Day 3 in NYC

So my big adventure continued yesterday in a BIG way! I was so exhausted that I couldn't upload or post yesterday, so sorry, but I got to sleep in this morning (yes 6:30is sleeping in), had some food and took a shower and am now ready to share my day and virtual tour with you. Ready? Grab a cuppa and here we go. I caught the bus over to NYC and the first place I went was the Empire State Building. I apologize but the day was extremely dark and gloomy and rainy so the photos are very gray. All that being said, here was one of the views from the top of the Empire State Building. Also, there are a ton more photos on my Flickr account if you want to see them all. Because I went so early there was no line at all and I got to go right up to the top. the view was breathtaking (and it was very windy) I was afraid my bag would blow off the top!! Here is one view, you can see the Chrysler building. (The pointy one) and the Manhattan skyline that is so famous.

This is actually the tippy top of the Empire State Building (wow the things I do for you guys!)

I was totally fascinated by the floors in this building too. This is one of the medallions put into the floors. The wood? or tiles that looked like wood were amazingly beautiful (maybe only quilters will appreciate these insights, eh?) My photos don't even do justice to how beautiful this and the rest of the floors were. There were cool quilt patterns all over their floors (see Flickr). also, in one of the elevators the wall was made of marble and there was a marble version of the Empire State building. I felt a little foolish taking a photo of the elevator wall but, thought you might like to see it too.


Well, there is just so much you can do there is just so much you can do right? So I started walking and trying to find my way in the Big Apple. first stop, the Garment District. That meant a stop at M & J Trimmings. It was truly an amazing shop. Tons of trim and buttons and crystals and whatever you could think of as "trim". Prices were not as good as I had hoped so I left without purchasing anything, but it was fun to look! (More on Flickr)

Then as I was heading to The City Quilter I found a bead shop. No big deal since I don't bead but amazing stones caught my eye. Ut-Oh. I LOVE rocks and stones, hmmm lets just go inside and take a peek (sorry I forgot to take a photo as I was so enthralled with the stones). I got some beautiful things for gifts that I can't really share here as photos but there was some glass pieces and some amber pieces and that's all I can say.

So *now* off to City Quilter. YEAH! I found it on my own! It was not a very big shop but it was a nice one. I asked if there were any others in NYC and they said yes, but it was much smaller (smaller? really? Obviously they have not seen a BIG shop!) I bought a few things but no pictures yet. I think I will take pics of my purchases when I get home and share them with you then.

So I left City Quilter to find the bus stop to go to Ground Zero but on my walk I saw this, a Home Depot. The Home Depot near my house sure doesn't look like this!

Next stop Ground Zero. In case you don't know what that is (not sure who wouldn't know but just in case) this is were the twin towers of the World Trade Center stood before the terrorist attack on them September 11. What you see here is the rebuilding going on. The shiny building to the right is one of the replacement buildings, I think they called it the Freedom Tower. The gaping holes there were incredible to see. I took an audio tour where you take a machine and walk while someone narrates then I went into the visitor center which is where they have info on the terrorist attack and the people that died there. There are many more pics on Flickr. Interestingly there is a little church right next to where this all happened and it was not touched...at all. I did not get a picture but it was incredible since most of the other buildings near ground zero had windows blown out or some kind of damage. Survivors were taken there after the attack. Very faith inspiring!

I did the audio tour first, then I went into the visitor center. It was an incredibly moving visit. I did not know anyone that was killed that day but as I walked through the center, I cried. I cried for the loss of life, the changes of those families, the change for America, and it was very overwhelming. There were the posters people put up looking for their loved ones, things found at the site like a teddy bear, shoes, lunch receipts, personal effects and lots of pictures and videos. Just amazing. I am so happy that George W Bush was our president at the time. He summed up how we all felt in this quote,

They had this photo of 2 waterfall pools that will be where the twin towers once stood. The waterfall will drop 30 feet into a reflecting pool. It will be beautiful when it is finished and a peaceful way to remember the tragedy that took place here.

Also inside were all these paper cranes. You may know the story of the young girl from Japan (Sadako Sasaki) that made the 1000 paper cranes hoping they would find a cure for her cancer. (Read about her here) These cranes were sent by Japanese children, in an effort coordinated by this girl's brother, and sent to comfort and send hope to the families affected by the attack. He even sent one of the original cranes his sister had made for him and it was about half an inch tall. These were beautiful. It was a very emotional time in there!

Then I had to catch the bus back to the ticket office so I could get back to NJ. I didn't get a good pic of this the other day, so now you can see the United Nations building. I know, there are no flags out, that's because they take them down at 4pm each day.

The last photo of the day was a shot of the Chrysler building as the bus zoomed past it. I got off by Rockefeller Center with some really nice Irish people I met, and I had to make a mad dash for the bus back.


I made the bus and made it back to the hotel. I am now done with my tour for today. I have to go and get ready to go back into the city with DH. He will be finished around 1 and we will go on the public bus back to the city for some shopping! I am excited to go into the city with him. He said as he left this morning, "but you have already seen everything", Oh but I haven't! I still have a few places on my list as well as some places to eat.

Hope you are enjoying my virtual tour!!