Monday Day 2

Welcome to NYC. Today was a very busy day touring New York. We started our day in New Jersey with a 6:00 am diner breakfast. We enjoyed the real food, but not the early wake up or sleeping on the bus. After about another hour in the bus we arrived at Liberty Park to ride the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. We saw the original torch and climbed a lot of stairs to the top of her pedestal. There we could see just how tall she was and had a good view of the NYC skyline. Many of us also hit up the gift shop ( the first of many trips to a gift shop) From there we got back on the ferry and headed to Ellis Island, and another gift shop. Then we took 1 more ferry ride to Battery Park and lower Manhattan. We walked between the park and the 9/11 museum. It may have only been a few blocks but there was a lot to see. Groups saw Bowling Green an original meeting place in New York, The Charging Bull and the fearless girl,  Federal hall where Washington was inaugurated, and Trinity Church. Next we spent a few hours in the 9/11 museum. It was sobering and really well done. After that it was time for dinner at Puglai's. We ate spaghetti, chicken parmigiana, and lasagna. The food we good, especially the chicken. There was also a si

ng along. It got especially exciting when he had us standing on the chairs waving our napkins. It seemed to reenergize the kids. They then got to try out their haggling skills at the shops in Chinatown. We have a lot more NYC gear now. We then FINALLY checked into our hotel where we could shower and more importantly sleep in a real bed! Some of the kids also took advantage of the pool and hot tub as it is the only night we get to do so. Now it's late and I should call it a night. Check out a few pictures below and check in tomorrow for another update. Have a good night.