Earlier this year, I left TJ behind in DC as I headed off for a
girls' weekend in New York City, and I don't think he ever fully forgave me. So to mend fences, I offered for us to sneak up to the Big Apple for a few days before his work obligations in DC. Last visit, I focused my efforts mostly around Midtown, but TJ was ready to branch out. The first order of business for both of us was to catch the ferry from
Battery Park and cruise past the
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge (left) on our way to see the
Statue of Liberty (right).
With limited time in the city, we decided not to get off at Liberty Island and instead stayed on the ferry as it continued to
Ellis Island (top). With all the exhibits at the national park, you could easily spend an entire day at the former immigrant-processing center. We opted to do the
"immigrant experience" audio tour, which alone took much longer than the outlay of 45 minutes, perhaps because we fell into reflection as we followed in their footsteps starting from the
Great Hall (bottom left). Unlike TJ, I am unaware of any ancestors that passed through Ellis Island, but nonetheless, I can imagine what it must have felt like to gaze on the Statue of Liberty from the waiting room as your fate lay in the balance (bottom right).
There were lots of great views as we sailed around the confluence of the Hudson and East rivers. From the bay, we spied the
Brooklyn Bridge up to the east (left). The bridge, which opened a year after the Ellis Island facility, would have been another welcome sight for water-weary immigrants. But today, of course, the most striking structure on the New York skyline is
One World Trade Center, built just north of where the
Twin Towers once stood (right).
After a return trip on the ferry, we walked to the skyscraper to see the
9/11 Memorial (top left). It consists of two large pools in the footprints of the collapsed buildings, with water descending into unknown depths (top right). Around the pools are barriers engraved with the names of victims (bottom), and nearby is a
museum dedicated to exploring the tragedy and the ensuing grief and recovery.
We escaped the solemnity with a subway ride to the conviviality of
Coney Island, but when we arrived, its desolation made it almost as depressing. Only a lone skateboarder was enjoying the displays within the confines of the
Coney Art Walls (left). Generally, the most signs of life were found at a photo shoot featuring
Tom's Coney Island and
Luna Park in the background (right). Despite my best efforts, I couldn't figure out what kind of photo would require fire eaters, Buddhist monks, and a trained border collie on set.
We watched the shoot set-up for a while then we walked over to another location often featured in film:
Nathan's Famous, site of the annual Fourth of July
hot-dog eating contest (left). TJ and I were not in a record-setting mood, so we both settled for just a single dog apiece, with some suds to wash it down (right).
In serious need of some liveliness, we headed up to the
Williamsburg neighborhood of
Brooklyn, where we hit the first happy hour we found, at
Redd's Tavern, a welcoming neighborhood bar. We stopped by one more establishment, the not-as-welcoming Canadian-themed
Ontario Bar before we set out in search of grub (left). We found a great dinner deal of a green salad, four fried chicken thighs, three biscuits, and two cans of beer for less than 25 bucks at
The Commodore (right). The photo doesn't do the food or bar justice, but that's the best you can expect with the lighting at a dive bar.
The night before, after getting to the Upper West Side and checking into our room at
Broadway Hotel & Hostel, we visited a better-lit dive bar.
Broadway Dive is a dive only in name and appearance (left). Really, it's a neighborhood pub with a great beverage selection; I ordered a blackberry cider on tap, for example. Full disclosure, on our way from bus to hotel we swung by
Penn Station, so TJ could get some oysters and other seafood at
Tracks Bar & Grill (right).
More authentic than the dive bar was the diner next door:
Broadway Restaurant, where we ate the next morning before heading out of town. The wall menu and the wait staff both seemed to come from a different era (left). TJ and I ordered dueling omelets, the Mets omelet with spinach and turkey for me and the Yankees omelet with pastrami and mushrooms for him (right).
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