Third Day In New York

14 September 2014
Weather: 20C and sunny

This morning Justin and I had an early morning start to get the train to the South Ferry Station so we could get the first ferry across to the Statue of Liberty.  The night before I had read the instructions with our tickets and asked my husband to have everything ready for the morning.  All went to plan and we arrived early, Justin traded in our print outs for the tickets and we were reminded to have our Photo ID handy.  Oh no, I can't believe it, I forgot mine.  We had to get the train back to 50 Street and Broadway then walk back to the hotel.  The train trip one way is 28 minutes, this cost us time, big time.  No NFL game for Justin and no chance of catching up with Charley or to see another comedy show that evening.  Not a total loss as it was 12C and Justin was wearing a cotton button up short sleeve shirt so he could get a coat and he forgot his sunglasses.  I am a little let off the hook.  So since we had no chance to get the first ferry we decided on some breakfast before getting the train back to South Ferry Station.

World War II East Coast Memorial at Battery Park 

50 Street and Broadway Metro Station

We managed to get the second ferry of the day at 10:00am, still missing the crowds, what a relief.  We picked up free audio handsets and made our way straight to the crown line up.  The first lot of steps in the statue were wide apart and very tiring.  We both wondered if we would be able to make it to the top.  We reached the top of the pedestal and found the staircase changed to a tight spiral one which would be a nightmare for people who are tall, got big feet or who are not thin.  It was easy to get up for us and we arrived at the crown in no time.  The platform at the crown was tiny and at times crowded out, we waited and then got the space to ourselves before the next wave of tourists.  Returning to the pedestal to take some photos, before going to the star shaped base to get extra photos.  We got a little bit of souvenir shopping in before getting the ferry back to Battery Park and to get the train back.  We found that the north bound platform was closed and there were NYPD everywhere.  We were advised that we could get the train from the south bound platform and that it would be free.  It was a bonus that it was free but it makes you wonder if it is unsafe, well we got the train so it was fine.  We stopped off at Penn Station to see the Empire State Building.

Stairs within the Statue of Liberty

Statue of Liberty

View of New York from the Statue of Liberty

Don't tell anyone but thank goodness for the Skip The Line Tickets!  We zoomed pass the crowds and made it to the first observation deck in no time.  With skip the line tickets you get on the lifts before everyone else even though you just arrived at the lift.  The view is better from the first observation deck for photographs.  We continued to the top observation deck which is smaller and covered in, you can see out but it isn't any good for photos.  Exiting the Empire State Building we could skip the queues and getting lifts first.  It makes you feel like a VIP.  My brother and I got skip the line tickets for the Coliseum so I already knew how great it is to have these tickets for busy tourist destinations if you don't have much time.  

Us at the first observation deck
at the Empire State Building

View of Central Park from the Empire State Building

Inside the Empire State Building

Outside the Empire State Building

Afterwards we went to Wendy's for lunch (not like in Australia, this a burger joint), Justin got a burger, chips (fries) and drink and I went for an Apple and Pecan Salad.  Mine had green salad leaves, apple, cranberries, blue cheese, toasted pecans and pomegranate dressing, not bad but a little different for my taste buds.  We went back to the Hershey’s store for more chocolate and then visited every souvenir shop to find a Statue of Liberty that lights up.  There was only one left and it was evening by the time we found it, it didn't have a box either.  We had to carry this around for another 5 weeks with care and the arm was broken by the time we got to Kempsey.

That night we dined at Appleby's where Justin had the Crispy Chicken and I had the Blackened Tilapia.  It was reasonably priced and the food was pretty good.  The table next to us had a family with a baby which kept screaming and it was unbearable, luckily they were having dessert when we started our meal.  Back to the hotel for an early night as we will have an early morning the following day.