NYC day 2

After a muffin from Fluffy's bakery, Julie and I (as well as the rest of our group) were off! We took the double decker bus to the ferry which then takes you to Liberty and Ellis Island. Our travel agent had purchased tickets for us to climb to the top of the crown--all 354 steps--but we were not that interested in that on this hot, muggy day.

When we got to the ferry, there was a church group singing from Sulphur Springs, TX. They were quite good, and it gave me chill bumps to think about the people that they were reaching for Jesus with their message. After listening for awhile, we headed over to the line (thankfully, we got to do the express line because of the crown tickets) and proceeded to slowly make our way up to security. There is a security checkpoint everywhere you want to go like that....those darn terrorists....which took a little time for all 12 of us to get through. However, we finally made it onto the ferry. At Liberty Island, we parted ways with the rest of our group and headed to Ellis Island. All in all, I was disappointed in Ellis. I think, if you go, and if I go again, you should definitely take the guided tour. It's free...done by a park ranger....but we did one of the free movies instead. Next time, I think, I will just ride the FREE Staton Island ferry which gives you great views of both of these attractions, but doesn't stop at either.

After a pretzel from a street vendor, we were back on our dd bus to ride over to South Street Seaport. We knew there was a TKTS booth where you can get discounted Broadway tickets, so we headed straight there.(Side note about the TKTS booth at South Street, there was NO line as opposed to the very, very, very long line in Times Square) We had three shows in mind, and got tickets to see 9 to 5 starring Allison Janey of West Wing fame. Back onto the bus we hopped to head back to our hotel to get ready for dinner and the show, but we took a small detour to the Magnolia Bakery to get cupcakes. One chocolate with green icing and one red velvet with white icing later, and we were set.

At the hotel, I noticed that my foot was throbbing. It was painful taking my shoe off. Thankfully, I was wearing sandals to the show--had to wear Julie's sandal because mine broke about 20 steps into the walk to Wicked the night before-- FIGURES!! When we got downstairs and back outside, the police were everywhere and they were putting up barricades. If you didn't hear, Obama came to NYC that day to speak at the NAACP conference. I wanted a picture of the motorcade, but we missed them :o( (side note--NO, I am not a fan, just thought the motorcade would be cool)

So, with throbbing foot, we hobbled on down to Times Square to search out a place to eat. It was hot and I was miserable. BUT, Julie saw a sign that said $2.50 tacos so we went in hoping for a cheap dinner--we were pretty hungry when we first started out after not really eating all day--the guy in the lobby told us to go up to the 3rd floor and turn left. Can I just say---THERE WERE NO TACOS ON THE MENU!!

On the upside, this particular restaurant overlooks the place where the ball drops on New Year's Eve. Great views!! If you want to eat there on New Year's Eve, the seat at the table where we were will cost you only $2500, and you must book the table! It would be the best seat in the house. The waiter said that people start calling from all around the world in Oct (you can only book 3 months in advance).

After dinner, we headed to the show. FABULOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was so darn funny...I laughed through the entire thing!