New York City, NY – June 15, 2008

We got going again today at 8:00 and just missed the PATH to NYC. We had to wait 15-20 minutes for the next one. Upon arrival at 33rd street we spent a little time planning the rest of our route for tomorrow morning when we are going to Rockefeller Center for the Today Show. We think we have everything figured out and plan to leave our boats at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. THAT’S EARLY!

Our plan was to get directly on one of the buses and complete the bus tour we started yesterday. We got on at 9:30 for the Downtown Tour. We had thought to complete the entire tour, particularly since we had such an excellent tour guide, then go again and get off at the places we wanted to spend more time. We drove through or by: the Theater District, Macy’s, Madison Square Garden, Empire State Building, Greenwich Village, Soho, Chinatown/Little Italy, City Hall, World Trade Center Site and Wall Street. At Battery Park we were told we had to change buses (and guides). So, we decided to get off there and spend some time walking around.

There were many beautiful buildings and many small areas that were designated as parks. There was more greenery and trees than we had expected.

We were amazed to find that in the Financial District, right next to Wall Street, was Trinity Church and its cemetery. The original Episcopalian Church was built in 1698 and was destroyed in 1776 by the Great Fire. A second church, built in 1790 was demolished in 1839 and the present church was completed in 1846. Alexander Hamilton is buried there as is Robert Fulton, who invented the steamship. There was a service going on as we visited.

Ground Zero, the site of the World Trade Center, was nearby and we walked there. It was very difficult to see anything as there was fencing all around. They are in the process of putting in the foundation and setting pilings down to bedrock for the new building. The building will be 1776 feet high and will be named Freedom Tower. Completion is expected to be 2012.

We visited St. Paul’s Chapel. More about St. Paul’s Chapel in a separate posting.

We needed lunch, but were in the financial district and most of the eateries were closed on Sundays. We ended up eating in Subway, one of the staples of NYC.

After lunch we continued our bus tour by taking the Uptown Loop. We didn’t get off at any of the stops but saw and heard about Upper West Side, Dakota Apartments (where John Lennon lived), Strawberry Fields (a garden in Central Park across from the Dakota Apartments which Yoko Ono built as a John Lennon memorial), several of the museums in NYC, Harlem, The Apollo Theater and many of the extremely expensive apartment buildings. We felt the bus tour was a very good way to get an overview of NYC and see many famous sites without walking a lot.

We were finished about 4:15 and were all very tired. We caught the PATH back to our base in New Jersey, rested a bit then had dinner in a New Jersey Eatery.