New York, New York

Greetings from Manhattan. It's my first trip back since a 7th grade field trip in 1983, and it's Christina's first visit. (Boy, they don't make field trips like they used to, do they?) Yesterday, we dropped the animals off at the kennel, and then drove up to the Philly area to have lunch with our friends Cheryl and Jon, and their son Noah. Then we drove up to Piscataway, where we spent last night.

This morning we got up and headed to Liberty State Park in New Jersey, where we caught the ferry to Ellis Island and Liberty Island. Ellis Island was OK, but since neither of us felt a real personal connection, we cut short the audio tour when it started to get repetitive and headed to Liberty Island. The one good thing I can say about the weather is that the rain kept things from being too crowded. That's the Statue of Liberty there -- really it is.
There's Christina with the original torch.

After touring the statue -- another World Heritage Site off (or on) our list -- we parked the car at a PATH station, took the train into Manhattan, and caught a cab to our hotel. Our hotel is really nice -- it was completely renovated last year. We've got a flat-screen TV, a mini-fridge...all the mod cons. After a little relaxation, we headed out for some sight-seeing and dinner. There's Christina in Times Square...

...and there she is after our dinner at the Carnegie Deli. She was quite full after half a sandwich...I made a pig of myself and finished mine off. I won't need to eat for days.

On our walk back to the hotel, we saw various NYC icons like the Ed Sullivan Theater, where David Letterman tapes his show.