Third Day in New York City: afternoon and evening

We found a waffle truck with Axelle's brother's name on it

This is Laurel's favorite designer and she was having a big closeout sale. Still too pricey for our pockets.

Laurel bought a hanger with Betsey Johnson's name on it instead

Brooklyn Blackout Cupcake made by Two Little Red Hens and found at Dean & Deluca

All dressed up and ready for dinner. Axelle and Laurel wear outfits they purchased in the city.

Italian for dinner

another birthday dessert for Reagan

Times Square

hanging out in the Hershey Store

the M&M store

you can mix your own color bag of M&M's

watching the girls shop

I don't think Reagan likes the "mood" he was determined to have.

"Chocolate is better in color"....amen to that!

Times Square

watching ourselves on the big screen

It was after lunch that Travis and Reagan separated from us to go see The Intrepid Museum. We women stayed together and did some shopping and looking. We went back to the hotel when we were tired, but we stopped by Dean & Deluca first to pick up some items for our early breakfast on the plane in the morning. I also got a chocolate cupcake made by Two Little Red Hens from D&D. It was fabulous! I need to look them up on my next trip. We had a nice dinner at La Masseria, an Italian restaurant not far from the hotel. Reagan is celebrating his birthday on this trip, and I think he had birthday desserts both nights! After supper, Travis went back to the hotel to rest up for the flight in the morning and the rest of us spent some time in the M&M store and wandering back to the hotel through Times Square. We only had two full days here, but we managed to hit almost all the major areas and see quite a bit. This has been fun and I will always look forward to my next trip to New York City!

Day Three New York City: Morning

Dean & Deluca for breakfast!

Pistachio donut and a Chocolate Black Out Donut from the Donut Plant at Dean & Deluca

Breakfast!

Staten Island Ferry

Reagan

The New York City skyline

the Statue of Liberty

the new Towers under construction

the Brooklyn Bridge

on our way to the 911 Memorial Site

Staring down into the "black hole" of the fountain is very sobering and quite emotional

the names of those lost are inscribed along the edges of both fountains

the Living Tree

looking through the glass into the unfinished memorial museum

a reflection

cousins

i think Axelle misses her own little brother....lol

St. Paul's Cathedral, undamaged from the 911 attack

beds were laid out during the days following the attack for relief workers and firefighters

St. Paul's Cathedral

the Wall Street Bull

Lombardi's Pizza, reported to be the first pizza in New York City

The temperature made a BIG turn today and our wonderful temps went from upper 70's into the 90's! We went to breakfast today at Dean & Deluca which is just on the corner. I was so excited to see that Dean & Deluca serves donuts from The Donut Factory, my favorite donut place in NYC!! I was in donut heaven!! After breakfast we took the subway to lower manhattan to get on the Staten Island Ferry. We had read that this would be the best way to see the Statue of Liberty for FREE and they were right! Riding the ferry over and back took awhile this morning, but at least we weren't standing in line in the hot sun for hours just to pay for a ride! The ride was very pleasant and the view of NYC pretty cool as we came back into port. The 911 Memorial Fountains have now opened and we reserved a spot to go take a look. The National September 11 Memorial is a tribute of remembrance and honor to the nearly 3,000 people killed in the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 at the World Trade Center site, near Shanksville, Pa., and at the Pentagon, as well as the six people killed in the World Trade Center bombing in February 1993. There is a tremendous amount of security that you go through just to get in, but it was so worth waiting.  The Memorial’s twin reflecting pools are each nearly an acre in size and feature the largest man made waterfalls in the North America. The pools sit within the footprints where the Twin Towers once stood. The names of every person who died in the 2001 and 1993 attacks are inscribed into bronze panels edging the Memorial pools. I found it to be a very emotional place to stand and remember. Within the deep pools is another square hole that you can't see the bottom of while looking into it. Looking into that space is where my tears came from. It's like looking into infinity. The Survivor Tree stands here hung with origami cranes made by local school children. It's a tree that barely survived the disaster, but it was removed and nurtured and then brought back where it has thrived. There are chinese folded paper birds hanging from it that were made by local schoolchildren. It's a really neat bright spot in the middle of a sobering place. We went into St. Paul's Cathedral to see the memorial to the firefighters. By this time, we were pretty hungry and Lombardi's pizza was fairly close by.