Kayley's Story: Trip to New York City

Andy and I decided to take a trip over Memorial Day weekend - just the two of us. We have gone on a number of trips with friends, but rarely take trips by ourselves and decided it was time. We had such a great time!!

We spent our first few hours on Thursday walking around Times Square. The kids got gifts from the Hershey's store and they were quite pleased when we got home!

We started off Friday with a visit to the 9/11 Memorial and museum. It was heartbreaking and amazing at the same time. Mostly heartbreaking, but they have done such an amazing job with the museum.

North Tower reflecting pool

One World Trade Center

I didn't know what to expect when we went into the museum and it is hard to describe the feelings you have walking around underground where the towers used to stand. We did the guided tour and I highly recommend doing a guided tour if you ever go. The stories our guide had were heartbreaking, but it made the experience more real and you were able to better understand each thing you were seeing.

After a very heavy and emotional day, we headed out to Yankee Stadium for a game. We enjoyed the game and our $14 beers! :-)

We spent Saturday doing more tourist things like seeing the Empire State Building, the New York Stock Exchange, and the bull and the defiant girl (she was my favorite!). Then we headed over to Battery Park to look at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. My Grandma came to the U.S. when she was a young girl and spent time at Ellis Island so that was very neat to see.

On the recommendation of a friend who used to live in New York City, we signed up for a sunset sail around the New York harbor. Best part of the trip!! The views were amazing and it was BYOB so that was fun too!

We started of Sunday with a walk through Central Park.

Then we headed to the Met. We aren't exactly into art so we went with the soul purpose of getting up to the rooftop garden bar. It didn't disappoint. Fantastic views and good wine.

We talked about going to a show, but we never got around to getting tickets so we ended our last evening at One World Trade Center Observatory. It was a little frustrating getting to the top. We had tickets for 5:30pm, but you wait in a lot of lines and go through a small exhibit during your wait. I think we finally got to the top at 6:20pm. The views from the bar were worth it though.