new york city - fall 2003 - day 3
Today was another great day in the city.
The weather was gorgeous in the morning so we headed downtown to walk the financial district and see the battery end sights. Before hitting the streets, however, we had to stop and get some chow. I had heard of this place Kitchenette through citysearch, so we settled on it. It turned out to be quite good. Big, fluffy biscuits in a funky setting. Can't argue with that.
Our walk took us around most of downtown including Wall Street, Battery Park, and all the other stuff down there. Lots of hustle and bustle down there.
We did stop briefly at the WTC site, but it was hard to see from where you are allowed to stand. It's also kind of gross with all the sicko merchandising going on around the area. I figured it was best for me to keep moving before I freaked on some poor dude selling WTC hats 3/$10. Oh well.
We rode the Staten Island ferry to get a good look at the Statue of Liberty and the downtown side of Manhattan from the water. You get real close to the statue and the views deliver as promised. It's also a free ride - maybe the best deal in NYC. That's probably why the boat was packed with tourists.
After walking down to (and quickly away from) the commercial hell that is the South Street Seaport, we headed back to Midtown to ride to the top of the Empire State Building. It's a $9 ticket, but the views were really cool, even if it had kind of clouded over by the time we got to the 86th floor. Plus, you get to go outside on the observation level, which surprised me in this day and age. Lucky for us, no gorillas were climbing the building in search of cute blondes, so Libby was able to safely venture outdoors rather than cowering in the sanctuary of the gift shop.
Tonight we went to our first big Broadway show: Cabaret at Studio 54. It was big, crude, and punch-you-in-the-face sexual. It was also a hell of a lot of fun. Molly Ringwald is the female lead and she was awesome. (I can't wait for the Breakfast Club on Broadway... Lord knows Simple Minds probably pray for it every day.) Our original seats were these 'fancy' ones down on the floor, but as soon as we sat down I could tell they were gonna suck so I talked to the box office and we got moved to what turned out to be perfect seats. Another unexpected surprise in New York.