We arrive in New York City.

​We awoke this morning already docked in New York City.  This is the first time to visit the city for both Shawna and I. Well, it is big that’s for sure.  It was sad to disembark the ship but we were looking forward to the adventures we have planned here. 

Off to the hotel in Lower Manhattan in the Business district. We arrived at the hotel in the morning to drop off our luggage until our rooms would be ready. Battery Park is only a couple of blocks away so we walked down there to get our first look at the Statue of Liberty. Liberty island is far off in the bay. 

​​After a few pictures, we walked around the park and finally ended up near the “entrance to the Men in Black headquarters”. It is really the Tunnel Ventilation Building but that is no fun. The park has been used in several movies and TV shows.

Part of our reason for visiting the park was to find where to pickup our tickets for our ferry to the Statue.  The pickup location is in Castle Clinton which is a battery, hence the name of the park, which was built in 1811 to protect the port.  Originally it was surrounded by water but now it is well inland in the park.

​Even the Battery entrance to the subway is kind of ornate.

One side of the park is the bay the other the city rises high above the trees.

After the park, we walked by a very old building.  It was the Alexander Hamilton US Custom House.  The building was completed in 1907 and is incredibly ornate with huge statues sitting at the entrances.  The building was used for Customs until 1971 and is now the National Archives at New York City and houses the National Museum of the American Indian. It was incredible.

​Back to the hotel to check in and that did not go as smoothly as we hoped.  Our room was on the 30th floor.  That is the highest floor in a hotel that I have ever stayed   It was strange that every time we went up or down in the elevator our ears popped. The view from our window was stunning.

One room was ready but the second one was not and we decided to leave our luggage in the room while we got lunch. Nearby was a place called “Just Salad” which was exactly what they served.  It was pretty good.  I had always heard that there were restaurants everywhere in NYC and it is true.  On our block and the next, there were donut shops, 3 coffee places, a couple of sandwich shops, many restaurants, and one Tavern.  I only included those that are accessible from the street level and not any that are up on higher floors of the surrounding buildings.  If I had included everyone, it would be at least twice as many as I listed.  You can hardly walk a ½ a block in this city without passing a place to eat.

The view at night from our room was so different from the view during the day.
 Why are whole floors of lights on in the offices?

I guess the people here do not take saving the environment as seriously as they claim because the evidence shows the opposite.  Late in the evening on a Saturday practically every floor of every building in the city has all the lights on all night long. These are all office buildings and no one is seen in any room. Find the OFF switch people!