Let's Geaux!: Day 3 - Friday, June 29

Woke up in the Big Apple and have several things planned for today!

Our ferry reservations for Liberty & Ellis Islands is at 1 pm so we are going to see a few things before heading to Battery Park. We decide to Uber to Times Square. After a 30-ish minute ride we made it to Times Square. Side note here- the painted lines on the roads are simply suggestions... no one heeds them at any time!

The numerous HUGE digital displays in TS is mesmerizing! Even early morning, you just stand and stare. The good news is that we were not the only ones doing so!

We walked to Rockefeller Center to see the courtyard and fountain. Directly across from RC is St. Patrick's Cathedral. The church is open all day welcoming visitors. We stepped inside, said a few prayers and took a few pictures. The church is huge and the architecture is amazing. You've probably seen this church on TV- many of the 9/11 funerals were held in this church.

While inside the church I noticed that the ushers roped off the alter and the area behind the alter that everyone had been looking around moments prior. As we were exiting the church the center aisle had also been roped off. Something was going on or about to happen. We exit the front of the cathedral and there are NYPD cars, SUVs etc lining both sides of 5th Avenue. As we look at the nearest intersection we spot two FDNY ladder trucks. They are positioned across 5th Avenue from each other. Their ladders have been raised and there is a large American flag suspended over the road from the two trucks. There are firemen and policemen in full uniform everywhere in the area.

We decide to walk to Central Park before heading to our ferry reservations. Along this walk we saw again numerous firemen as well as NYPD officers in full uniforms waiting on something. Barricades have been put at intersections not allowing through traffic etc.

We got to the entrance of Central Park after stopping at Trump Tower (which has heavily armed officers in front of) and the iconic glass-box Apple Store (which is being rebuilt).

Central park is just an incredible place in such an unexpected place. We entered near the Zoo entrance so there were families with little ones everyone. Everything is so lush and green. Very peaceful and tranquil. We walked through the park for a while and then realized that we needed to start heading back towards Battery Park for our ferry departure. There are several entrances/exits to the park on 5th Avenue. As we approached the street level from the park we saw what all of the firemen and policemen had been waiting on...

Meet Chief Ronald R. Spadafora of the New York Fire Department. Chief Spadafora was a leading force in the 9/11 rescue and clean up missions. Due to his tireless efforts and time (9 months) spent at Ground Zero, in 2015 he was diagnosed with blood cancer from the toxins he had been exposed to.

While overseeing the work of recovery at Ground Zero, any human remains that were found were carried out of the site in Stokes baskets covered in American flags as per the Chief's instructions. Today, Chief Spadafor was being laid to rest after losing his battle at the age of 63. Another lost to 9/11.

The procession that was passing in front of us was led by several NYPD officers on motorcycles. A firetruck named for the chief followed. Chief Spadafor's body was swaddled in an American flag in a Stokes basket on top of the truck. Two other chiefs in full uniform rode on the back of the truck at full attention. Numerous fire trucks, vans, etc followed behind in the procession down 5th Avenue. It was amazing to see that the entire 5th Avenue had been shut down for his funeral. Everyone on the side of the street and was respectful as the procession rolled slowly.

It was something to witness that reminded us that 9/11 is still claiming its victims today. Tomorrow, we have a tour scheduled of the 9/11 museum and memorial. (Side note- Spadafora also came to NOLA after Hurricane Katrina to assist with relief efforts). For more reading about the funeral see this Twitter post as well as The Times.

We made it to Battery Park in enough time to grab a quick bite to eat (LOVE Chopt Salads!) We sat on the top deck for the ferry ride to Lady Liberty. It was a beautiful blue sky day. Once on Liberty Island we enjoyed fresh squeezed lemonade taking in views of the city from a different angle as well as The Lady herself. We very much enjoyed exploring this symbol of our country. We then ferried over to Ellis Island. It is such an interesting place to be at this time in our country. It certainly has made for interesting conversations amongst us as I'm sure many of you have participated in recently as well.

We're boat people now...

Lady Liberty

NYC from Liberty Island

Ellis Island

Debarking form the ferry placed us not very far from our hotel. We stopped in the financial district long enough for the guys to 'gather some good luck' at the Charging Bull.

Rubbing for good luck...

When in Rome...

(I didn't question it, but there were HUNDREDS of other people doing the same thing...)

There is another bronze statue in this very small space in between two very busy roads. It faces the Charging Bull just a few feet in front of it. It's titled Fearless Girl. She stands 50 inches tall and is amazing!

Charging Bull

Fearless Girl

On our walk back to the hotel we stopped a market (that was underground) and purchased a six pack of Michelob Ultra. Once back in the hotel we sat around, drank a few and ate Cheetos and raw veggies with bacon ranch dip. We had dinner reservations at 8 near Times Square!

Mr. Easton (Becky's dad) suggested eating at Carmine's in NYC so we made reservations to do so. We arrived early so we went inside around 7-ish to have a couple cocktails before dinner. The place was packed! People everywhere. We carved out a small space to enjoy our drinks and wait. At 7:30 we were called to be seated. Our waiter, Jacinto, was charming. He spent a good ten minutes explaining the menu to us. At Carmines, food is prepared family style, serving 2-4 people depending on the dish chosen. A complimentary basket of various breads landed at the table and that was gone rather quickly. We ordered Calamari as our appetizer. Dean squeezed lemon and sprinkled it with parmesan before we dug in. So. Very. Good.

Calamari

For our entree we ordered shrimp scampi with angel hair pasta. It was served up on a platter that we all served from. It was buttery, lemony, deliciousness! We had a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc with dinner. We ordered Italian Cheesecake for dessert with coffee. It was a quarter order....

Us and Carmine...

Shrimp Scampi

1/4 of an order of Italian Cheesecake

Carmine's is on 44th Street which is deep in the theater district and Times Square so to walk off our dinner we figured we'd take in Times Square again. At night. The amount of people out was incredible. Easily double if not triple what we saw during the day. We ended up hanging out near these cement bunks near an intersection and did some people watching while Dean worked on getting more pictures. It was so much fun to see so many different people and listen to conversations. There were two guys trying to get people into a nearby comedy show that were just hilarious. It was a great ending to an incredible day! We hit the bed around midnight looking forward to more of NYC tomorrow.