Alright, here’s the continuation of our Veteran’s Day mini vacation! To see what we did the first day, go back here.
Started off the second day with a lovely breakfast at HGI Danbury.
After packing up and checking out, we left the Connecticut side of things where I used to go to the mall, YMCA, and Stew Leonard’s. Back to New York!
One more drive through my town of Brewster, admiring the lakes in the area.
Oh that steep hill that pictures can’t seem to do justice to. I remember many a bike ride down and walk up that thing.
At the base of the hill is this giant house, which was always a great mystery to me. I think it’s two units. Looks so grand!
Once we arrive in the city, we swing by Dominique Ansel Bakery, which I am told is where the cronut originates.
No more cronuts, so I went for the magic souffle instead, which they cooked in something like 10 minutes.
As we walked towards the World Trade Center area, we saw this cool tent set up for #TalkingTransition.
Fancy a bike ride? No problem! I’d rather walk though.
I saw a bright sculpture and just had to have some fun with it.
Underneath that bench and bike racks you’ll find a vent for the subway station. Strange sort of place to sit.
Have you ever tried stacked parking? I haven’t.
Upon arriving in the WTC region, we were greeted by this large balloon sculpture.
We were told to check out the Canstruction exhibit and this rollercoaster was my favorite.
A very poignant memorial for 11 American Express employees lost in 9/11.
We got tickets for the 9/11 memorial and came across these cute trees on our way over.
Just as we neared the 9/11 memorial, the sun came out to light up the new One World Trade Center building being built.
Here we go into the memorial… first it took us through a line winding around buildings and through a security check.
The brochure and tickets we got.
Aw, that’s so sweet of them.
A ton of people were there looking through names and taking in the rushing water.
I think they did a good job designing this memorial. It’s a powerful image paired with impressive sound to give you enough of a haunting feeling.
Adorned with yellow ribbons… this tree got plenty of visitors.
Memorial guides were available in many languages.
When we left, I saw this police guy watching the entrance to the memorial.
And another funky watching station the NYPD uses.
Check out this massive mural for those who have fallen and those who have carried on.
Random eyes in the subway station are kind of awkward.
For dinner, we went to Ollie’s! I gobbled down hot and sour soup meant for 4.
Panda shared some of his wonton noodle soup.
I also got the xiao long bao (juicy pork dumplings).
Panda helped me eat one and loaded on the ginger. The couple next to us literally stared at him as he ate it, apparently in disbelief that he could have all that ginger.
I was so excited that they have potato strips! One of my favorite dishes, but few restaurants offer it. They’re so crisp and wonderful! This one was SPICY though.
Panda gets his all-time fav dish: salted pork chops. We were very full by the end of it all.
After taking the bus back to the New Jersey side, where our hotel was, I noticed the skyline visible in the distance as we walked. Nice!
I got back to the hotel to find that 1. a friend on Yelp had seen me checking in and was wondering where in New Jersey I was since she was in the area too 2. two friends/former managers from Singapore had seen me posting on Facebook and wanted to meet up since they were in NYC and 3. a friend had seen my pictures on Instagram and was wondering where I was since she was in New Jersey too! Lol, way to go social media. So I arranged to meet up with my college friend who reached out on Yelp and my Singaporean friends who reached out on Facebook. I couldn’t make plans with my college friend who commented on Instagram, but maybe next time!
The next morning, we had breakfast with my friend and then went to meet up with my Singaporean friends. Saw this randomness in the subway station.
We found the Singaporeans at the MoMA gift shop browsing. It took me a sec to figure out these calendars!
I almost got these at the MoMA store, but they weren’t large enough for the measurements I wanted.
After a brief visit to the city once more, we were back on the New Jersey side, getting a great view.
The rest of the day was spent driving home. As the sun lit up the sky in pink, Philadelphia came into view and I passed out for part of the ride.
For dinner, I found a Mexican place in Delaware and tried something new.
They gave us such cute little dessert lollipops!
On our way through Baltimore, we passed by Johns Hopkins as we avoided the toll roads. Soon enough we were home!
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