Down Town

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday we slept in a little and then headed downtown to see all of those sights. Thankfully New York knows how to handle the snow so the roads were clear. Unfortunately, I was wearing Uggs (well, fake ones, but that type of boot) and they were not water proof! Thankfully, although my feet got wet, they stayed warm most of the day!

 We took the subway down to the ground zero sight. There isn't very much to see since they are already rebuilding the World Trade Center, but we did go to the 9/11 museum and spent a chunk of time going through the pictures/quote/videos of things that happened that day. It was an emotional morning.

 After that we went to St. Peter's to see where so many people received helped in the months following 9/11. Seeing that church started conversation about how few churches there are in NYC. We have seen several old church that people can come in anytime, but how many are bible believing churches that believe Jesus is the only true way?? Seeing that all were welcome in St. Peter's is awesome... I just wonder how many were turned to Christ as a result?

 I can't believe that I was only in 8th grade when that happened. I was in bible class at RVCS and we had a special chapel to pray for those involved. I remember naively thinking during my volleyball tryout after school that every plane I heard was a terrorist. It was a scary time even for those far away, I can't imagine...

Oh hey, I saw some phone booths. They made me smile. I didn't know they existed anymore. Just kidding. No seriously, they are still around!

 

 After grabbing a quick lunch, we headed past Wall Street to the Staten Island Ferry. We heard by a couple people that you get pretty close to the Statue of Liberty by this ferry and it's free, so we gave it a shot. I had a great time! I loved riding it, going on the hurricane deck and taking pictures, and just enjoyed being on the water. Oh Lady Liberty I do admire you for what you do. There is NO WAY I would be able to stand strong in the freezing cold! But way to go! :)

 We braved Chinatown where I bought a cheap purse and also Little Italy where we ate at an old Italian Restaurant. Yummy food, candle lit, and we survived the sketch area.

 Then, we headed to Madison Square Garden for a night of basketball. Much to our surprise, and Drew's excitement, we realized it was a double header. St. John's men were playing Syracuse, and then St. John's girls were playing UCONN. We started towards the back in our $18 tickets, but moved up to row 12 when most everyone left before the girls game. They were sweet seats and made my hubby really happy. :) Drew's choice of the week... SUCCESS!

DREW: 

Favorite - imagining being at an NBA game up close... being in awe of how many famous sports events took place in Madison Square Garden. 

Least - paying too much for bottled water at dinner. The waiter was tricky, and Drew was ticked. 

KARI:

Favorite - okay don't make fun.. I'm serious, brace yourself. My favorite part of this day was having my books come to life. :) I have been reading so many Karen Kingsbury books lately. I finished a series that was about 9/11 and then several other ones touched on that tragic day and months that followed. I read about firefighters that fought there, people that volunteered at St. Peters. I read about people who lived on Staten Island and rode the ferry and people who had dad's working in the world trade center. There has just been a lot of scenes from the books played out in NYC, even walked in Central park, and going to see 'The Lion King' on Broadway. So I LOVED that I could picture those things better. It made me want to go see so and so at the fire station or go to Staten Island and see a precious little girl I read about. Anywho... it made me happy to imagine that clearly. When I told Drew all of that, he did a good job trying not to laugh. but that's me. :)

Least favorite - my very wet toes throughout the day, and having Italian food make me sick through most of the men's St. John's game.