June 9th first full day in NY

     We got up fairly early got dressed and headed to get the bus for NY. When we got there we walked down the street to where we were going to catch the tour bus. We stopped in a corner restaurant and got breakfast. So we hopped on the bus after breakfast and headed towards Central Park where our first stop was Strawberry Fields and the Dakota Apartment building. This is something I've wanted to see for a long time! I have always been a Beatles fan and especially a John Lennon fan. It was a surreal feeling being there. We hung out for a while took lots of pictures then got back on the bus. I knew right away that we would go back there.

My first view of the Dakota building

This guard didn't know much or didn't care he said John Lennon was murdered right at the gate but that's where he was shot from. John was in the court yard at the building entrance. 

I'm actually touching the building that John Lennon lived in!

 

      After Patty pulled me away from here we got back on the bus and continued the tour. I took so many pictures I won't share them all here unless I do a slide show add on later. I will put a few up here tho as I talk about the tour. We were just trying to take it all in and it's hard to remember all the details of the tour. The buildings have amazing architecture and they6 are all so interesting to see. We passed places like Dump Tower as you enter Central Park and we went past Macy's and Harlem and Ground Zero.

    
        This was our second stop but we were headed towards the river to catch the boat to see the Statue of Liberty. We didnt go over to ground zero as there were tons of people there already. We really lucked out with the boat trip too. When we finally found where we were going we got into this long line up. After standing there for a few minutes I asked the guy in front of us if we were in the right line up. When I showed him my ticket he said yes but you have to go to the ticket booth and exchange it. So Patty and I walked over to the ticket booth and luckily there wasn't a big line. When we got to the window and showed her our ticket she said you need to go see a guy in a red shirt from the Hop on Tour. So we walked over to the guy showed him our ticket and he said ok but your the last ones. Next thing we know we are getting on the boat without waiting in the long line. Getting on and off the boat was the fun part. The wakes from other boats were bouncing this boat off the dock. You really had to hang on or you would fall.

      Once out on the water the boat ride was very nice. Smooth sailing ahead. They took us for a little tour and went in to check if there was anyone in New Jersey that was going to get on but there wasn't so we continued the trip. They drove out just past the Statue of Liberty then turned around and drifted by it. You could see hundreds of people on Ellis Island going right up to the statue. I was happy from our advantage point.

 Then back to the bus we went!