New York 2011: Day 3: Manhattan
Another long day, but a productive one. First order of business was to make it down to Ground Zero to see what's changed in the last 5 years. As expected, it's quite a bit! The one thing I wasn't able to do was actually get into the 9/11 Memorial; it opened ahead of schedule but I forgot to book tickets in advance. Oops. The Freedom Tower should be impressive when it's done though, especially if you can get a clear day (sadly I did not).
The Intrepid Air and Space Museum was next. Airplanes are always fun, and they even have the Concorde there. It's in the Hell's Kitchen area, which I hadn't explored too much before either. Pretty nice, although it feels more modern (and... costly?) than the Village. Totto Ramen was supposed to be extremely delicious, but even at 1:30pm it had a huge line-- so that'll have to be saved for the next trip!
Met up with Esther at the infamous 53rd and 6th Halal Cart for a late lunch. Even at 2pm it was busy-- hell with all of the security in town for President Obama's visit the day before and other VIPs still in the area, we even ran into some DSS Special Agents in front of us in line for lunch!
Lamb plate with half red, half white sauce. Went nom nom nom at Rockefeller Center before walking back to Magnolia Bakery for red velvet cupcake and banana pudding, then walked a buttload over midtown. The New York Public Library, St. Thomas' Church, Grand Central Station, and yes, finally, a visit to Papaya King (large papaya drink and hot dogs, please!). Added a slice of cheesecake from Junior's to the dessert bag, too. YUM.
Wandered over to the Reservoir in Central Park to eat, then Maria was still hungry, so the mushroom burger at Shake Shack was next before calling it a day reasonably early. Definitely a fun two days in Manhattan!