Saturday night we got a driving tour of Manhattan from our good friend Michael Vaccari....on Sunday we took a walking tour. The local subway station called 'The Path', which takes you under the Hudson River and into Manhattan......the final stop being the World Trader Center......is about a 5 block walk from Liberty Harbor RV Park. We were there, and boarding our train a little after 10 am......
Our first subway ride....this one was called 'The Path'....took us from Grove in Jersey City to the World Trade Center
Upon emerging from the bowels of the WTC you must take a selfie of you and the WTC, right?
World Trade Center
We spent some time at the 9/11 Memorial remembering what happened back in September of 2001......it has been just over 17 years, and yet it still seems like yesterday to us.......
9/11 Memorial....we will never forget
....so, today's blog will almost entirely made up of pictures of our walk north to Times Square....we began our walk on W. Broadway, transitioning to 5th Avenue after Washington Square, ultimately reaching West 47th Street and Times Square. We jogged around a little after Times Square to see Macy's, and Madison Square Garden.....of course we passed by the Empire State Building on way......
Shrouded in clouds
We began our walk north on W. Broadway, transitioning to 5th Ave. after Washington Square
Big Mormon Temple
Tribeca
SoHo
Where Harry Met Sally
'Sally' wasn't there on Sunday, but TLE was....even better, right?
Getting closer
Flatiron
Been walking for an hour, and up to 26th
Just about there
And there we are....Empire State Building
Macy's
Madison Square Garden
Times Square
We got all the way to W. 47th (Time Square) before we had to turn around and head back for our 3:30 pm elevator reservation to the top of the WTC
Time for a cup of coffee at 6th Ave. and West 42nd...Bryant Park
It was already Monday morning in Bejing
Of course
Library
Interesting sculpture near the WTC
I didn't start my Strava until we had been walking for about 1/2 mile, so our true round trip distance was 10.2 miles, and that doesn't count the 10 block round trip walk from the Newell to the Grove subway station in Jersey City and back
The following pictures were taken from the One World Observatory on the 100th floor
Before I changed into more formal wear for our dinner at 'One Dine'....Ellis Island and Liberty Island in the backgroun
Governor's Island
Left to right: Governor's Island, Liberty Island, Ellis Island
4:10 pm.....haven't eaten since 9 am....famished!
The restaurant ('One Dine') is on the 101st floor
One is never far from a soccer match
Princess Cruise ship outbound
Atlantic Salmon....we both had it, and cherished every bite.....one of the top 2, or 3 I have had
In the elevator for the ride back to earth
2nd and last subway ride of the day....almost home
Where is Spider Man when you need him....OH!......there he is!
You must purchase tickets to ride the elevator to the top of the WTC, and One World Observatory. You can get the basic ticket for $34/person, but you must wait in line for an hour, or more to get on an elevator. For $56/person you can buy what they call 'Priority Access', which puts you right at the front of the line.....that is what we did. Even though our reserved time was 3:30 pm, we were able to walk right on the elevator a little after 3 pm. The ride to the top takes about 20 seconds......that is really fast! Your ears pop 4, or 5 times on the way up and down.
Our dinner reservation at 'One Dine' (101st floor) was for 4:45 pm, however, when we arrived a little after 4 pm they took us to a table immediately. We ordered a bottle of Pinot Noir by Montinore (Willamette Valley, Oregon) and some shrimp (appetizer) and just relaxed for over 45 minutes before we ordered our entrees. The view of Manhattan was mesmerizing, and we were not in a hurry. In all we sat there for over two hours talking about our day.....ooohing and awwwing about the Atlantic Salmon.....enjoying the ambiance, and the view. We ordered a second bottle of the Pinot....rare for us....but it just seemed to be the thing to do. We were there until almost 6:30 before we got on the elevator to begin our trip home.....again, jumping to the front of the elevator line......a perfect end to a perfect day!
We walked well over 10 miles Sunday, and really got the feel of lower Manhattan. Our goal had been to make it all the way to Central Park, but we fell 10, or 11 blocks short. Each neighborhood has its own vibe, and you can feel it. At times the sidewalks were wall to wall people, and at other times very uncrowded. After we had our coffee at West 42nd and 6th Ave. we had planned to walk West 42nd over to Grand Central Station, but there was some sort of antiwar march going on and we could not get around it, so we just continued down 6th Avenue (Avenue of the Stars) all the way back to the WTC arriving there around 2:15 pm where we sat enjoying the quiet solitude of the 9/11 Memorial until about 3 pm when we took our elevator ride to the top.
Monday we take a few ferries and visit Ellis Island, Liberty Island, Brooklyn, and the Financial District......maybe even Katz' Deli where Harry and Sally had lunch? Hmmmmm?
Thanks for stopping by!
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Wow.....great pictures. So much to see in New York....love the old architecture' the views. So amazing. It's on my bucket list. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures today.
ReplyDeleteI hope you are planning to take in the 9/11 museum which is underneath the memorial. It is an emotional punch in the gut, but is a no-miss for NYC in our opinion. It is best to buy the pre-paid timed tickets for the museum because the lines can be very long for it too.
There are more great restaurants in Manhattan alone than you can eat over a several month period, but if you like Italian, Carmine's at Times Square is my pick.
Have a great time.
Davy