Travel Update

I didn't post yesterday because the internet was acting up, but I typed our day's activities in Word; here's what happened:

July 23rd

Today was basically a transition day. We took a bus from NY China town to Philadelphia China town. The fare was $12 a person—cheaper than the taxi ride from our hotel to the bus station! Also, regarding that cab ride: our driver didn’t know how to get to our destination, so I was really worried we wouldn’t make the bus on time (the fact that he didn’t speak any English didn’t make it any easier). Oh, and Rose was really fussy. Let’s just say I breathed a sigh of relief when we finally got out of that cab! We would have taken the subway, but we had all our bags with us and didn’t want to have to deal with them.

When we got to Philly, we rented a car and headed to Pat’s and Geno’s—two rival cheese steak joints that are right across the street from each other. Geno’s didn’t have any tables available (and we were carrying Rose), so we chose Pat’s. Here are some pics:




This sign made me nervous, especially "Step Four"--I didn't want to have a "cheese steak nazi" experience:



After our meal, we wanted to go to Independence Hall, but it was raining pretty heavily (a rare sight for us desert people—especially in the summer). We decided to just head to our hotel in Bucks County and relax.

Yesterday we concluded our NYC experience by visiting the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Ever since Sevak was a boy in Armenia, he’s had a goal to take a family picture in front of the Statue by age 24. He had to meet the deadline this year, so that's one of the main reasons we took this trip. Here's the famous shot:



Next we stopped by Ellis Island. It was so neat to visit the place where so many immigrants entered to live the American dream. I could imagine them lined up here in front of the building:



We found some of our ancestors' names on the memorial wall, which was really cool. Here I am pointing to some:



Rose enjoyed her time on Daddy's shoulders:



On our boat ride back to NY, we discovered that it's a small Mormon world after all. We met some BYU students, and Rose made friends with their children:



Next we visited the World Trade Center site:



We decided that we wanted to get "cart food" for lunch, but I wasn't in the mood for a hot dog. Instead, we visited a falafel stand that seemed to be pretty popular with the locals--the line was twice as long as the one at the cart next door. However, I was nervous about being a slow tourist and ruining the efficiency of the line, so I blurted out our order as soon as I made eye contact with the guy, and I instructed Sevak to have our cash ready (I seem to be pretty scared of scenarios involving East Coast food vendors). Oh, we also went to a nearby cart and got a coconut boba drink (known as "bubble tea" at this particular establishment). Gotta love those tapioca pearls!




Next we visited China town, which was exactly the same as any other China town I've seen...



...smelly fish and all:



Next it was on to Little Italy. I think you'll agree that the red and green street decorations were quite festive.



Finally, to the Museum of Natural History:



Rose was quite upset when she learned she weighed 300 pounds on the sun (it shows zero in this picture because of her positioning)



I found a precious pearl in this clam shell...her name was Rose



Here we are with our good buddy from the Pacific Islands



My little monkey with a monkey