We woke up pretty early in order to beat the rush because we were going to the Empire State Building! We ate breakfast at the same place and then got on the Subway and made our way to the building.
It is a gigantic building! I know what the top looks like, but I had no idea what the bottom looks like till today. It's really amazing how big it is. I can't even imagine what the people who work there think of it. We had to go through more security, but it was pretty easy, except for the line. It, like every other line, it zigzagged back and forth forever! Once we got through security, we headed up to the elevators. They packed 10 of us in a tiny elevator that took us up to the 80th floor, where there was an observatory. We spent about 10 minutes there before going to the next elevator. That one took us to the 86 floor. Of course there was a long line for that one, they said about 15 minutes, but it was only 10. They offered people to walk up 6 flights of stairs but we decided to wait for the elevator instead.
Once at the top, the view was amazing! It was also very windy and cold, but we had our jackets so we were okay. We could see so far and we could even see the Statue of Liberty! We took our time walking around and taking pictures (lots of pictures) and enjoyed it immensely. There were a lot of people, but mostly everyone kept moving around the building, so we could get to the edge and look over. We made it all the way around the top and decided that it was enough and went down to the gift shop. It was super crowded though so we didn't buy anything.
Samantha wanted to go to Central Park again, so we hopped on the subway and went there. Before that though, we needed a rest, so we sat down in a little park (Herald Square) for a few minutes to rest our feet.
Tami wanted to rent a row boat from the Loeb Boathouse, so we did that. It was only $15 for an hour, so we jumped at the chance. It was super fun! Tami rowed most of the time. She had more practice because she grew up on a sailboat and also was on the rowing team in college. Samantha rowed for a bit but gladly handed the oars back over to mom, when she couldn't get the motions down. She just needs more practice. :)
After that, we wanted to eat something so we went to one of the few food places near the boathouse, Le Pain Quotidien, by the sailboat pond. It was "handcrafted" food, which apparently just means "more expensive". We got some pretty good hotdogs though and a bag of potato chips. The hotdogs were $8 each and the tiny bag of chips was $5! But it filled us up and tasted good, so that's all that matters. Afterward, Samantha really wanted ice cream, so we walked back around to the snack bar and got ice cream and a giant cookie. Samantha got caramel ice cream and Tami got chocolate. It was really good.
We walked around in Central Park more, enjoying the calm and the nature. We looked for what seemed like forever to find the perfect place to sit, without little bits of trash or glass, or without a lot of sticks. Samantha was picky but Tami was less so. We ended up sitting on a rock near one of the footpaths.
It was getting later in the afternoon and Tami wanted to visit the B&H camera store while we were there, so we walked out of the park and back on the Subway to visit this huge photography equipment superstore. Jacksonville does not even have a single camera store left anymore, so this was definitely something we wanted to check out. The place was huge and it must carry every piece of technology available today, for anything related to photography or film making. Tami wished we had visited earlier in the day when we weren't already tired, because it was hard to enjoy it fully, but on the other hand it kept her from being tempted to buy camera gear she really can't afford yet. :)
When we checked the map we realized we were only 0.7 miles from our hotel so we decided to just walk straight back. It made taking our shoes off and laying down at the hotel that much more rewarding!
We felt like we did alot that day and put over 7 miles walking so we were happy to just go downstairs to Famiglia's, a few yards from our hotel, and order a small pizza and eat it there. That perked us up enough to stop for a warm pretzel and a Cinnabon at Auntie Anne's, next door. They were yummy.
We were supposed to write a blog post that night but Tami took a nice long salt bath and fell asleep at 10:30pm. It was a good day for our last full day in NYC.
Thursday we head home!
It is a gigantic building! I know what the top looks like, but I had no idea what the bottom looks like till today. It's really amazing how big it is. I can't even imagine what the people who work there think of it. We had to go through more security, but it was pretty easy, except for the line. It, like every other line, it zigzagged back and forth forever! Once we got through security, we headed up to the elevators. They packed 10 of us in a tiny elevator that took us up to the 80th floor, where there was an observatory. We spent about 10 minutes there before going to the next elevator. That one took us to the 86 floor. Of course there was a long line for that one, they said about 15 minutes, but it was only 10. They offered people to walk up 6 flights of stairs but we decided to wait for the elevator instead.
Once at the top, the view was amazing! It was also very windy and cold, but we had our jackets so we were okay. We could see so far and we could even see the Statue of Liberty! We took our time walking around and taking pictures (lots of pictures) and enjoyed it immensely. There were a lot of people, but mostly everyone kept moving around the building, so we could get to the edge and look over. We made it all the way around the top and decided that it was enough and went down to the gift shop. It was super crowded though so we didn't buy anything.
Samantha wanted to go to Central Park again, so we hopped on the subway and went there. Before that though, we needed a rest, so we sat down in a little park (Herald Square) for a few minutes to rest our feet.
Tami wanted to rent a row boat from the Loeb Boathouse, so we did that. It was only $15 for an hour, so we jumped at the chance. It was super fun! Tami rowed most of the time. She had more practice because she grew up on a sailboat and also was on the rowing team in college. Samantha rowed for a bit but gladly handed the oars back over to mom, when she couldn't get the motions down. She just needs more practice. :)
After that, we wanted to eat something so we went to one of the few food places near the boathouse, Le Pain Quotidien, by the sailboat pond. It was "handcrafted" food, which apparently just means "more expensive". We got some pretty good hotdogs though and a bag of potato chips. The hotdogs were $8 each and the tiny bag of chips was $5! But it filled us up and tasted good, so that's all that matters. Afterward, Samantha really wanted ice cream, so we walked back around to the snack bar and got ice cream and a giant cookie. Samantha got caramel ice cream and Tami got chocolate. It was really good.
We walked around in Central Park more, enjoying the calm and the nature. We looked for what seemed like forever to find the perfect place to sit, without little bits of trash or glass, or without a lot of sticks. Samantha was picky but Tami was less so. We ended up sitting on a rock near one of the footpaths.
It was getting later in the afternoon and Tami wanted to visit the B&H camera store while we were there, so we walked out of the park and back on the Subway to visit this huge photography equipment superstore. Jacksonville does not even have a single camera store left anymore, so this was definitely something we wanted to check out. The place was huge and it must carry every piece of technology available today, for anything related to photography or film making. Tami wished we had visited earlier in the day when we weren't already tired, because it was hard to enjoy it fully, but on the other hand it kept her from being tempted to buy camera gear she really can't afford yet. :)
When we checked the map we realized we were only 0.7 miles from our hotel so we decided to just walk straight back. It made taking our shoes off and laying down at the hotel that much more rewarding!
We felt like we did alot that day and put over 7 miles walking so we were happy to just go downstairs to Famiglia's, a few yards from our hotel, and order a small pizza and eat it there. That perked us up enough to stop for a warm pretzel and a Cinnabon at Auntie Anne's, next door. They were yummy.
We were supposed to write a blog post that night but Tami took a nice long salt bath and fell asleep at 10:30pm. It was a good day for our last full day in NYC.
Thursday we head home!
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