NYC: World Trade Center Site, our afternoon, & The Lion King

After visiting the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, we spent some time walking around Battery Park. We saw this sculpture, The Sphere, which is damaged on the left side in this photo.

The statue was damaged in the attack on the World Trade Center. The plaque in front of "The Sphere" says: For three decades, this scuplture stood in the plaza of the World Trade Center. Entitled "The Sphere", it was conceived by artist Fritz Koenig as a symbol of world peace. It was damaged during the tragic events of September 11, 2001, but endures as an icon of hope and the indestructible spirit of this country. The Sphere was placed here March 11, 2002 as a temporary memorial to all who lost their lives in the terroist attacks at the World Trade Center.

This eternal flame (not shown in photo) was ignited here on September 11, 2002, in honor of all those who were lost. Their spirit and sacrifice will never be forgotten."

We didn't stop, but as we rode in a cab both to and from Battery Park, we passed the tragic site of the World Trade Center. Basically, you can see a lot of workers and equipment in this area.

They have a fence built around the site and most of it is covered by a blue tarp. (By the way, I was impressed that my camera took these photos while the cab was moving!)

I'd never seen one of these tv screens in a cab before. You could adjust it different ways, but in this photo you can see a map on the left (with a green dot showing where you are located) and a TV showing news & commercials on the right.

Friday afternoon, Alex and I went walking around near our hotel. We stopped at this nut stand and bought some nuts. I love how the have food carts everywhere. The smells are delicious and we really enjoyed these nuts.

Just a few blocks from our hotel was Rockefeller Center. (Alex is holding the small bag of nuts - great deal at only $2.50! The food carts have very reasonably priced foods.)

The ice skating rink at Rockefeller Center is 'sunken' in this spot. At the time, the ice was being cleared.

Our next stop was the American Girl place. Alex recently had her 9th birthday (wow!) and most of our family gave her money to spend in NYC. She took the money and bought... a new AG doll! She bought a "just like me" doll she's been wanting for several years. This is her 3rd doll - the other 2 are historical dolls.

There was a crowd in front of this store - they were watching these live manequins! They had contacts in their eyes that made them look very strange and one of the men had fangs. Very spooky on this night before Halloween!

Friday night, we went to see The Lion King! (It was wonderful.) Alex decided we should pose as lions.

This Broaday theatre overlooks Times Square. We spent about 15 minutes just watching the activity on the streets below.

After the show, Alex's feet were sore (like I said, we walked a LOT on this trip - and this night she was wearing new shoes), so Daddy got us a bike taxi to ride back to the hotel in! (This is my attempt at a self-portrait and I love how it turned out! The 3 of us were squished in this bike taxi, but it was a comfortable ride.)

And, here's our bike taxi driver. There's another bike taxi right in front of us. They actually line up in front of the theaters when the shows get out - just hoping to get some business. We were really thankful for this ride, and it was a neat experience. I did feel guilty just setting there, though, while this guy worked hard pedalling us around!

Next up: Central Park