Battery Park offered a lot of pictures of NY Harbor and the Statue of Liberty. We shared fun facts about her, including Emma Lazarus' "Colossus", the poem inscribed at her base ("Give me your tired, your poor, your huddles masses..") that welcomes people from all over into the country.
After a short time, we walked up a couple of blocks to Wall Street, seeing the heavily guarded exterior of the New York Stock Exchange along with Federal Hall, site of the 1st inauguration of George Washington and convening of the United States Congress in 1789.
Across from Federal Hall you can still see the pock marks left by schrapenal in the side of the office building once owned by J.P. Morgan that was the target of a terrorist attack in 1920. Until the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, it had been the single largest terrorist attack on U.S. soil.
Next we took a quick visit to Trinity Church with its incredible architecture and detail, followed by a walk through the cemetery that houses the gravestone of Alexander Hamilton. Unfortunately, we were in a hurry in order to make our 11:30 reservation at the 9/11 museum. Wow! The museum is very tastefully done, capturing the emotion and devastation of that event very well. Lots of factual information mixed in with personal experience, heartbreak, frustration, artifacts and tribute that make it a must see if you haven't seen it. Our group's recommendation: when in New York you must see the 9/11 museum.
We then took the "R" train into Brooklyn where, before having lunch, we were entertained by a musical duet on the train. Nothing like live entertainment to jazz up an otherwise boring subway ride! After disembarking, we had lunch in Brooklyn Heights. Most of the group had a great lunch, except for the French Bistro group that is still teasing Seth for his $13 dry bread with cheese and meat selection. After lunch, we walked along the promenade, enjoying views of Downtown New York City from the Brooklyn side that are truly unbelievable. The students enjoyed the fact that there were no tourists over there, just us and Brooklyn-ites enjoying an unseasonably warm Friday afternoon.
Our walk across the Brooklyn Bridge was great, again plenty of pictures of the bridge itself along with vistas of the skyline and the Empire State Building in the background. Once we got back into lower Manhattan, we took the green line up to 33rd Street, walked over a few blocks to our hotel, and are awaiting our departure for Broadway. "Hamilton", "The Book of Mormon", and "Phantom of the Opera" are on the schedule so it should be an incredible night. Talk of what to wear, where to eat, and what time to leave is at a frenzy!
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