statueofliberty,ellisisland&newyork

New York City

For the short time we were in this area, we got to see alot, we took a tour bus of New York. It gave us a chance to see the main parts of the city without having to figure out the transit system or deal with the traffic. I would like to come back to New York City at a time when I could go with some organized tour that would allow time to really experience the city. To do it quickly on a tour bus is informative but does not allow to really get into it. Having the big truck and the dogs with us does not really make it possible to visit the city like we would like to. Still, it was fun to see what we did without having to worry about the driving and getting lost parts...

We went to Ground Zero. Not overly impressive right now. Construction of the new towers is underway, amongst the political fighting that is delaying the project. One of the impressive parts of that particular stop is this cross, as it was found by rescuers that is now a monument. The rescuers set it up during the rescue efforts, it is part of the structural beams of one of the towers, with the ducting hanging on it. It was to be taken down and stored during the construction. Public opinion was that it should not be stored and a church close to the construction site gave the city an area to place it until it moves to its permanent home.

Rockerfeller Plaza was somewhat of a surprize. This time of year where the ice rink is located is full of street vendors -mostly food vendors- and it is amazingly smaller than I expected it to be. The area where the Christmas tree sits every year is in the street just above where the statue is located.

Central park was - a park. It was a pretty area, especially for being in the heart of New York. The most interesting picture I have of it though is of the turtles in the Lake.

There is an erector set building that is a copy of the GE building. It is made of stainless steel erector set pieces and is great.

Union station was a nice stop, of course we do like train stations of any type so this was a treat on the trip. At one time it had been left to go into such disrepair that the interior was nearly black. It was decided to clean up and preserve the station and it is now quite impressive. Picture is of the clock in the center of the main corridor

Of the many things we saw, one of the most impressive was as we left on the George Washington bridge. The bridge is home to the world's largest free-flying American flag. The flag, which is located under the upper arch of the New Jersey tower, drapes vertically for 90 feet and flies freely, weighs about 450 pounds. The flag is 60 feet wide, the stars are 4 feet in diameter and the stripes are approximately 5 feet wide. We did not get an opportunity to take a photo ourselves so I found this one for you to get an idea of the size of the flag. It is really an impressive sight.