NYC Day 3 & 4

Day 3 was about as perfect as you can imagine for the end of February in NYC.  Blue, blue skies and a moderate 50 degrees.  It was also the day I got to spend with one of my oldest friends - Leslie!  We've been friends since 7th grade and since she doesn't live too far from the city and was willing to play tour guide for a day we were happy to have her join us!

We started the day by walking through Central Park to meet her at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

We spent the morning there, slipped out for a deli lunch on the steps to the museum and then back in for a little more before we headed across town to the Chelsea High Line. The High Line was a raised rail track that has been turned into a walking path that runs through Chelsea and then connects to a path that runs along the river. It was the perfect day for this stroll as we stopped along the way to relax in the sun and take a few pics.

Madison hadn't seen Leslie since she was about 3-4 years old but we all enjoyed one another's company and had a great time!  We had dinner at a small pub that actually had "real" New Yorkers in it and later, drinks at another place with what I think would be called real NYC yuppies!  This is also the day that we logged about 12 miles according to my Fitbit!

The next morning we were off the the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.  We hadn't been to this end of Manhattan yet and I was honestly a little in awe of those past events and what it must have felt like to have been there. This feeling got so much more intense later on.

You can't help but come upon the 9/11 reflecting pools as you come into the museum area. The names of all those that died are inscribed around the edges.  We saw flowers near some names. Apparently they put a flower on the names of people on their birthday...

 Inside the museum I was so incredibly moved over and over and over again.  I shed more than a few tears in remembering that heart pounding day.  I told Madison how I had started crying as we watched the news thinking my babies were going to grow up in a war zone...

Madison wasn't as emotional as I was but I think the history of the whole event had a pretty profound effect her as well.

I forget where I saw this but I had to laugh that someone though a super duty lock was really necessary to hold the toilet paper on the roll!

Next stop was the Staten Island Ferry to take the FREE ride  (best deal in NYC) across the river and back so see the Statue of Liberty.  It was another beautiful day!

And then finally - there she was!

 Not the best selfie...

 On the way back to Manhattan we went out on the back of the ferry.  It was actually quite nice out there and not as windy as I had expected.

This is exactly what our ferry looked like. LOL!

This is in a park in lower Manhattan and I totally don't remember the name...

Poor Madison just can't do selfies in the sun...and it wasn't even very sunny at this point!