What can I say about this city of behemoths? We left the hotel at an unholy hour (6:30 Eastern time) and climbed onto the bus with almost palpable excitement. I’ve never been further east than the Western tip of Wyoming, so I was particularly excited to visit this bastion of the east coast. The line to get through the New Jersey turnpike was fairly long, but I was able to get a picture of the Manhattan skyline through the bus window. It was a foggy day, and the clouds overhead threatened rain for most of the day.
We went through the Lincoln tunnel. I was astounded by our bus driver,
Jim, and his ability to weave through the tunnel and then through the streets
of New York City. He did a remarkable job—the tunnel isn’t particularly
wide, and some of the other trucks and whatnot going through it seemed to
nearly touch the ceiling. Upon entering Manhattan, I was amazed at the number
of taxis and buses driving around. There are hardly any cars in the city—for
good reason. One place was advertising 30 minutes of parking for $9 and
gas cost $4.55 per gallon at the only gas station we saw. New York has to
build up instead of out, so some of the parking places are designed so that
a car rests atop another car. I wonder how the people on top get down if
the people on the bottom aren’t done shopping yet…
Our
first stop was at Battery Park (so named for a fight during the Revolutionary
War). Brother Beagley, our tour guide, went and got tickets for the ferries
to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. We had to go through airport-like
security until we were able to board the ferries, but it was worth it. The
ferry was crammed full of various tourists speaking a multitude of languages.
I almost felt odd speaking in English. The ferry stopped at the Statue first.
The line to go inside was really quite long, so Tasha, Mom, and I opted
not to do so. We took a few pictures and looked at the skyline of Manhattan
before hopping back on the ferry to Ellis Island.
Ellis
Island was pretty nifty to me, really. I’ve had a few ancestors come through
customs there. They have computers where you can check their records, and
we found my great-grandmother Lily Newsome’s name, among several others.
I’ve a picture of finding her name. Then we toured the building. Stepping
up the stairs and going into this great room was intense—I couldn’t help
but imagine how crammed the place must’ve been at one point with all the
new immigrants waiting to enter into the land of the free.
It made me wonder why some people have such difficulty accepting others
who wish to find freedom here. We’re all immigrants to America (unless we’re
of Native American descent), and I personally think we should welcome newcomers
with open arms. I do see the points of others, however, and can respect
those of the opposite opinion. It would be nice if immigrants learned English
like others in the past did.
We hopped back onto the ferry and went back to Battery Park, where we saw
a cool Chinese junk! I couldn't resist taking a picture. We ordered pretzels
for lunch as we waited for our bus and new tour guide. While waiting in
the park, these groups of similarly-dressed young men just flocked inside.
Some of them loudly complained about tourists (I imagine they’re on Wall
Street or something), so I decided to snap a picture discretely. They were
kinda creepy due to their similar dress and appearances.
We met our tour guide here, next to this statue that used to stand next
to the World Trade Center towers. The sculptor decided he’d rather have
it look this way than have it patched up—this is what it looked like after
the towers fell.
Our tour guide was very nice—he’s an aspiring artist and
a fast-talking tour guide. I can scarcely remember all of the places we
went because there was so much we saw. I do remember visiting the diamond
district. There’s a lot of pretty jewelry there. Makes me wish I could afford
it…but I’d be too afraid to actually wear something costing that much.
This is a picture of the site of the World Trade Center—New Yorkers don’t
like it when you call it ‘Ground Zero’—taken from a lovely walkway between
two prestigious banking institutions (I think). 
Construction is underway on a new tower. It looks beautiful in the pictures
posted on the sides of the surrounding buildings. We saw the Plaza hotel,
and stopped at Grand Central Station for a bathroom break. That place is
huge!
We concluded our tour at the Empire State Building. Brother Beagley purchased
tickets and we went up to the 86th floor. It started raining while we were
up there. The view was still spectacular. 
Yet
again, it was crowded with tourists. We went down six flights of stairs
rather than wait for an elevator and then took the express elevator back
down to the ground level.
It was time for dinner, so Jim took us to Times Square. Goodness, that
place was crowded! 
I’ve
never seen so many people walking on sidewalks before in my life. I felt
like I could scarcely breathe, though that was also due to the smell of
the area. Here’s a picture of a ginormous billboard on that famous street—I
was very anxious to see The Dark Knight. Tasha bought a really
nifty flower umbrella from a street vendor, and then we ate at this place
called Ellen’s Stardust Diner. The waiters and waitresses are all aspiring
Broadway stars, so they sing songs from musicals and whatnot. It was a crowded
joint, but very engaging. The food was very good as well. We opted not to
go to a musical, so we went back to the hotel and fell asleep. We had another
early morning the following day.