Last drinky poos at Jacks

We woke with the alarm this morning, so we could get down for an early ferry across to Liberty Island. We had a quick breakfast at Blooms and then walked down to the Empire State Building to catch the Tour Bus.

We didn’t have long to wait and we all sat down upstairs ready for the journey. As we sat down we noticed Jill and Anne (Lisa’s Mam and Friend), talking to the Bus Ticket Touts........ such a big place like New York and we see them both !!

We got off the bus and had a little walk through Battery Park. There were loads of little grey squirrels just running around all over the place, so cute ! We eventually found the end of the queue and stood there .... and stood there ....... and stood there for 2 hours!! It wasn’t that boring though, we were entertained by a couple of buskers. One of them a contortionist, who was awesome. He climbed into a tiny perpex box. What a show!!

After ages we arrived at the Security Checkpoint. I got in trouble for keeping my belt on, they even asked me if I had a belt and I said no .... whoops!! Mam even got frisked due to the buttons on her trousers, can’t take us anywhere!

Eventually we boarded the ferry and stood on the top deck at the back. We sat there for another 15 minutes until everyone got on and them we set sail to the Island. Suck a lovely view sailing out of the pier, the skyline is amazing. After 20 minutes sailing we arrived at Liberty Island and headed for the loo. We then had a walk right around the island and right underneath Liberty, she’s HUGE! We opted out of going inside the statue, the view is just as good outside.
We were hungry at this point so called into the Island Food place, we all tried a hotdog and fries .... very nice. Our first NYC Hotdog!!

We didn’t hang around long as there’s not much else to do on the Island, so we headed back to queue to get back over again. We eventually got back on land again at 2.30pm .... a whole day pretty much queuing!!

We stopped to watch some buskers in Battery Park. They were an awesome trio of acrobats, they were really talented. And really funny too. We were walking back to catch the bus again when we bumped into Lisa and Stuart !! Couldn’t believe it, it’s a small world! They had been to collect their marriage certificate and then they were heading over for a hotdog on Liberty Island.

We caught the bus back down to Times Square and then had a walk down to Central Park. It wasn’t that far and there were loads to look at. Our first stop was FAO Schwartz to see the toys and the ‘BIG Piano’. The store is so big, it’s got anything and everything a kid would want. The cuddly teddies are massive, nearly full size elephants and giraffes (well not quite that big but big!). Me and Ben treated ourselves to some chocolate .... expensive and not that impressive for those that were interested! Although Ben did get one with Obama on it !

We called into the Apple Shop next door and came out empty handed. We then just walked across the road to Central Park and had a lovely walk through. We passed the shrine to John Lennon, which was covered with flowers and candles. We even past the Ghostbusters towers again, before finding me and Bens Pavilion. (The place where Ben proposed to me!) It was definitely a bit warmer than the last time we were here. In the background was The Ladies Pavilion, where we’d been for The Bowes Wedding! We had a few photos and then walked back to the street and hailed a cab back to Times Square.

We had some tea in the Hard Rock Cafe. We had to have a drink in the bar until our table was ready but we didn’t mind. It was cool to have a look round cos it was full of rock memorabilia. Even a guitar from The Edge, Dad’s favourite item! We had a lovely tea and some drinks, our last tea in New York!

We did the usual end to the night of Jacks, our last drinks there ..... boooooo!! We got to sit at the bar and talk to our favourite barman. For being regulars we got a round of drinks bought for us by the barman. He even gave us a taste of a new spirit he had in which tasted gingery and gave us a mixed shot each as a thank you ! What a place!! Just a shame we wouldn’t be back there (for a while at least!).We made it back to the hotel and me and Ben managed to get a bit of packing in, no folding necessary now!! Just needed everything to fit in the bags!