New York City Trip #1 (Part 2)

Saturday, May 7 - Ellis Island with Mom, High Line, Sardi's, "Fiddler"
We met up with Mom at 9am to head south to Battery Park to catch the ferry to Ellis Island. The ferry ticket gives you access to both Ellis and Liberty Islands, but we decided to opt just for Ellis rather than trying to do too much in one morning. The ferry ride provided some wonderful vistas of The Statue of Liberty and the NYC skyline.

At the Island, we all got the free audio tour (I chose the French version!) and browsed through several of the historical exhibits. Mr. E and Mom then spent some time doing a records search for relatives while I toured some additional exhibit spaces. There was an interesting and sobering display that explained the impacts of Hurricane Sandy on the Island and the original and ongoing repair work underway. I also enjoyed the interactive exhibit on citizenship. Luckily, I aced the sample multiple choice test with 100% -- phew!

We had planned to go to Katz's Deli for lunch, as Mr. E wanted to check out the famous spot, but the line out the door was extreme, so instead we just headed back towards Mom's hotel and ended up at a yummy noodle spot just around the corner. Mom then went up to her room to rest for a bit before the evening outing, and Mr. E and I caught the subway down to Chelsea to stroll the full length of the High Line, a former elevated railroad that has been transformed over the past decade or so into a wonderful urban green and gathering space.

My favorite piece of public art was the Smart Car with a tree growing out of it!

The evening out began with a large family dinner at Sardi's followed by "Fiddler on the Roof" at the Broadway Theatre. We had wonderful seats in the orchestra level with a great view, and I particularly appreciated the striking and quick-changing scenic design. Some folks went backstage to visit with S afterwards, but Mr. E and I opted out, as did Mom. We flagged down a cab for her and then walked back to our hotel, passing near Times Square and also noticing that the multi-colored building near our hotel was lit up again but with a reversal of colours (see previous post for the contrast)!

 

Sunday, May 8 - NYC > Sac
I met up with Mom for "second coffee" this morning at her hotel, and then C arrived to pick her up and drive her to New Jersey to visit with Aunt J. On the way, C dropped me off at my hotel, where Mr. E was waiting with our ExecuCar service back to the airport. The sun finally broke through the clouds and rain, giving us a lovely departing view from our window seats on the plane.