New York City (Part 3)

Since we were only a 2 hour bus drive to NYC, we couldn't go this far and not go there.  We rode a bus from Chinatown in Philadelphia to Chinatown NYC.  It was a nice drive, we were able to see the country between the two big cities.  It was green like Washington, but flat no hills and mountains.

After we were dropped off in Chinatown, we started to walk to the pier.  Chinatown was interesting, a lot of food and raw fish, it felt dirty and a the kids especially thought it stunk.  After we got to the pier we got on a water taxi to see the sights in the New York harbor.  It was about 90 degrees and humid, so it was hot.

I highly recommend going on a boat ride in the harbor if you ever have the opportunity to visit.  We got a great view of the city and the Manhattan Bridge and Brooklyn Bridge.

The Statue of Liberty was closed because of damage done by hurricane Sandy, but will re-open again July 4th.  It was really neat to see the Statue of Liberty in person.

It's always different seeing something in person than in pictures.  The boys thought the statue would be bigger.  I thought it was pretty cool.

Below is a picture of Freedom Tower at the World Trade Center site where the Twin Towers used to stand.

We got off the boat and walked and walked viewing the city as we walked towards Times Square.  Times Square was crazy busy.  Busy with people and advertising everywhere.  When walking on the streets we tried to keep up with the hustle and bustle, you can't stop in the middle of the sidewalk or you'll mess everyone up.

We cooled off and got T-shirts for the boys at the M & M Store, which overlooks Time Square.

(notice the Spider-Man advertisements in the background)

We took a small break near Radio City Music Hall (squint, it's in the back).

The boys really wanted to go to FAO Swartz Toy Store.  You know the one in the "Big" movie with Tom Hanks and the famous giant piano scene.

Then we took a New York City cab back to Chinatown to catch our bus ride back to Philadelphia.  We made it back to Philadelphia and we were hungry.  We hardly ate at all in New York because we were so busy and didn't have much time to see everything we wanted to, but no one complained.

The Hard Rock Cafe was close-by and we thought it would be fun to eat there, mostly just to say we've been there.

We had a long, but adventurous day and loved it!  Thanks Make-A-Wish!!!