NYC 11.03 -11.05

Sorry for the lack of updating....we've been pretty busy and tired.

DAY 2 - 11.03.09 - Sunny Near 50:

The drive from Grant & Rama's was rather uneventful. We stopped twice. Once for lunch/gas/groceries and once to get the car organized and pack our bag for Amy's. We figured easier to do at a rest area than on the side of the street.

We arrived at Amy's house on Tuesday at around 1:30ish. She lives in a very nice neighborhood in Mineola (Long Island), NY. Her husband Alan works as a resident at the hospital (conveniently) located across the street and she nanny's here in the apartment. She wasn't working when we arrived and so we chatted, toured the neighborhood and just hung out. We decided rather than go into the city we would hang here and make dinner. I had my first turkey burger!! It was delicious.

Day 3 - 11.04.09 - Sunny Mid-50's :

We all got up early and headed into the city (well everyone except Alan as he was working). Our first stop was the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The trip over the the Statue wasn't bad but the line to get in was forever. If you decide to go make sure you prepare ahead of time and order "Crown Tickets" I was very jealous of the people going all the way to the top. Oh and wear sneakers as it is a long climb with no elevator. After the Statue we headed over to Ellis Island to explore where many of our ancestors likely passed through at one point. Amy and Ben both took the "Citizenship Test" it doesn't say whether they got it right or wrong but I'll say they didn't get a 100!

Once we finished at Ellis Island we hopped a cab to Katz Deli. It is so delicious and unique. I recommend it to all who travel to NYC. The meat is real, the people are friendly, and they let you taste before you buy. An important note: unless you have an appetite like Ben, it's best to share a sandwich with a friend. From here we headed into town walking around and exploring. We had a few neighborhoods we wanted to see (which we struggled to find) but we saw a lot nonetheless. Our last major stop of the day was Dylan's Candy Bar. IT IS AMAZING. They have every candy you can imagine...they have retro candy containers, fudge (see the fudge man in the pictures), and ice cream. I could have spent a long time in that store but fortunately I refrained from eating!

A quick stop in Times Square to see the lights before heading back to Amy's house for a good nights sleep.

Day 4 - 11.05.09 - Sunny Near 55:

Heard it snowed all day in Maine....NOT HERE!! It was a beautiful day. Sunny and mid-50's!

Today we headed into the city bright and early again. Ben then escorted me to PS146 an elementary school in East Harlem where I did some observations. It was quite interesting in a number of ways. Their class sizes average 25-30 and their school has 400 students. The classes here aren't referred to by their teacher but rather their grade and room number. For example, I was observing class 4-301 instead of Mrs. Colloza's room. I was in a 4th grade class which was fun and they were doing math which made it even better. They are very smart kids, they already know and use mean, median, and mode A LOT and they were learning bar graphs having just finished line plots. Their recess is unique in that they have no grass and instead play on tar. This school I learned was lucky as they had a space. You'll see in a couple of pictures schools where they block off the street and the students have recess right in the road. I have lots more info but I'm sure it interests no one but the teachers so I'll save it for later.

While I was doing this, Ben went for a run in Central Park. He has wanted to do this for some time and so I'm glad he got the opportunity. Fortunately he found a gym with day memberships so he was able to store his stuff during the run and shower after.

We met up in Central Park where we had a picnic lunch and saw some sort of movie being filmed. From there we walked through the park to the zoo! Amy gave us her pass and so we got to explore which was so great. It was just amazing to see all those animals in the middle of Manhattan. I was sad that we did not bring our bigger lens as we didn't think we would need it for the day...man were we wrong.

From Central Park we walked down 5th Ave. Stopped at the Apple store to look at the technology and in Tiffany's to look at all the diamonds!! We headed to Rockefeller Center next so Ben could get a Dunkin' Donuts fix at the train station. We then headed to the TKTS counter in Times Square and got half price tickets to Oleanna....see details later.

Once we had our evening plans we headed back over to Rockefeller Center to get dinner. While over there we happened upon a taping of "30 Rock" if you look in the pictures you can see Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin. We had dinner at Rockefeller Center (there's a great soup place underneath the building) while we watched the skaters on the ice.

We did a bit more walking around and sightseeing before heading to see Oleanna starring Julia Stiles and Bill Pullman. It was a two person play that left me very confused/upset/angry. It was nothing like a musical but it was great.

Now we're back in Mineola, Ben is watching one of his favorite TV Shows while I do the dirty work. I'm going to make him write the next one!! Let us know if you have any questions. Talk to you soon.

Love! (click on the Day headings for pictures!)

Freedom Tour Spots Visited So Far:
Battery Park
Ellis Island
Rockefeller Center
Times Square
Katz Deli
Central Park