New York City Trip Second Installment

And the saga continues...we left Port Dover at 5:am Thursday Sept 14th and arrived in New Jersey, thats where the motel was,about a half hr. drive.For those who are not familiar with the geography of that part of the state, as I wasn'y really aware untill I saw for myself. New York City is made up of five boroughs,Manhatten being the biggest attraction.Manhatten is an island two miles wide and twelve miles long,slightly smaller than P.E.I. Well,when you are in Manhatten you look across the water to New Jersey and visa versa. Anyway,we arrive at the motel around 3:30 in the afternoon having been on the bus for about nine hrs. Not all that bad as there were good movies and free beer. After we got our rooms assigned which was really quick, I guess Lee had it all arranged. After a quick shower we boarded the bus and headed to the Empire State Building. The bus driver took us through the Lincoln tunnel which connects Manhatten to New Jersey and is under the Hudson river. It is pretty neat as they have a dividing line right in the middle of the tunnel showing the border of each. Well,they don't take us right to the Empire State building, but drop us off a few blocks from there. As we get off the bus there is this chinese girl standing there and asks if we are interested in "Purses",well buddy and I aren't but no such luck with the ladies. I have to tell you here that we hooked up with a couple from Hamilton, Nick..black belt in karate and teaches martial arts,and his girlfriend Cheryl who works at St. Joes. This girl takes us about two blocks off the main drag,into the back of a restaurant, down a couple of flights of stairs and into a room that she locks behind her. And all the time we are walking she is talking,chinese of course,into a walkie talkie. The hackles on the back of my neck were tingling. Well,the room as you can see in the picture is full of knock off purses and sunglasses,they seem to be the big thing down there. The girls were in 7thy heaven but Nick and I were itching to get out of there,it was pretty warm. After about a half hour and about 6 or 7 purses later we left, finding our way back to the main drag. Thought maybe the purses were the kind you bye and then they rob you and the cycle continues,lmao. All ended well,for a change. By the time we get to the Empire State Building it is getting datk and the rain is coming down. Seriouslt thought about taking a pass on going up, but it is a long way to go and not do the trek. They charge $16 to go to the 86th floor, and ANOTHER $14 to go up further,we took the $16 one, all you really get to see between the dusk and the rain and fog was a bunch of lights .We didnt stay too long. After we came down we just hoovered around the base of the building as the bus was picking us up at 9:pm,and the one thing you don't want to do is miss the bus. Lee makes it very clear she will not wait as a couple of the husbands found out the next day. The motel offers a continental breakfast from 6am till 10am, the bus leaves at 9am so you have to be up arouind 7am to get some grub and catch the bus. I can't really give you a blow by blow description of all the sights and places we visited as it is very over whelming. We came into the city via the tunnel again and we got dropped off at Battery Park, which is right on the water. From this park you can see the statue of Liberty,the backside anyway. I must say it was really raining about this time. We then made our way up to Century 21, which is acroos from ground zero,and from the pic's Mike posted,right below where Daniell stayed. We then boarded the bus and went to a part of Manahatten they call Soho,(south of houston) which is a street they divide north and south,and of course they call the North,(Noho).Anyway each has its attractions which for the life of me I fail to remember. All I do remember is that Lee found out that day that for the month of September they are allowing people to go up Building 7,which was the last tower to come down Sept 11 and has now been rebuilt. After this month they will be building offices on that floor. We rode the bus back to ground zero,and other than the security check, almost as thourough as that at the airport, we took the elevator to the 46th floor. I must admit, I have a hard time expressing the feeling I felt the whole time I was in Manhatten. There are so many people and so much going on at any time of the day, to imagine the panic and chaos that took place that day and the days following just gives one a reason to be thankful to be visiting and not having been caught up in that terrible tradgedy. Back to the 46th floor. There is nothing on this floor except a table and a poster depicting 911. The veiw is spectacular, I hope you get the idea from some of the pictures I post. You get to look right down on the hole in the ground that the twin towers once occupied. We were 46 floors up and the towers went up 110,which is a whole lot more than what we were and I cannot imagine what those poor people went through when the planes hit. On this floor there were some pictures hung on the walls that house the elevators and I will post some of them.They were tributes to 911. In a little room off to the side a video was playing of a fire fighter that was trapped in a stairwell when the north tower collapsed. They had him listed as missing or dead, and when he was rescued he had to show his badge to proove he was who he said he was. There was a lot more to his story but it something you would have to hear for yourself. I have run out of time again so I will pick up tomorrow where I left off. Just let me say we go to a comedy club called HA,which is kind of like Yuk Yuks, but that for tomorrow. Nite all.