Blistered, badly sun-burned and sore all over from my hot, humid and physically demanding long day in Boston the day before, I woke up at 5 am to get ready for another day of more of the same torture. But I was lovin' it! Like I said, I don't take "lie on the beach all day" vacations. I'd stay home in Florida for that. I want to do things, see things and experience them up close and, if my old feet can handle it, on foot.
Arriving around 11:00 am, I popped out onto 7th Avenue from Penn Station and the vibrancy of the city sparked inspiration and energy into me. I decided to WALK the whole way towards my first destination: The 9/11 Memorial. That's right, I walked from Penn Station to the World Trade Center Site...about 60 blocks! I wanted to recreate the same walk I'd done with Brittany back in 1986. When I was a thin 22-year-old kid! Remember, I was blistered and aching from the prior two days of walking and I did this!
Stopped for lunch at Pret-A-Manger in Soho, but otherwise, walked non-stop to the memorial entrance.
Here's the memorial. Very nice. Huge too. But of course. The towers were huge. Man, this was a moving experience. I included a shot of what the guide said was the only tree that had originally been part of the landscaping of the original plaza that had survived the collapse of the two towers. It had been badly damaged by debris but was nursed back to health. Over the past decade, it grew and got along fairly well only to again meet with near disaster when it was badly damaged during last year's Hurricane Sandy! Wow! Now it has guide wires helping to keep it straight and standing.
Here's the very spot where back in 1986, as told in this FLASHBACK I proclaimed "another time:"
Here's some video of the memorial that I shot:
Views of the shining new One World Trade Center and her just this past month installed spire making her the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere:
I made my way further downtown, yes, again by foot, and stumbled across the Alexander Hamilton US Custom House designed by Cass Gilbert (who designed the fabulous Woolworth Building a few blocks away) and took this shot of a great Daniel Chester French sculpture.
Inside, the building is the home to the New York extension of the National Museum of the American Indian. A Smithsonian museum, it is, happily, free. So, I checked it out. Was so-so. Shot this pic of an Indian depiction of the Statue of Liberty.
Funny side note about this place. Being a museum, and, unknown to me at the time, the New York home of the National Archives, as well as a noted historic building, it had tight security. This foreign tourist is asked to empty his pockets as we are led through metal detectors and such and he pulls out this 5-inch blade sports knife. It was sheathed but still, you should have seen the look on the guard's face. He was told politely, but firmly that he couldn't have that anywhere in this building. I wonder how he made it through security at the airport with that?
Walked towards the Staten Island Ferry dock and stopped at a real New York neighborhood bar called the Blarney Stone. Here some black guys were filming a couple of blond girls who looked like hookers for what they claimed was a music video. Real authentic lower Manhattan dive bar here. Can only imagine this place "after hours."
After one small (8 oz) draft Bud Light ($4) decided to forego another touristy tour boat ride and took the free, yes, free, Staten Island Ferry. Possibly the best deal in New York. Heck, they even sell beer on the ferry, though I don't know how much that is.
Here are shots from the ferry, including the iconic Lady Liberty herself. The last one is the Verrazano Narrows bridge further out in the harbor.
After the return trip on the ferry, I took the subway to Herald Square, walked the noisiest block I'd ever seen, jam-packed with a crush of people, street-vendors and smells of everything imaginable.
Soon, I was descending away from the late afternoon scorching heat and made my way down into the bowels of Penn Station. Tried to do the same thing I'd done in Boston...catch an earlier train...but the added costs were too high so stuck it out, ate dinner of Nathan's hot dogs and waited exhastedly for my 9:00 train, which, of course was late. Thankfully, a cab was available at the cab stand when I got off the train after midnight.
Arriving around 11:00 am, I popped out onto 7th Avenue from Penn Station and the vibrancy of the city sparked inspiration and energy into me. I decided to WALK the whole way towards my first destination: The 9/11 Memorial. That's right, I walked from Penn Station to the World Trade Center Site...about 60 blocks! I wanted to recreate the same walk I'd done with Brittany back in 1986. When I was a thin 22-year-old kid! Remember, I was blistered and aching from the prior two days of walking and I did this!
Stopped for lunch at Pret-A-Manger in Soho, but otherwise, walked non-stop to the memorial entrance.
Here's the memorial. Very nice. Huge too. But of course. The towers were huge. Man, this was a moving experience. I included a shot of what the guide said was the only tree that had originally been part of the landscaping of the original plaza that had survived the collapse of the two towers. It had been badly damaged by debris but was nursed back to health. Over the past decade, it grew and got along fairly well only to again meet with near disaster when it was badly damaged during last year's Hurricane Sandy! Wow! Now it has guide wires helping to keep it straight and standing.
Here's some video of the memorial that I shot:
Views of the shining new One World Trade Center and her just this past month installed spire making her the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere:
I made my way further downtown, yes, again by foot, and stumbled across the Alexander Hamilton US Custom House designed by Cass Gilbert (who designed the fabulous Woolworth Building a few blocks away) and took this shot of a great Daniel Chester French sculpture.
Inside, the building is the home to the New York extension of the National Museum of the American Indian. A Smithsonian museum, it is, happily, free. So, I checked it out. Was so-so. Shot this pic of an Indian depiction of the Statue of Liberty.
Funny side note about this place. Being a museum, and, unknown to me at the time, the New York home of the National Archives, as well as a noted historic building, it had tight security. This foreign tourist is asked to empty his pockets as we are led through metal detectors and such and he pulls out this 5-inch blade sports knife. It was sheathed but still, you should have seen the look on the guard's face. He was told politely, but firmly that he couldn't have that anywhere in this building. I wonder how he made it through security at the airport with that?
Walked towards the Staten Island Ferry dock and stopped at a real New York neighborhood bar called the Blarney Stone. Here some black guys were filming a couple of blond girls who looked like hookers for what they claimed was a music video. Real authentic lower Manhattan dive bar here. Can only imagine this place "after hours."
After one small (8 oz) draft Bud Light ($4) decided to forego another touristy tour boat ride and took the free, yes, free, Staten Island Ferry. Possibly the best deal in New York. Heck, they even sell beer on the ferry, though I don't know how much that is.
Here are shots from the ferry, including the iconic Lady Liberty herself. The last one is the Verrazano Narrows bridge further out in the harbor.
Soon, I was descending away from the late afternoon scorching heat and made my way down into the bowels of Penn Station. Tried to do the same thing I'd done in Boston...catch an earlier train...but the added costs were too high so stuck it out, ate dinner of Nathan's hot dogs and waited exhastedly for my 9:00 train, which, of course was late. Thankfully, a cab was available at the cab stand when I got off the train after midnight.