It Is A Good Thing That My Boots Were Made For Walking

Our last full day in 'The Big Apple' was overcast with clouds...

7th Avenue on Sunday Morning
The view from our hotel room facing South towards Times Square

...but it was a fitting setting for our first stop.

The '9/11 Memorial'. On our previous GGW 2008 trip, we had made our way to the sight...but it was all walled off due to demolition and construction.  Now the Memorial site is open and from the looks of the plans, when it is finished, it will be beautiful.

Stacy at the 9/11 Memorial South Pool

Our first priority upon entering the Memorial was to find the name of Stacy's high school classmate - Otis Tolbert - who lost his life at the Pentagon.  It was a stirring moment, to say the least.

Not a good picture of me at all...but this is the only one of the three of us at the Memorial.
Here we are in front of the North Pool.

As you can see in all of these photos, construction is still is full swing all around the Memorial.

The National September 11 Memorial Museum

Even the Museum is still under construction.  That is a picture of it above with the reflection of the high rise below.

Even though we were literally surrounded by NYC and heavy construction, the Memorial itself was so peaceful that it all just dissolved around you. 

The Survivor Tree

The Survivor Tree was found among the ruins and nursed back to health in the Bronx before being returned to the site in 2010.  It had grown from 8' to 30'.  After being returned to the site, it was struck by lighting...but is still hanging on.  A tribute to the American spirit if I have ever heard of one.

Old Glory flying over the National September 11 Memorial Site

After touring the Memorial itself, we visited the Memorial Center...which was crowded beyond belief.

But since I had actually watched (with Jim and Will) the "American Choppers" episode where Paul Jr. built the Memorial Bike...I had to at least get pictures of it.

The front of the bike...it truly is a piece of art

After the Memorial, we started walking out of Lower Manhattan in search of a place for lunch.  Have you ever noticed how you see plenty of places you would like to try when you are not in need of them.  But as soon as you want one...NOTHING!

Well, our walk was like that.  We walked and walked with no restaurants in sight.  We walked through the Financial District, along the edge of Chinatown and over into Tribeca...we finally found Jacques on Prince Street in Soho! 

After a long walk to our late afternoon lunch, we decided to catch a cab back to Midtown.  We quickly found out that available cabs in Soho on a Sunday afternoon are a rarity!

I guess everyone and their mother were coming back into the city.  The traffic was crazy busy!  The intersections were constantly blocked...and all the cabs were either 'off duty' or full!  We walked for blocks...and blocks...and blocks...and were offered more than one 'shady' deal along the way.  One guy offered to be my husband for the day.  Another offered Robin a chance to go 'play'.  I mean, really?!?!

It was definitely a side to NYC we had not seen before!

We finally got a cab when we were reached about the halfway point to Midtown.  But we were quite thankful to no longer be walking!

On our last night in NYC, we went all out...out of our comfort zones that is!  We had dinner at Lips!  

We saw 'Morgan Royale's Superstar Sunday' show with

Madonna

Marilyn Monroe

Diana Ross

Lady Gaga

and Ke$ha

It was then time to get back to hotel and pack. We had a mid-morning flight back to Houston and reality!

It was a wonderful return to New York...filled with new experiences and lots of fun memories. We haven't decided where we are heading in 2013 yet. But our minds, they are a turning!