My New York Experience/ 7-15-08

Well, I just got back from New York. I had a blast!! I stayed in Maplewood, New Jersey with my aunt and uncle who just had their 1st baby, my 1st real cousin! She is on the verge of 13 pounds and 14 inches, and she is only 3 weeks old! She has french fry toes and her eyes are, of course, blue and she has the most beautiful face ever. Anyway, my dad and I flew on a Air Tran roundtrip to Newark airport and arrived at around 11:30 am on friday. We took a cab to their house which was 40 flippin' bucks for about an 8 minute ride! So we got there and there was a sign on the door that said: Caution, Do not let cats out! So we made sure to keep the doors closed at all times. We visited and chatted till about 9:00pm. Then we let mommy Julie sleep and took Abby until she got hungry, which is every 2-3 hrs. On saturday, we visited and went to this great local ice place and my dad got peach.... wow!! My dad is an amazing chef so he made them a homemade dinner. Then Julie went to bed and Abby slept on my chest from about 8:300pm to 12:30, which was pretty good, for her. Then me and my dad went to bed and Abby ate. Every morning, after i got out of the shower their 2 cats, Hannah and Gretel would be sitting outside their old fashioned door and then would go play in the bathtub....... weird, huh? We had a taylor-ham-and-egg at a local place, and that was absolutely amazing. We hung and then for dinner, had some pizza, holy cow!! New Jersey has good bagels and pizza!!! We stayed up with Abby for a couple of hrs and then me and my dad went to bed while Abby ate like a pig!!! I woke up late on sunday me, my dad, Uncle Jason, and Aunt Julie went on a tour of downtown Maplewood. They have a beautiful town. It's very homey and calm. I went to bed pretty early. I woke up at 6:00 and we headed for New York City. Soooo much different from nice, calm Maplewood. We were the first to the top of the Empire State Building at about 8:09 am. It was sprinkling but you could see all of New York. My favorite parts of that event was the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge and Ground Zero. We proceeded down and went shopping near Macy's. I bought some pretty cute clothes. I forgot to mention earlier, my dad Proposed to my mom on the Empire State Building! Then we rode the subway, which was hot, it smelled like pee, and it was dirty, to Battery Park. It was a cool ride though. We saw a remainder of the World Trade Center and it had a burning torch. There was a sign next to it that said exactly this:
"For three decades, this sculpture stood in the plaza of the World Trade Center. Entitled "The Sphere," it was conceived by artist Fritz Koenig as a symbol of September 11, 2001, but endures as an icon of hope and the industructible spirit of this country. The sphere was placed here on March 11, 2002 as a temporary memorial to all who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center.

This eternal flame was ignited on September 11, 2002 in honor of all those who were lost. Their spirit and sacrifice will never be forgotten."

Beautiful, isn't it? Then we hopped on a boat. For only 17 bucks, me and my dad saw the entire city AND: Ground Zero, The Statue of Liberty, The Brooklyn Bridge and much, much more. New York was soo interesting, i saw some pretty weird things, including a gay coulple and a lady dressed in a toga-type shirt, head-dress, sandals, and a pair of Levi jeans. After we got off the boat, we saw a memorial of the Americans who were lost at sea in 1941-45.

Then we saw the Brass bull and took some pictures with that beast!

Then we went to Ground Zero and that was pretty emotional.

After that, we went to City Hall Park and took some pretty pictures of the water fountain.

We went straight across the street to the Brooklyn Bridge and walked across it to Brooklyn and had the best pizza in the world. After that our feet were about to fall off so we sat for about an hr. at the pizza place. Then we took a cab to Washington Square Park but unfortunately, it was completely closed for reconstruction. :)So we literally walked 46 blocks to Penn Station and on the way, saw some pretty cool shopping. Then we headed back to Newark with our feet dragging behind us. We cried our goodbyes and left Monday afternoon. But in the end, mommy Julie pretty much caught up on her sleep.

What an amazing Bday present!! Thanks , Mom and Dad!!

Mommy, Daddy, and Abby ->