Day 31- Empire State Building

Day 31 – Tourist time, big time, in NYC

The bad news?  Woke up at 3am-wide awake-because we’re still on Swedish time.  The good news?  We got up at 5am, finished breakfast by 7am, and were first in line to purchase tickets to “The Lion King” on Broadway.  Was able to get two seats for tomorrow night.  Good thing we were first in line – the remaining tickets available after getting our two were $250 each.  Want cheaper tickets?  You’ll have to come back in August!
80 floors flying up in Empire State Building-CLICK HERE!


also, watch our next video...

 CLICK HERE- Mom and I Going up to observation deck!

Once the theater tickets were secured, we enjoyed the Empire State Building 13 blocks away with no lengthy lines.  The observation deck on the 86^th floor couldn’t have been nicer.  I’m guessing that it was about 75 degrees with a mild breeze – totally pleasant!  The views are spectacular looking out at lower Manhattan to the south, New Jersey to the west, and Central Park to the north, and the Chrysler Building/Brooklyn Bridge to the east.   The building is totally Art Deco, filled with stylized iron, marble, and glass.  Took a ton of photos, and even purchased the cheesy photo of Diane and I in front of the “staged” Empire State Building. 

CLICK HERE- Mom and I on top of The Empire State Building!!!

Got back to the hotel at about 2pm, hot from the warm, humid walk back, and felt like taking a nap (again, on Swedish time, it was about 6pm).  Instead, had a fika of iced coffee, cookies, and fruit to get our energy back.  Diane was still hungry so set off alone to find the perfect New York City street pizza.  She succeeded at a street vendor located on Madison & Vanderbilt.  Thin crust and delicious!   Got to remember to score sine New York cheesecake tomorrow.

Tonight, we’re going to make it an early night, as we have to be on the subway by 7:30am in order to make it to Battery Park in lower Manhattan.  From there, we have a 9am ticket for the Statue of Liberty, including a tour of the base of the statue, and then off to Ellis Island for more research.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to find the ship manifest for Diane & Christopher’s great-grandfathers immigration trip to America as well as their great-great grandmothers 1^st trip (I have already located the manifest for her 2^nd trip from Sweden to America).  Then, a subway trip home by 5pm in order to see “The Lion King” at 8pm.  Tomorrow’s going to be another fun day! And as I am writing this, Diane and I are enjoying a glass of champagne, cheese and veggies at Rick’s Café (2^nd floor of Casablanca Hotel) “Here’s looking at you, Kid.”