It was a really fun and interesting trip, but I did feel bad for my friend who is not from New England and was not used to the cold weather like we were.
After seeing the Statue of Liberty, we decided to get something to eat before heading to Ellis Island. My friend and I both got french fries and over priced Statue of Liberty water bottles, while James decided that he wasn't hungry. The place was packed, so we decided to take our food outside to wait in line for the ferry. This would have been a great idea, had we not run into a pack of hungry (and very, very ferocious) sea gulls. They began to circle us, and as soon as my friend murmured, "If one of those birds tries to take one of my fries, I'm going to..." Bam! Sea gull foot in her fries. As I was standing off to the side laughing at her, a sea gull dive bombed me and landed on my head, trying to get at my fries. Meanwhile, our chivalrous escort, James, was walking as fast as he could in the opposite direction, looking back at us the whole time while we threw french fries into the wind, trying to appease the angry mob. It is absolutely repulsive (and humiliating) when a sea gull lands on your head, especially when his foot gets caught in your hair as he's flying away. Trust me.
None of us were looking forward to Ellis Island. I forced everyone to go, however, because I knew it was something that shouldn't be passed by, no matter how boring you think it will be, or how dirty you feel after being mauled by a sea gull. Everyone was thankful that we went, in the end, because it was the most interesting part of the day.
We took the subway back to our hotel and stopped at Gray's Papaya (corner of 8th & 37th) on the way to the bus station. Don't let anyone tell you that Gray's Papaya isn't worth a visit. It was the best hot dog I've ever had. Plus, it was really inexpensive, and their fruit juices are very tasty.
We did some other things, like shopping J. Crew at Rockefeller Center, walking around the Upper West Side, and a nighttime stroll around Time Square, but we didn't get to do a lot of the other touristy things, like a carriage ride around Central Park, the Empire State Building, The Met, H&H Bagels... The great thing about New York, is that it's such a huge city that it would be nearly impossible to see and do everything in one weekend, or even a week, so it gives you a reason to keep on going back for more.
Anyway, I was feeling a little reminiscent of our trip and realized that I never shared any of the photos....
P.S. I hate not having a camera.
