Lady Liberty

So who goes to New York City and doesn't visit the Statue of Liberty?? Not me! We had some weather problems and the power went out for 2 days at the Statue security area, so we almost didn't get to do this part of the trip, but alas - the sun came out the last day and we saw Lady Liberty right before racing to the airport before flying home to Texas. Whew!

We took a ferry out to ride around the island (because of the power problems, the lines were super long this day, so we didn't have time to stop at the island and look around - we stayed on the ferry the whole time). Here's Lady Liberty!

She is MUCH smaller than I had imagined.....

But she was majestic and pretty, all the same...

I guess they have now opened up her crown to tourists again, but the wait for those is TREMENDOUSLY long, apparently.

What a pretty lady!

Here's NYC from the Statue of Liberty....

And here is the Ellis Island Immigration Museum - I REALLY wanted to go to that museum on Ellis Island (and we had planned on going, but with the delays, we couldn't get of the boat).

I have some family history documents about my Grandma Larsen and it shows the names and details about her relatives that came through Ellis Island way back in the day. I would've loved to have seen the history about how it looked then and everything. Oh well - I guess I'll have to come back!
Here's me and NYC (from the ferry)!

Mayce and I from the Statue of Liberty ferry.

Here's a picture of the main building on the mainland where we went through security (just an FYI - the metal detectors and security procedures are about twice as stringent as the airport. Lady Liberty is PROTECTED to the nth degree!).

New York City - from the New Jersey side.

This building was gorgeous...

Here's the inside where people were processed....

And just outside that building, here are the train tracks - our tour guide said that once people were processed, if they indicated that they weren't staying in NYC, then they were FORCED onto a train out of town. CRAZY!

And now the train tracks are covered over in weeds - my, how times have changed.....

Sea of Swatches

One of the things on our agenda in New York City was to go to Mood Fabrics and play around in the store and look at all kinds of fabrics. Now, not being a sewer, I thought this would be boring and something I really wouldn't enjoy much. I was wrong!

We spent about 1/2 a day in the "Garment district" and it was really fun! I love the picture above of the needle and button - so cute!

I just love looking around the corners to see what I would find next!

I really didn't know what Mood Fabrics was - but I was educated on the trip. It's the big fabric store that is featured on the TV show "Project Runway."

I have never in my life seen so much fabric, so many buttons, zippers and apparel experts! It was absolutely mind-boggling!

Here's me entertaining myself with the 'props'......

A 'wall o' zippers'......

I don't sew and I really don't need any fabric, but there were just so many cool things that I felt like I wanted to buy some!

A sea of buttons......

The experts at work....

And here's Mayce and I playing around before we left....

How It's Made

One of the 'insider' things we got to do as part of our tour/trip to NYC was a visit to one of the jewelry designers that have offices in the garment district. We visited Grinnell Designs and even got to meet the designer herself (the woman in the blue shirt below - her name is Pat)!

We got to ask her questions - anything we wanted to know at all, she was AWESOME. And then we got to buy some of her designs - things that were commissioned by a celebrity, a company or just anyone. These were the samples and we got to buy them for $10 each! HOLY CRAP!!

I bought a necklace and 2 pairs of earrings - and I got to meet the designer that thought up the concept!!

After meeting with the designer, we got to go back to their work rooms where her staff actually make the jewelry - from casting the shapes and making molds, to actually connecting all the pieces, welding, cleaning, etc. It was so interesting!

All kinds of different shapes, sizes and styles all over the place:

It was such a neat process to watch - we got to see commissioned jewelry being made right before our eyes!

And to think, all of this fancy pants jewelry is being handmade in this tiny little workroom....

This guy had magnifying glasses so he can do some detailed work on a piece....

This girl was welding parts together - right at her desk with a mini-welder....

And this was some sort of 'agitator' or jewelry cleaner - it goes in there and chemicals go in with the jewelry and that determines the finish on the pieces - shiny, matte, etc.

This was a great tour - an insider tour of a little jewelry design company!

A Stroll Through The Park

A visit to New York City just wouldn't be right without a walk through Central Park, right?? So even though the weather was still pretty wet and cold, we braved it to do just that!

It was beautiful in there and amazingly, you really couldn't hear the noises from the city once you were in there. They did a great job of urban planning to make the sound disappear while you are relaxing in the park.

The whole park just looked like a movie set because so many movies have filmed in there. The picture below definitely looks like the set for a movie - but since I'm kind of a movie-idiot, I wouldn't have the slightest clue which one!

We saw lots of doggies being walked in there - a dog-lovers dream! It made me miss my Maggie.....

Oh - I loved this - horse carriage rides through Central Park! We didn't take one, but how cool would that have been???

And of course, we had to visit the Strawberry Fields area dedicated to John Lennon who was shot and killed nearby.

Here's me at the fabulous mosaic that was made in his honor. I used to have a poster of this when I was in college. SO COOL!

Overall, I was very impressed with Central Park - very pretty and peaceful!