3/17/2010 St. Patrick's Day in New York

Wow! What can I say? Being in New York on St. Patrick's Day has been quite the experience.  We arrived in town just as the parade was getting over; the only error in planning so far.  After checking into our hotel, we headed for the World Trade Center Memorial. Last time I was there was at least 5 years ago, and quite a bit has changed now. They have an information center that shows what the memorial will look like when it is done. They plan to have it finished on September 11, 2011.  It is really going to be a beautiful memorial. Quite a bit of work has been done on the site already. It's not easy to get a look into the building area, except through some elevated walkways they have built around the perimeter, and even then you can't get too close to the glass.
After a trip to Battery Park to look at the Statue of Liberty, we headed to the Empire State Building via Chinatown and Little Italy.  I couldn't believe the lines at the Empire State Building, or in fact, that they now charge $20 to go to the Observation Deck. How can a family afford that? It took over an hour to get to the top and back down, but it was worth it, as we were presented with a beautiful sunset.
 I have been to the top several times, but never have I seen a sunset from there. After that, time for dinner! Corned Beef and Cabbage--what else would have on this day? Well, Richard had Shepherd's Pie. I was amazed to see many, many firemen in dress uniform drinking and dancing, and all out having a good time at Legends where we had dinner. I am guessing they were in the parade today. Lots of crazies out tonight, and Time Square was pretty amazing. It was hopping with people. We had our pictures taken with Elmo (for a small fee), a fireman, a police car, and Miss Pakistan who was in Times Square for a photo shoot. Like I said, interesting evening. We walked a lot today; in fact, 5.3 miles! Whew! And add to that 6 floors of stairs we chose to walk up (and back down) at the Empire State Building to beat the crowds. THAT nearly killed me--not my knee; my lungs. All in all it was a great day to be in New York City and one St. Patrick's Day I won't soon forget.