Canterbury Sails by Chasseur: More NYC

September 15 - 16, 2012 Friday and Saturday

Suzanne had never seen the Statue of Liberty, so this was on our list of things to do in NYC. The sky was clear and blue and Lady Liberty was just as beautiful as she could be. We made a stop to Ellis Island, then ferried back to Manhattan. We visited the Wall Street "Charging Bull". People posed with his "underside" and the brass in "that" area was bright and shiny from being touched so much. We asked a police officer for a lunch recommendation and he directed us to the Fraunce Tavern in lower Manhattan, a short walk. After British troops evacuated New York this tavern hosted an elaborate dinner for U.S. Gen. George Washington where he bade farewell to his officers of the Continental Army. The tavern also houses a museum that we visited after lunch.
We stayed another day (Saturday) at Liberty Landing because the wind was gusting 25 kts. We ferried over to Manhattan again to take in a few more sites and lunch on the waterfront.
Suzanne wanted to see the Federal Reserve Bank. This building houses tens of billions of dollars worth of gold bars, 5 stories below ground, behind a 90 ton steel door. This is a quarter of the worlds gold buillon - more than Fort Knox.

We visited St. Paul's Chapel, built in the 1760's, a pre-revolutionary church. George Washington walked to this church from Federal Hall to attend a service of thanksgiving following his first inauguration. St. Paul's also served as a resting post for the 9/11 fireman and volunteers during that horrific event.
Saturday's walk through Manhattan included the "Occupy Wall Street" protestors. Once again the NYPD were everywhere. They were carrying black bags. Suzanne stopped a couple of the officers and asked what they had in the bags, answer: helmets. We had many interactions with the police every time we visited the city. They were always helpful, pleasant and informative, sometimes they were just plain fun.
New York is a beautiful state and so are the people. We cannot possibly include all that we have experienced in our blog. Our time in NYC was surrounded by many news events, 9/11 memorial, stabbings in the subway, rape of a 73 year old in Central Park (in broad daylight), Protesters of the "Occupy Wall Street" anniversary, even Lady Liberty's 125 year anniversary. We would say we really experienced a lot of what's good and bad in New York and New York City. In spite of it all and because of it all....We loved New York.