This is a retro-active post, as Judy had done one up a few days ago, then inadvertently deleted the whole thing...

We spent the day touring the city, first cutting across Central Park to visit relatives and let the girls have a short playtime with their daughters.
It's definitely a different lifestyle in Manhattan, what with wall-to-wall towers, and as we soon found out, the price of real estate (well, a postage stamp sized piece of the Big Apple) is something unfathomable back home.

We took a cab downtown to Central Station, then headed over to the Empire State Building, and up to the 86th floor we went, a little over 1,000 feet up. It was great to be able to point out to the girls the route that we took to get into NYC harbour, as we could see well out into Long Island Sound. The density of the city is really mind-boggling, and as much as I enjoyed the visit, there is no way I would ever want to live here. From the Empire State Building the headed south to Ground Zero. I must admit that although I knew I was standing on what many Americans consider hallowed ground, it was difficult to separate the tragedy of September 11th 2001 from the carnage that has been wrought on its account both in the US and overseas. There was a sadness in the air there, punctuated here and there by hawkers selling images of the attack, postulating their conspiracy theories, and we passed one school choir singing the national anthem. It was a very surreal experience, and I am still trying to figure out what to make of it.

From this anti-climactic visit to the World Trade Centre, we headed back up to Broadway and Times Square, and bought tickets to see "The Drowsy Chaperone", a broadway hit. It was a fabulous show and we had superb seats, front and centre in the sencond row, and at half-price as well (otherwise we would never have gone...!) The girls loved it, and we headed back to the boat tired and happy.

With the forecast calling for favourable winds the next few days, we decided to head out, with a sloemn promise to Marine that we will visit the Statue of Liberty when we come back through here in the Spring!