I 'Heart' NY

Do you remember how in An Affair to Remember they decide to meet at the top of the Empire State Building on Valentine's Day? Well... we decided that New York would be a good place to go for the day. Katie and I woke up before the sun did, picked up Kristie, Cassie and Victoria and drove through three states to New York City. One plus is that there was no traffic, so we made it in under four hours. Woo-hoo!
We started out at Times Square, enjoying the general splendour... and the m&m store. This funny (and slightly insulting) machine told us what color m&m's we should eat that day.Next we moseyed over towards Fifth Avenue, stopping at St. Patrick's Cathedral...... and Rockefeller Center. There happened to be a Cupid ice skating!On Fifth Ave, we window shopped, and stopped in Tiffany's to see the canary diamond. We sauntered through Central Park to catch the subway to the Statue of Liberty. Kristie was a little worried that we wouldn't make it in time... she has twice been foiled in her attempts to go there. Luckily, we made it with plenty of time.Looking up into the statueWe listened to the ranger in the museum. I didn't know that there are broken shackles at the feet of Lady Liberty. You can't really ever see them from the ground. I also learned that there are twenty-five panels/windows around her crown, representing the twenty-five precious stones (at that time) to help us remember how precious liberty is.Unfortunately, only Cassie and Bryce made it to Ellis Island. The rest of us missed the ferry when we stopped to grab a little food. We were starving, though, and didn't realize that the last ferry was about to leave. I guess Kristie was just out of luck for the day. ;)
We next went to Ground Zero and saw the construction going on and this memorial that says "May we never forget."Back at Times Square, we realized that we probably weren't going to get to see a show that night as the tickets were gone. We had a lovely Valentine's meal at Texas Barbeque (at a boy's suggestion, of course). Luckily we didn't have to wait for a table as most parties that night were smaller than ours and they had a big table available. At this point we started to feel our early rise and got tired. Is this a good sign to see at a restaurant?Next, we finally made it to the top of the Empire State Building! Victoria was so excited and did a little dance for us. :) We had fun making silly faces in the picture they make you take in front of their background so they can try to sell it to you later. ESB was lit up red and white in honor of the holiday.
I slept most of the drive home that night. It was a very long day, but so much fun. It's a treat to get to live so close to NYC.