FRIDAY: I have appointments in midtown on Friday evenings and was feeling very awake afterwards. Betsy and Ronnie were basically in for the night, but a friend of Betsy's that I had hung out with at that (devastating) 49ers/Giants playoff games had texted Betsy to hang out and so she set us up with each other. FUN FUN FUN. Triple Crown and then Fat Cat Jazz in the Village, not to mention it was relatively warm, I had such a fun night! It's fun to hang out with and get to know new people and make new friends. There's a lot of camaraderie with recent transplants in NYC (since that's everyone) so the tiniest connection yields a lot of friendship and trust and help. We didn't leave until about 3 a.m. and though I'm usually really good about being able to sleep on the train and wake up in time for my stop, I felt as though I had been resting my eyes for a few minutes when I woke up way uptown at 157th St. What was worse, I was so confused that even though the train was stopped and the doors open, I didn't know enough to get off. I still sat there. I got off at 168th St and had to wait 17 minutes for the train back! I had never been in this station before though, I thought it looked cute and antique.
SATURDAY: The bulk of my adventures this weekend took place on Saturday. Ronnie got it into his head that he wanted to go to Ellis Island. (He even manipulated me and said that Betsy was going to go too...) and I manned up from my hangover and got ready and met Ronnie at Battery Park on a crisp and sunny morning to venture out to Ellis Island!
As soon as Ronnie and I were in line for tickets, it was entirely reminiscent of our AWFUL trip to the Statue of Liberty. (It's the same ticket/boat, just two different stops). That day was so miserable we never wanted to do it again and we looked at each other and said "WHY ARE WE DOING THIS AGAIN?!" But we went through with it.
These were our "why are we doing this again?!" faces
Buuuut... IT WAS SUCH A GREAT DAY!! As we were going through (a much calmer, cooler, quieter and quicker!) security line, Ronnie said "This is like The Godfather Part 2, it's the BETTER SEQUEL" and it really was! We had so much fun on the ferry, predicting the moment when everyone would rush to the sides of the boat to get their pictures, and wondering what the hell half of these people were thinking.
(I really was waiting for this iPad to tumble overboard)
WE LOVED HER OUTFIT. I refer to her as Sparkle Pony, which is the name of a solo-girl singer from Portlandia.
Okay so, Ellis Island was INCREDIBLE. Ronnie and I really agreed we got so much more out of that trip than any of the other museums or touristy places we've been. What a moving portrait of history and immigration and America. It was mind-blowing to see portraits and artifacts and passports of immigrants from literally all over the world. China, Algeria, Finland, Italy, Albania, Israel, etc etc.
Here is the actual building everyone had to pass through
Me in the Receiving Hall (? I think? I don't know, we didn't do the audio tour.)
Ronnie in the Great Hall. You could try the self-guided tour *shoulder*
Foreign Ads promoting coming to America
A pillar outside the Stairs of Separation (? Maybe?) from 1864!
A Swedish immigrant
Proud new citizens
Awww, California! My ancestors responded to something like this at some point in life
I am learning to sew with them!
Ronnie and I were dyyyying over this picture! Everyone rushing to the side of the boat as soon as the Statue of Liberty comes into view... sound familiar?! Some things never change!
This was a dormitory room! Look how short and thin everyone had to be! Ronnie and I met in our college dorms, so this is him transferring San Nicolas onto the Ellis Island hall, and he's calculating how many and which ones of us from the girls' wing could fit there
There are ferries to Ellis Island from New Jersey and New York. We haven't spent much time in Jersey so we said we would get on the first boat that came. It was still New York bound. We took our sweet time getting into line so all the inside benches were taken, so we decided to head to the front deck. This is Ronnie being King of the World.
...and speaking of the Titanic!
This was inside Ellis Island above a drinking fountain. Classy. What would Leo and Kate have to say about this?!
This reminds me of Amsterdam
I was getting motion sick on the front so Ronnie suggested we play an alphabet game but we could only name things that were REFRESHING. A was for apples, B was for breezes... we got really creative there until Ronnie thought Y was for eulogy. Hmmmm. In the end I think Y was for York Peppermint Patties but I clearly won the game.
Triumphant return to Battery Park without throwing up overboard onto the iPad that probably ended up there!
After returning, we found our way up to Ground Zero (btw, Zucotti Park is cleared out. Whose Occupying Wall Street now?) and went to an Indian restaurant.
The most memorable part of the entire experience was the ceiling. (Should I Yelp that?)
Following this was Barnes & Noble and Bed, Bath & Beyond before finally trekking home tired and weary, but at least with some new pillows! I watched the first Harry Potter movie I got in on Netflix since I finished that book. It was so painful to watch.
SUNDAY: The elusive Super Bowl Sunday came up and honestly, I didn't really care. I was going for the Giants mainly because who cares about the Patriots, and I live in New York. I didn't even keep my grudge against them for beating the 49ers! This must be what growing up feels like!
I got to join Betsy and her friends from Notre Dame out in Queens. It was fun!
We watched the game via a projector which I thought was cool.
Because I didn't really care about the winner, it made for a much more relaxed and easy viewing, although ironically most people there were going for the Patriots.
Betsy and Sara made these cupcakes! We also had wings, meatballs, pizza bagels, pastries and plenty of beer.
The commercials were okay, but I really loved the Ferris Bueller one! It wasn't HILARIOUS but I thought it was creative and cute and he did his little signature smile. That was the moment I was won over. I left shortly after the game was over since I was in Queens and I tend to have to work on Mondays. I changed trains at Times Square and everyone was going crazy! Lots of people in Giants gear, shouting and stomping and cheering and screaming, it was fun to be around. It was also fun to see the subways packed so late, knowing everyone had probably all been doing the same thing... watching the Super Bowl and plenty of celebrations for the Giants, there was a really excited air pervading the city, I thought it was nice to have something nice going on around us. There's so much negativity, it's great to have something to celebrate together once in awhile.
...Even if it is as trivial and meaningless as sports.
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