New York - Part 2

Our first day was filled with food! On our second day we decided to see the sights. Our first stop was a bus tour. What's more touristy than a bus tour. I know it may seem a bit cliche, but if it's your first visit to NYC, then it's a good way to get acquainted with the neighborhoods.

 My wife and I had used The Ride on a previous trip to the Big Apple. I recommend you try out The Ride for a one of a kind experience. It was well worth the price. 

We enjoyed it so much that we decided to try out their other offering, aptly named The Tour.

The Tour was better than other bus tours I have taken, but don't go into it expecting a one of a kind experience that you get with The Ride. While I enjoyed both, if you pick only one choose The Ride. If you chose to do both, do The Tour first. 

We enjoyed the sites like Rockefeller center:

We also had made advance reservations to visit the Statue of Liberty. You can buy your tickets here. There is only one official site. You will need advance reservations during heavy tourist months. If you want to visit the crown, you will need to book well ahead , they sell out in advance. Keep in mind, the Statue is on an island. 

You will be taking a ferry to Liberty Island and then continue onto Ellis Island. We visited in April and it was cold , so bring your coat! It was a surreal experience.

After arriving back in battery park we took a walk over to the financial district. I was able to see a unique side of the famous bull :

Next stop was Wall Street:

We were close so we decided to pay ground zero a visit:

The new Freedom Tower opened in May 2015. You can take a ride up.

We stopped by Century 21 for a little shopping.

 Next we took a walk up to the high line:

We did lunch over on the west side in Murray Hill at SMAC. Oh my it was delish! We got a macroni and cheese sampler:

It was a cold day so we thought soup would be the best way to warm ourselves. Hell's Kitchen wasn't far so we jumped a train. ( BTW - if you're staying for at least 3 days, go ahead and buy a week pass for the metro, it will save $)

My mother in law indulged my wife and I and we got to try some serious Ramen at Toto :

We ended our night at the Cake Boss bakery in the NYC Port Authority building. We waited about 20 minutes to place our order. Nothing against the place, the treats weren't bad but they weren't anything to write home about. I preferred the bakery in the East Village I mentioned in Part 1 (Veniero's).

Click here to read Part 3