My bro had a list of things he wanted to see, but since we got a late start he narrowed it down to two. The Statue of Liberty and Ground Zero. I clarified what "seeing" the statue meant to my bro and he was content with floating by on the Staten Island Ferry so that's where we went.
We got on the subway - it was my first time being in charge of someone else on the subway. The first time where I was the one that should know what they were doing. Eek! There were a couple mis-steps that my bro had to suffer thru but it could have been much worse. However, I apparently looked like I knew what I was doing because we had a few people stop us for help. Hope I didn't lead them too far astray....
At any rate, my bro was impressed that the Staten Island Ferry is free! And got some good pics while we floated by the Statue and Ellis Island. On the ride back from Staten Island my bro pointed out the domesticated pigeons on board. Totally not bothered by the humans sharing their space - just searching for food.
Next stop was Ground Zero. The display has changed a bit since I was there a year ago. But it still makes your heart heavy. They have these huge pictures posted from various photographers that captured moments of the twin towers before and after 9/11. Amazing and heart breaking. They have a timeline posted of how the day unfolded and include pics of rescue workers helping people to safety and then minutes later they dashed back in to help others only to have the buildings collapse on them. They really were heroes.
One thing I haven't gotten the hang of yet is calculating time in NYC - like how long does it take to get to one place from another. You can calculate the subway ride, but not how long you'll have to wait before it comes. You can guesstimate how long it would take for you to walk from here to there but not how crowded it will be and how many obstacles you'll run into to slow you down. Needless to say a plan to walk around Rockefeller Center and Time Square before meeting friends for supper was a bit rushed because the subway and crowds were not favoring us when it came to time. I kind of felt bad for my bro as we weaved in and out and he only got glimpses of this and that - however I think he dug doing the dodge and weave with pedestrians stating that he felt like he'd practiced that all his life and finally he was in a setting to use it! Needless to say - the brief stay is just an incentive for him to come back and take more time to enjoy it.
At any rate, we arrived at Chevy's restaurant in Time Square to meet my friends and then enjoyed an $11 movie next door - Knocked Up. Not sure it is worth $11, but probably worth what I would have paid for a movie in NE. I liked it better than 40 Year Old Virgin. (Freaks & Geeks fans, pay attention to the bearded guy - he was the super nerd in Freaks & Geeks.) All the stoner friends go by their real first names too which I found to be an interesting choice.
After the movie we walked thru a bit more of Time Square before heading home.
Not sure how great of a tour guide I was, but when I asked my bro what he thought of the city he said that he expected to be blown away but discovered it is just a city. (Not a knock to the city, but maybe a relief that maybe it wouldn't swallow up his sister. Of course, I'm just speculating...) He also noted that he saw a lot of young women riding the subway by themselves and I think that eased his worry about his sis riding around by herself. I think. I've yet to fully understand my bro, but I think that feeling is mutual between us. Ahhh...siblings.
He headed back for Nebraska today (Sunday) and now I'm left to unpack, organize and settle in to this new adventure!
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