Flowers from my students for teacher appreciation week

New York City 2012

This is the view that we had from the top of the Empire State Building.  Yeah, they meant it when they said there wasn't a view.  Thanks to all the rain and fog, there wasn't much to see.

The fog did drift away a few times so we could get a quick shot before the fog was back. 

The highlight for us all was seeing a guy propose to his girlfriend on top of the Empire State Building.  

Off to see Mary Poppins in the evening.  Four of the boys had suits on.  I was impressed.

A motorcycle at the Statue of Liberty from the American Chopper TV show. 

Ellis Island was great and I could have spent a whole day there.  They have really fixed the whole building up with displays.  Great place to learn about history.

The Great Hall where all the immigrants waited to be seen. 

Brooklyn Bridge was cool to see, even if it was a hike up a hill to just see the river.  But it's one of those places that you see once and that's good enough. 

We visited the 9-11 Memorial.  Stuart Seid Louis was in the South Tower that day and was killed.  He is the brother of Sylven Beck, who is the head of our Board of Ed. and a member of our church.  She is the one who gives us a free lunch in Chinatown each year.  It was nice to find Stuart's name there.
 

I can't say I was overly impressed with the memorial.  I thought it lacked something.  It was one of those places where I don't know if I'd care if I went again, which is sad to say, considering what happened there.  That's how disappointed I was in the memorial. 

Now the tallest building in New York City, One World Trade Center is still in the process of being built. 

We finished our time in New York City by going to Times Square.  I was on a big huge screen.  If you look closely, you can see me.  I'm standing in the front middle with my right hand waving in the air.  My camera is in front of my face, so you can't see my face well, but I'm there.  How cool is that!