A Day in the City

The day after the parade was Monday, Memorial Day, and Ryan and I decided not to battle traffic on 95 so we weren't leaving until Tuesday. We tossed a few ideas around, but I really wanted to go into the City. It had been way too long since my last trip and we never really had the chance to go together. We went to Coney Island last summer, but as for the City itself, not so much. So we spent the morning saying goodbye to my mom and dad and brother as they got on the road and then hung around with Babci and Poppy until lunch time. Then we got on the train to head to New York City.

My cousin Jill lives in the City now as she is attending law school there. She offered to meet us when our train got in and to hang out with us and help us get around. It has been a few years since I have been there so I happily took her up on her offer! Our first stop....

Chipotle. I am dead serious. There are no Chipotles in eastern North Carolina and we have been craving it like crazy! In Alexandria we went there quite a bit and it had been well over a year since our last burrito. I always get the burrito bowls and a grapefruit Izze... oh it was heavenly.

Some of the sights we saw from afar, like the Empire State building, but others we really wanted to go to as neither of us had done them before. One was the World Trade Center Memorial. We took the subway to the area but the line for tickets was HUGE. We were sadly about to cut our losses when a guy reaches over to hand Ryan something. Like a good city boy (well, not really, but he lived in DC long enough) he said "No thanks" without looking. The old man then growled at us, "Son, take the free tickets!" We look and the man handed us three tickets to the Memorial for 5pm. He explained he couldn't go and would be coming back tomorrow and he had three tickets to get rid of. Looking at him he was obviously a veteran and I am convinced he recognized Ryan as one as well (the haircut tends to be a dead give away!). We were so touched and thanked him profusely... we could now go to the Memorial.

We did have some time to kill so we decided to walk to the Brooklyn Bridge, another big must see for me as I had never been! We went through a nice park and then watched some pretty awesome street performers before heading to the Bridge itself.

It was crowded! Oh man was it crowded. And warm... it finally hit the 70s and in all honesty it was the perfect day to be walking out in New York City. Even though the Bridge was packed we still walked across and took pictures. It is never that crowded in the movies :P

My cousin was an awesome tour guide! Thanks Jill!

All three of us on the Brooklyn Bridge. My husband never wears sunglasses....

The Statue of Liberty

Skyline

This picture became one of my favorites. We just had a great time together enjoying everything. After we got off the Bridge we made our way to the Memorial. After going through security (and by passing the HUGE non ticket holder line) we were finally there. As someone who lived less than an hour from the City during 9/11 it was extremely difficult for me to be there, my cousin too. Both of us definitely shed tears. My husband was extremely quiet as well... the reason he decided to join the Marine Corps in 8th Grade was because of what happened on 9/11. Now nearly twelve years later it was incredibly surreal to be standing there, looking at the giant fountains where the Twin Towers had once stood.

The Freedom Tower is basically in between the North and South fountain memorials. Standing below and looking up at the finished (at least on the outside) building made me feel so incredibly small. I have seen it from afar during its construction but being right there was a whole different story.

When we walked around and saw roses, mementos and other things it was just heartbreaking. As we read the names what got to me was how many had a woman's name with "and her unborn child" next to it. Each time we passed one Ryan wiped the pollen/dust from the surface of that name and paused for a moment. The Memorial is beautiful and I am so so glad we went.

We also saw the Survivor Tree... it has been there since before the 1993 bombings (also honored at the Memorial) and survived 9/11. It was transplanted during construction and recently replanted at the Memorial site. It is slowly starting to take root again and will be a constant reminder of Survival to all who see the Memorial.

The museum on the Memorial site wasn't open so after sitting for a bit we headed out. On the way out we saw a table giving away pins to the first 1,000 veterans or active duty military who came to the Memorial so Ryan got a nice pin that he wore the rest of the day.

After pausing (and in all honesty taking a needed smoke break to calm ourselves) we took the subway to Rockefeller Center to get me some cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery. I ended up eating them in the car on the way home the next day and they were delicious! I got Red Velvet and my second favorite, yellow cake with chocolate frosting.

We walked by some shows and man I wish we had the time to stop and see them! It would have gotten us on the train home way too late, but I hope to see another Broadway show some day. I saw quite a few growing up (it happens when you're a theatre person and live not too far away) but it has been years since the last time I saw one.

We then got to see my cousin's apartment (nice!) and relax for a few minutes before going to a bar/restaurant nearby to meet her boyfriend for dinner. I also took the moment to photography my Magnolia stuff properly.

We had a good (if pricey, welcome to the City) dinner of burgers and beer while watching the Yankees/Mets game before Ryan and I had to get back on the subway to catch our train home. As you can see he is wearing his pin in this train picture!

We had a wonderful time playing tourists and got home in enough time to make sure Babci and Poppy were not worried about us being out too late! The next morning we all had breakfast before Ryan and I got back on the road. Luckily we planned it right and hit no traffic except for an accident right outside of Baltimore but even then we were only stopped maybe ten/fifteen minutes before we reached our exit.

Ryan's allergies developed into a cold that day which he then gave to me.... but we are both better now and I finally got to blog about our road trip! Whew.