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Day 2: May 23, 2012
After a good breakfast this morning we left the hotel and headed to Liberty State Park. This is where we viewed the 9/11 memorial in New Jersey which is fairly new. We got a great view of downtown Manhattan as the review of boats for Fleet Week went by, as well as watching the Blue Angels and other aircraft do some flybys. Then we boarded the ferry boat that took us to visit Ellis Island, the U.S. immigration museum. From there we took another ferry to view the Statue of Liberty. Our next stop was another ferry ride across the Hudson River over to Battery Park, where the British had protected the bay from attacks during colonial days. That where we got a quick lunch and met up with Tracy, our local New York guide. She took us around the downtown area to show us many things. One was the movie headquarters for the Men In Black movies. We also got to see the world famous Wall St., and Federal Hall, where George Washington took the presidential oath for the first time. Then we visited Trinity Church, where Alexander Hamilton and Robert Fulton are buried, as well as the place where Nicholas Cage and his friends discovered the treasure in the National Treasure movie. We then said goodbye to Tracy and headed to the World Trade Center Memorial. It was very nicely done, with the proper respect and reverence a place like this deserves. Everyone got to view the two waterfalls with the names of everyone who died inscribed on the surrounding walls, and the survivor tree as well, a little pear tree that wass plucked from the destruction and nursed back to health and now stands there in the middle showing us what perserverance and dedication can accomplish. Leaving the memorial, we headed north to go to dinner at Ben's Deli, a great restaurant that has served folks like us for more than 40 years. Feeling heavy from the meal, we decided to walk to the broadway theatre, jumping into the huge crowds of people enjoying Times Square. We took some photos with all of the backdrops as well as with some of the sailors who were visiting for fleet week and then walked to go see Phantom of the Opera, the longest running broadway show and still great after so many years. When the show had finished, we took a quick side trip back into the square to see the area all lit up in neon and then headed to the bus for the trip back to the hotel. Time to pack and get ready for our last day here.