Of course, arriving there at 10 pm, the city was alive and bustling. It truly is the city that never sleeps. We checked in and then, since we were still on West Coast time, went for a brief walk to see the Ed Sullivan Theater. It's where the Late Night with David Letterman show is taped -not our favorite these days, but hey, the Beatles played there for Ed Sullivan in the 60's, so it's a somewhat historical place according to Chris.
Our original plan had us meeting up with Eric and Chelsea the next morning, but Chelsea couldn't make the trip. So, we met up with Eric and jumped on one of those double-decker bus tours to see the city. (It was so great to see him--the only thing that would have made the trip better is if Chelsea could have come...we missed her!)
The profusion of people, billboards, traffic, and buildings is definitely sensory overload - but the sheer contrast in lifestyle is very interesting to experience. We saw the New Year's Eve "ball" sitting where it landed as of 12:00AM January 1, 2010 after dropping. We also saw David Wilkerson's Times Square Church - it is in the heart of the city and in a building that was probably a theater at one time.
We got off the bus at Ground Zero and walked through St. Paul's Chapel, which is only a block away from where the World Trade Center Towers once stood. Opened in 1766, St. Paul's Chapel is Manhattan's oldest public building in continuous use - a place where George Washington worshiped (we saw his personal pew)and 9/11 recovery workers received round-the-clock care. Even after nine years, being there is still a very emotional experience.
Just down the street was FDNY Engine Co. 10's station. Their doors open directly toward Ground Zero and they were one of the first responders to the Towers after the planes hit.
There is a beautiful Memorial Wall along the side of their building.
We walked from there down to Battery Park where we had a great view of the Statue of Liberty - it was a gorgeous day to be touring around NY City. Eric had taken the Staten Island Ferry the day before to get a closer look at Lady Liberty. As you can see from the one picture, the harbor patrol is well-armed.
We also walked around the one end of Central Park. As a group of us waited to cross the street over to the park, we noticed that walking with us was Comedian George Lopez! He and a woman matter of factly made the crossing with the rest of us and then got into one of the horse drawn carriages that take you around the park. Pretty neat!
-To be continued in Part 2 coming soon-
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