neat and we went at sunset 

so the view was beautiful but there was hardly any room and there were so many people. 

^See how small the space is? It was basically body to body^

^We took a break as we waited for the city lights to come on. 

I think we are pretty good actors because we are smiling and happy here^

^But this is how we really felt... exhausted!!!^ 

This view was so beautiful with the lights! It's a view that you just don't see everyday.

For dinner we went to a place called Buns Bar. Probably not the best place to be as late as we were but I saw a lady 

walking her dog so we were fine, right? But that place was loaded with calories which means it was good. Our burger 

we got did not come with a bun, instead the "bun" was two thick slices of mozzarella cheese that  was deep fried.
Not healthy, but delicious. 

We ended our night by practically running to the Stanton Island Ferry so we could get on at a decent time. 

I totally recommend it as it's free and we did it at night so we got another view of the city lights 

(and I liked this view better than the Empire State view of lights), 

we went by the Statue of Liberty all lit up, and we got to sit down and rest our feet. 

New York City was a spectacular experience! 

And I am so glad that I got to experience it with my best friend who wanted to make it the best trip ever. 

And I have 2 more days of our trip to write about, if I get around to it because it has taken me forever to get this far haha! 

And school started today and I am so not ready to go back. 

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?)