We visited New York City July 18th through the 23rd. I wanted to visit since I was just 3 the last time I was here and Alex had never been here. However, the main “reason” was so we could do a college visit to NYU campus where Alex wanted to attend college. We did that and so much more.

We saw all the main tourist sites and did the typical tourist activities. But you definitely need more than a week to really enjoy New York City and get beyond the tourist sites, of course.

We went to the southernmost point of Manhattan, Battery Park.  The ferries for Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty start here.

I loved our visit to Ellis Island, such interesting history.  On the same visit, we went to the Statue of Liberty.

Fans of all the New York movies, we had to go to the top of the Empire State Building, like Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks! Or King Kong.

We visited Central Park, the Carousel, and stopped to see Lennon’s Strawberry Fields.

There are so many wonderful museums in New York and we didn’t have time for many. We chose to visit the Guggenheim. Besides the great architecture, regular exhibits, we saw a special exhibit of photographs on hands. I wish I had time for the Metropolitan, too.

We saw the Broadway show, “Rent” picking up same day tickets at an outlet in Times Square. We got great discount tickets but didn’t sit together, just met up at intermission and when the show was over.

We saw the WTC Ground Zero site, too. Just a couple years after the attacks, it was mostly blocked off, a construction site, but we wanted to pay our respects. I would like to return to see the finished memorial.

I wanted to see the United Nations. As a history and news junkie I was thrilled to visit the Security Council room that I’ve seen on countless news shows.

We also visited the Brooklyn Bridge and the Pier 15 Esplanade and spent time at the South Street Seaport.

We purchased a week subway pass but enjoyed walking and walking to see all the sites.  We visited The Plaza; Alex wanted to see the Ballroom. She said she wanted to start planning her wedding.

We also saw the Flatiron Building, Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Grand Central Station, and, of course, visited Rockefeller Center.

And in between, we had time for shopping, a lot of shopping. Saks, Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, we saw them all and much more. We had many, many great meals, too.

We had a great week, and Alex got to have a tour of New York University. Sadly, like other older trips, all my photos are not in my “New York” folder and I am missing a lot of great photos that I had printed for my scrapbook.

** All photos property of Lisa, not to be copied or reproduced **