Doing that whole tourist thing...

These are the things that I experienced the second day in New York! This morning came way too early! We set the alarm for 7:15 am so that we could meet together as a group at 8 to go downtown to battery park to get onto the ferry to go to Liberty and Ellis Islands. I am so glad that I remembered to take Dramamine before this boat ride otherwise I wouldn't have made it five seconds. It was nice walking around both islands and learning about the history of each. I was so tired by the time we were on Ellis Island that I finally gave in and sat down for a quick power nap. I think that the time change and going to bed really late as well as waking up really early did it to me. But this power nap made all the difference. Around noon we took the ferry back to Manhattan, found a Chinese place to eat at in the financial district, which everyone in my group liked a lot but I wasn't all that impressed. But that is how it goes sometimes. After lunch we went and toured around the Trinity Cathedral which is right across the way from Wall Street. We went and saw where George Washington was inaugurated as the first president of the United States. We then walked up to St. Pauls Chapel which is a church that was right across the way from Ground Zero. The church itself is the oldest public building in continuous use and the only remaining colonial-era church in Manhattan. In 1789, George Washington prayed at this church after his inauguration as the first president of the United States. The church suffered very little damage on 9/11. It became a place of refuge for victims, firefighters, police officers, and rescue workers. This was the place that Mayor Rudolph Giuliani gave his last speech as the Mayor of Manhattan. They had this church set up with flowers and as a memorial for those directly effected by the events of 9/11. (bell) After which we went into see the reflective pools and 911 memorial. I almost lost it emotionally here cause it was very somber being in there. I really thought it was impressive at just how reflective the new towers are. Very symbolic. Afterwards we went to Little Italy and shopped around found a good restaurant to eat at. After that we took the subway back to Times Square to the Sodheim Theatre to see Anything Goes which was amazing. I really love this city and I love love love being here! Night!

Where a scene in Hitch takes place. The acoustics where amazing in this room.

Possible ancestors who came through Ellis Island

Spring time in Battery Park

The famous Bull that has been in Hitch, For Richer or Poorer, The Associate, Just to name a few

Trinity Church

World Trade Center from Trinity Church

Headstone in Trinity Cemetary

Where Washington was inaugurated as first President of the United States

I was fascinated by how reflective this new building was.

St. Paul's Chapel

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This 'Bell of Hope' was presented by the church in London on September 11, 2002. It is rung every September 11. It was also run when terrorist attacks happened in Spain and England.

This one was gut wrenching for me

Standing at the base

This tree was planted in between the two towers and survived. It was then replanted, I think in Battery Park but then was uprooted from sever storms, replanted again at the 9/11 memorial and is now flourishing. It is called the 'Survivor Tree'

Little Italy

The start of a wonderful adventure: part 1

Today started early. 5:45 early. At least early for me. My ideal time of waking up is somewhere around 8:30 or 9. I was able to stay the night with the Mills, Aaron and Jennie's grandparents that live in Murray, Utah. They were so kind and generous for letting a perfect stranger stay with them. Another couple stayed there as well which was a great experience. At about 9:30 last night I started to feel great anxiety about the trip the following day. Anxiety over such things as: "What if I wake up late?" What if I don't get through security? What if I forget my tickets? And the worse of all, What if I miss my flight? So I called up my wonderful and reliable mother to help calm me down. As always she knew just what to say and how to say it to get the message across that I need to calm down and that everything is going to be ok. One thing that stood out to me during that conversation is that I was not relying on the Lord at all. Faith is the opposite of fear. So that night before I went to bed I prayed that Heavenly Father would calm me down and that I would show faith in that everything was going to be ok.

Well everything went very smoothly this morning. We got to the airport with plenty of time to spear. The flight lasted about 4 hours which is the longest flight I have ever been on. To entertain myself, I watched a movie, read a few chapters in my book, slept for a bit and played a trivia game with other passengers on the plane.

We got into JFK around 3 and to our Hotel in Manhattan around 4. After quickly settling in the hotel room we met as a group and walked through Times Square which is only a block away from our hotel. We quickly went to the subway station and had to each purchase a 7 day unlimited pass for our stay here in the Big Apple. Safely getting onto the subway we met a very nice lady that lived there that was very helpful in telling us where we needed to go. We were on our way to Lincoln Center to go see Macbeth. (More to follow on that). After getting off of the subway we started to walk a few blocks towards the Met, and on the way saw the magnificent Manhattan Temple. Roger then showed us where to meet in two hours. So we each went off into our own little groups and found a place to eat. I hadn't eaten since breakfast so I was famished. We stopped by a deli place right next to the temple. I had a Monte Cristo sandwich that was so good and so overpriced. We still had some time to kill so we went over to Century 21 store which is a TJ Maxx on steroids. Looked around for awhile then went wandering around as a group for our next adventure which was to find some snacks to take into the theatre. After accomplishing this goal we went back over to Lincoln Center and saw where Moonstruck and a few other movies were filmed. We went into this little museum and saw this whole display on Noel Coward, a famous playwright. By then it was time to go into the theatre to see Macbeth.

Macbeth was held in the famous Met. It made me look around for Cher and Nicolas Cage in Moonstruck when they were going to the opera. This theatre was magnificent. Pictures on my camera do not do it justice. I was trying to take pictures discretely in fear that I would get thrown out. The production was done as an Italian Opera. It was a great show. I tried to stay awake, but after a day of traveling and being high from the thought that I was in New York City, it all caught up to me and I struggled every once in awhile to stay awake.

Our group sat on the main floor but way in the back of the theatre so we were under the first balcony. This made it difficult to be able to really take in the fact that I was in a very famous Opera Theatre. I tried not to dwell on that too much, cause I was partaking in a wonderful event that many will probably never be able to. Also I was still able to see everything on stage, so it could have been a lot worse. By the time the show was over it was 11:30. We started to make our way back to the Hotel but stopped for a photo Op in Times Square. Several of us were hungry so we stopped at this hole in the wall pizza joint that once again sold over priced food. That is the day in a nutshell. It is now 1:30 and we have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow! Here are some pictures of the first day. I have posted more on Facebook.

Because I am such a nerd I wrote down the times of when we entered each state:

In flight log:

8:35- take off

8:50- Enter Wyoming

9:29- enter Nebraska

10:10- enter Iowa

10:38- enter Wisconsin

10:48- enter Illinois

10:58- enter Michigan

11:28- enter Ontario

11:35- Enter Ohio

11:41- Enter Pennsylvania

12:21- Enter New Jersey

12:31- Enter Atlantic Ocean

12:55- Land at JFK

Yes I am a dork!!

At some point on this trip, I want to pull a Sandra Bullock from Miss Congeniality when she is trying to glide and a taxi almost hits her. She slams her hands down on the hood and screams, "Hey I am gliding here!"