Ground Zero and home

No visit to New York city could be complete without a visit to the site of the 9/11 attacks especially if you have visited the Twin Towers as I have the memorial Gardens opened last year 10 years after the attack at the moment they are surrounded by building work on the new World Trade centre so access is controlled but once the rebuilding is complete then access will be unrestricted. Even though the memorial is surrounded by building work it is remarkably peaceful and in my view a very fitting memorial. After lunch and some final shopping we made our journey to the airport having investigating the options we had a luxury SUV to ourselves as this only cost a few dollars more than a shared minivan and was so much more comfortable. The airport and flight home were mercifully uneventful with us finally arriving home in the early afternoon of Thursday.

 

 

 

Ground Zero

 

one of the new towers

 

The museum building

 

This is the survivor tree from the original site.

 

 

The damaged globe from the original World Trade Centre 

 

A night on top of the Rock

Tuesday began with a tour of the city from the water following this I didn’t feel too well so I decided to stop in the hotel for a few hours while the girls and Alison went off to do their own thing which turned out to be a visit to Madam Tussauds.After a few hours rest I joined up with the girls again for a visit to the Top of the Rockefeller centre (Top of the Rock) to see the sunset and the city by night. As this was our last evening in the USA we had dinner in the Hard Rock Café.

 

Empire state and the Chrysler building

 

Alison with her heart throb

 

Esme with one of her heros

 

Could this really happen!!

 

Now there's a scary thought 

 

Empire state at sunset

 

.. and a bit more of New York

 

Sunset from the Top of the Rock

Rescued by the Fire Brigade and getting wet.

Monday morning did not start well, when we got in to the lift to go down to the ground floor to go out for the day we joined a lift with only six other people in it but as we descended more and more people got in at every stop to the point that everyone in the lift knew that it was more than full, so when it made its last stop we told the large American lady not to get in but having forced her way in the doors closed behind her and the lift set off for the ground floor however when it stopped it was unable to open its doors so we tried to go down to the basement but the doors still would not open. We were now unable to go up down or open the lift doors in response to our emergency call the hotel staff tried to override the system to get us back to a floor but were unsuccessful so they let us know that an engineer had been called, at this point the lift is very uncomfortable with so many bodies in it and one young girl was getting very upset. We know that Esme is not very happy using lifts but she kept very calm and tried to help calm down the other girl. We then got the message that the Fire Department had been called and would be there shortly. True to the promise we soon heard the voices of the Firemen outside the lift and in a few minutes they had the doors open and helped everyone out of the lift it was only six or eight inches below floor level but obviously far enough for the safety systems to stop the doors opening. The Fire brigade counted eighteen people in the lift, so after the forty minutes we had been stuck we were able to get on with the day. We took the bus tour of the Uptown area which started off well enough until we started to leave Harlem when the first few drops of rain were felt, by the time we were passing the Guggenheim museum it was absolutely pouring with rain and despite being provided with ponchos we were getting very wet so eventually back to the hotel and in to the lifts to go and get dry before heading off to more lifts to go up the Empire state building. In the evening we took the night tour to see the New York sky line from Brooklyn and other vantage points.

 

Our Rescuers

 

one much happier little girl

 

Columbus circle

 

Who says it only rains in England

 

From the top of the Empire State building

 

Its a bit breezy up here

 

My attempt at the nightime sky line from a moving bus

 

and a proffesional version

 

 

Brooklyn bridge

Taking a Liberty

Sunday morning in New York what do you do? Take the bus to Battery Park and go to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Having picked up our tickets and queued to get through the obligatory security screening we get on the ferry to Liberty Island we are warned that the statue itself is closed as they are refurbishing the interior and installing wheelchair friendly lifts but is still good to get close up to the statue and learn something about it. While we are eating lunch we spot Suzanne and friends from Derby this was really fortunate we knew that they would be in New York at the same time as us but hadn’t yet arranged to meet up so we were able to catch up on news from home and share a little time before we went on our ways. After Liberty Island the ferry stops at Ellis Island which used to be the immigration clearing station this is now a well presented museum which was of great interest to Esme as she is covering this at school. Back on the mainland we finished the circular bus tour and having got off in Times Square, closest stop to the hotel the girls got to make a fuss of the police horses which appear to be there only as a tourist attraction.

 

On our way to Liberty Island

 

 

Friends from home.

 

Main immigration hall on Ellis Island

 

Fussing the police horses

One day four states

Today we made the final long journey before we fly home. We left our hotel in Dartmouth, Massachusetts to drive to New York city to get there we have to drive through four different states, this is not as bad as it sounds as the states over here on the east coast are much smaller than those out west in fact the second state is Rhode Island the smallest of all the states only 37 miles by 48 miles (smaller than many English counties) and then across Connecticut finally in to New York State and almost immediately in to New York city itself. The thought of drive right in to New York city was a little daunting but as it turned out arriving on a Saturday lunch time (we found out on Monday what real New York traffic looks like) was quite simple and once you get the hang of the one way streets and avenues it’s not too bad we found the hotel easily and after a little bit of waiting were able to park close enough to unload the bags and get them in to the hotel before returning the car to the hire company in the next street. Having got rid of the car we went off to get lunch and do some exploring and collect our explorer passes until we could get in to our room. When we get in to our 29^th floor room which is a compact to say the least we are finally able to relax before going to Times Square for the evening.

 

Approaching Manhatten

 

Driving through Manhatten

 

Our Hotel View

 

Esme is really in New York

A day at the sea side

Today we took a relaxing drive out along the Cape Cod peninsular, this area is similar in feel to the Florida Keys in that is purely a holiday area and has just one main road linking all the towns along it, it is very popular with artists with every other shop being a gallery of some sort. We had a very relaxed wander around Provincetown harbour and were almost tempted to go out whale watching again but instead opted for a good seafood meal at one of the many seafood restaurants in the town followed by a couple of hours laying on the beach and paddling in the Atlantic ocean which means we have now got our feet wet on both coasts of the USA.  

 

How the locals see the tourists!

 

 

The election gets here too.

 

(the vice President is coming tomorrow)

 

Getting our feet wet in the Atlantic

 

Hows that for beach huts

An American Tea Party

Today we visited Boston, birth place of the “American Revolution” and the Boston Tea party museum. This consists of very good reproductions of the original ships involved in the civil disobedience that led to the start of the war of independence. The girls got to throw chests of "Tea" in to the harbour and we all were given parts of participants in the original Tea party. The ships on display today are different to the one I visited when I was here 30 years ago apparently the one I saw, was lost in a fire several years ago but they have taken the opportunity to improve the whole museum experience. It is very clear that the Americans are very proud of their history and nearly everyone has a good understanding of it (that may be because it is short 400 years and uncomplicated) unlike many Europeans. We also explored Boston seeing other key sites of the “Freedom Trail” and also found the “Cheers” bar from the TV series.  

 

One of the Tea party ships

 

 

Alison gets rebellious

 

The meeting house where it all started

 

 

Cheers!