November 20, 2009

This morning we decided to sleep in. That we did (kind of). I woke up at 0730 after a WONDERFUL sleep. It was like heaven. Luke was getting up to go bike a bit in the exercise area. HE did that, I got up, showered and attempted to blog a bit. I was realtively un successful.

We got ready to go for the day, we decided we'd stop at this fancy European bread and pastry shop that we passed on our way from the show last night. We stopped and had a cream cheese danish that was coated in honey and almonds, it was tasty and STICKY. Luke got a cinnamon bun with honey and raisins and also a big pretty croissant. Oh, and we shared a fresh squeezed OJ. The total was 12.95. OUCH. We sat and ate at the tiny tables and plotted our day.

Then we went to the Metro near by. I realize that I don't have my 7 day subway card. It is in my jacket. I didn't wear my jacket as it is high 50s and sunny today. SO, we had to go back and get it. Lukie was kind of irritated with me. I had the room key but not the subway card. Oh well.

We went back and Luke looked up a few things on the computer while he was here and got some stuff straight. We walked back the way we came to the subway. The first stairs we took down and went through the gate was the wrong ones, so we exited, went back up the stairs across the street to take the line going in the opposite direction. The ticket machine wouldn't let us through- it said “just used” or something like that. So we were either forced to wait like 10 minutes or something or just go walk to the next station etc. We chose to walk.

That had been the story for most of the day. We had to think and pay close attention to the direction of the line. The setup is a little different that our european metro experience. The direction is not the name of the end of the line stop as it is in Europe- it is Uptown and Bronx or Downtown and Staten Island etc. When we don't know where these places are in relation to where we are going its confusing. Hopefully we'll get better.

We went to Staten Island Ferry area. There was a lot of construction around there and we followed the cement barriers and the plywood to the water, saw the Statue from a LONG distance away. Then, we decided to go catch the Staten Island Ferry to get a closer view at the Statue of Liberty. The bad part was that the entrance was just outside the subway exit where we were. I look at my watch and it is 5 minutes before the hour. One would guess that the ferry would leave every 30 minutes. We were right. We saw some people running to the terminal. So we jogged with them. Thank goodness we did. We were the last people they let on. The ferry began moving almost as soon as we got on board. The ferry ride is free. Would you believe that?

We found a spot on a shady deck. We decided to go over to the sunny side with the view of the Statue. It was WINDY. WINDY, even though we were in the sun, it was much colder on this side. I put my hat on. We even had some people take our picture. It took about 20 minutes to get to staten Island, we got off the ferry, walked into the holding area for the return ferry and walked right back on the ferry we were forced to exit from. Oh well, it keeps order for them I guess. Keeps bums from sleeping on there.

We rode back and got some pictures of the skylines, checked our guidebooks to discuss and plan the rest of the day. It was only about 10.00 by this time.

I'll add more to this entry tomorrow, we had a BUSY day. Lots to write about. We are going to bed now. Goodnight!!!