New York City trip

 In combination for Dave's birthday and Austin's spring break from RPI we decided to do a trip to NYC for a few days.  It was such a fun time.  Of course the best flights from SLC are the red eye flights that leave around 1 o'clock in the morning and we arrived to NYC at 7am.  Luckily we were able to leave our luggage with the doorman as our apartment wasn't ready until 3.  So Dave and I had time to wander around and explore a bit.  We quickly found Times Square, which included the M&M store!

Our family tradition of getting M&M's was easy to fulfill this year!  It is the biggest M&M store in the world, and is 4 stories!  A lot of fun stuff in there.

Coincidentally the Architectural Design Home Show was going on in NYC that weekend and we had tickets to go and browse through that show.  It was a HUGE show and very trendy and upscale.  We felt very underdressed in our jeans, but we enjoyed the home furnishings and design ideas that were there.  We'd like to incorporate some of those things into our home in the future.  It was fun!

After a late lunch and checking in we were off to Penn Station to meet up with Austin.  He rode the train down from RPI and was arriving at Penn Station at 5:30pm...rush hour!  What a crazy place.  We were a couple floors underground and cell reception was not very good.  Plus we had know idea where exactly we were in comparison to where Austin was.  We eventually found him a floor above us and had a happy reunion!

The next day, Saturday we had tickets for the 9/11 museum and memorial.  Words can not explain the feelings of that experience.  For me, it was the first time I've been to a war type museum where I can remember the day.  It was very powerful and the museum and memorial are so well done.

The two reflection pools are very large and have cascading water that goes down into the ground seemingly endless.  It was a very pensive and somber...definitely hallowed ground.

Inside the museum it was so well done.  It's a huge museum that incorporates so many relics of that day.  There were recordings and artifacts and memorials throughout.  One thing I hadn't really thought about was the enormous number of ambulances, firetrucks, and police vehicles that were lost that day.  I don't remember the exact number but it was a lot.  They had several of the recovered vehicles in the museum which just showed the devastation that occurred when the towers fell.

There were the original footings of one of the towers displayed where the museum was built around.  There was also the "survivors stairs" that remain where thousands of people made it down and out to safety.  The huge steel structures that were mangled both by the heat and by the impact of the airplane were displayed.  They were able to identify the structure where the plane actually hit the building.  Very hallowed feeling in and around those exhibits.

After that emotional time at the museum we wandered around a bit and then headed back to the apartment to rest up for our Broadway show that evening.  We were able to see The King and I, which was fabulous!

Sunday we attended church at the NYC temple and chapel.  It was a very nice service with some amazing musical numbers of some very talented New Yorkers!  After wandering through central park for a while we spent the rest of that day resting up and watching a little March Madness basketball.

Monday we had our trip to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  This was full day of exploring! From the Statue you have the best view of the NYC skyline...just beautiful!

I had reserved tickets for us to be able to go up into the Crown of the Statue of Liberty and it was fun.  It was 300+ steps up to the Pedastal and then another 150+ up to the Crown.  Such small and winding stairs and a tiny lookout area at the top.  Since 9/11 only 400 people a day are allowed up into the Crown in small groups because of the lack of exit strategies from there!  It was quite a hike, but fun!

After the Statue of Liberty we got off the ferry at Ellis Island and took the audio tour of that island and all it's history.  It was interesting and filled with personal stories and beginnings for so many.

Monday night we wanted to see Time Square at night, so we walked and walked all over.  We went past the Rockefeller Square and NBC studios and other interesting places downtown.  It was pretty cold, but Times Square at night is just a sight to behold.  Everything is so big and bright.

 Tuesday we took a walking tour of SoHo and Chinatown.  We didn't take any pictures that day...don't know why.  But it was really fun to hear the history and have the architecture described to us.  We toured Little Italy and ate some dumplings in Chinatown.  Chinatown is huge and growing bigger every day!

We said goodbye to Austin at sent him on to Florida for the remainder of his Spring Break.  From there we walked down 5th Avenue to the Macy's store in downtown NYC.  It's 9 stories high and was having a floral exhibit that day that was just breathtaking.  We took our first Uber ride back to our apartment, gathered our luggage and headed to the airport to make our flight back to SLC.  A whirlwind, wonderful trip for sure!