Big Adventure - Day 3.5

At 11:30pm we were woken (remember it had been a long day hehehe girls actually dosed off while we were waiting for dinner at 9pm) by a fire alarm announcement going off in our room. Tried calling the front desk to see if it was real but heard commotion outside our room so figured it must be. Quickly got dressed and headed out. Panic in the hallway as everyone was heading down our way of the corridor - fire escape was in the opposite direction. Got ourselves downstairs and front desk was telling everyone they didn't know what the cause was but the fire department was on its way. Waited outside looking at the awesome view of Manhattan at night. Eventually no less than 4 fire engines arrived from the North Hudson FD. They checked everything over and we were given the all clear. We trooped inside and ended up using the fire escape stairs to get back up to our room instead of waiting for the elevator. 12:10am back inside and into bed.

Interesting notes - while we were all waiting downstairs we looked up to see a dude LOOKING out of his window watching us all downstairs --- he was obviously confident it was a false alarm ;)
There had been a beeping alarm going off since we arrived on Friday next to the elevator. On our reentry to the hotel --- no more alarm ;) hehehe

Can count on NYC to give that little extra effort in making our holiday exciting right ;)

Big Adventure - DAY 3

Another busy day in a busy city. Today was (for me at least) all about being human - we visited places that celebrated the strength of the human spirit, the need for freedom, a volunteering heart and duty to fellow man.

First stop Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We weren't too sure about this as the day started out pretty overcast. This was pretty good because it wasn't too hot (got there for the second ferry - about 9:45pm)... by the time we left though it had heated up and standing in line for the return trip was not too pleasant. After visiting Lady Liberty we enjoyed a bite to eat in the park before heading back on the return ferry.

Back on dry land we explored Castle Gardens and the memorials for the Korean War, WWII and the Merchant Marines. Quick ice-cream break before heading over to the World Trade Center site.

The plan had been to do a walking tour which typically leaves from St Pauls but we decided to just do our own thing instead. St Pauls is set up with an account of the tragedy, the timeline and use of the chapel which overlooks the site. VERY emotional ! (Girls didn't really get it but hopefully some of it sunk in) After St Pauls we headed down the street to look at the 9/11 Memorial Preview site - will look forward to visiting NYC again after 2011 - the Memorial is scheduled to be open 10 years after the tragedy

After this very emotional morning - even non-Americans are affected by the events of that morning ! We headed back to Pier 79 to visit The Intrepid. This is the Sea Air & Space Museum alongside pier 79. Andre's choice of activity for his Father's Day :) He was like a kid in a candy store hehehe Highlights -- USS growler (submarine), BA Concorde, The USS Intrepid, Tomcat (used in TopGun), Blackbird and some awesome aircrafts. Oh and the flight simulator with all the other interactive ativities onboard. NOTE - Andre CANNOT fly a plane !

Finally after a quick swim in the hotel pool to cool down after our day, we headed out for a late dinner at Ruth's Chris Steak House. Good food, good beer (Samuel Adams) and good company.

Happy Father's Day my love xxx