Many of you may be wondering why I ventured to Atlantic City as I’m not really a casino/gambling type of person… Well – one Sunday afternoon a few months back I was having a lazy day watching the TV and a documentary came on about what would happen should human beings suddenly cease to exist. One of the segments talked about Lucy the Elephant, a six-story elephant-shaped example of novelty architecture, constructed of wood and tin sheeting. How could I resist such an attraction! So – this was the entire basis for my side-trip to Atlantic City. Lucy is actually located in Margate, a quaint-ish seaside town about 30 mins (by bus) from the casino strip.

I can’t say too much about Atlantic City – there is a discount outlet mall nearby which gave me something to do in the afternoon, the famous Atlantic City Boardwalk which appeared to be mostly cheap t-shirt shops and fortune tellers interspersed with fast food and, of course, the casinos. I did, however, enjoy the salt water taffy which is synonymous with this area. I also took the time to dip my feet in the Atlantic Ocean – not sure that was a great decision health-wise as it wasn’t the cleanest water I’ve seen but a necessary risk I think.

For those of you who might be interested – things do not end well for Lucy without us around.

Sunday was another day at the museum – this time the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A truly amazing place to visit. Another massive space filled with more to see and learn than you could ever hope to do in a day. You could spend days in this place and still not see everything so I figured the best approach would be hire an audio guide and let the people who know guide me. I did the Director’s Tour which was supposed to take about 3 hours but when you factor in detours and unexpected finds it probably took about 5 hours in total. And – I’m sure that I missed many interesting and beautiful things. I won’t go into details about the specifics items I saw but the thing that struck me the most was the way they made they displayed the exhibits. An actual Egyptian temple that you can walk into. A stained glass window that has been built into the wall so that it looks like a normal window with light behind it. A courtyard filled with statues. It really helps you to connect with what you’re seeing.

If anyone has been paying attention to the tabloids you may have seen pictures of the Met Gala (Rihanna, Beyonce, Sarah Jessica Parker etc). While I missed the event itself, the exhibition it launched – China: Through the Looking Glass – was on and it was simply beautiful. Chinese inspired gowns/costumes/couture by famous designers strategically placed with the Chinese History exhibit. Absolutely stunning!

If I have time I’d love to go back and see more!

Saturday was Yankee Day. A tour of Yankee Stadium followed by a baseball game – New York Yankees v Baltimore Orioles. The tour was clearly designed for Yankee fans – it wasn’t so much a stadium tour rather a Yankee highlights/history tour through their museum and their monuments yard where they celebrate their greatest players. Needless to say I stood out as the only person not in full supporter gear! It was interesting even if I didn’t know anything about the players and/or any of the games they referred to. My tour was early so after it ended there was still about 2 hours before the game started. I stayed with my tour group to watch some batting practice and casually snuck off to purchase a Yankees hat so I could blend in with the crowd (also the weather here has been crazy hot – basically 30 degree days since I arrived, so the hat was also a sun smart purchase!).

The Yankees didn’t play particularly well (or so it appeared from the commentary going on around me) and ended up losing 6-2. I think the experience might have been better if the home team had been winning but it was still a fun day.

Food highlights – I went with the traditional hotdog and fries. Not great on the taste side (only saved by the tomato sauce and mustard) but I think necessary for the experience. I declined the cheese sauce on the fries as it did not look like any cheese I had ever seen (and who puts cheese on fries!!).

I’m not normally afraid of heights but a Night Tour of Manhattan gave me a glimpse of what people who are so inclined might feel. On Friday night about 8pm I boarded a sightseeing bus for a tour to see the lights of New York. A standard open-topped double decker bus that I’ve caught a dozen times since I arrived in New York. Sunset here is about 8pm and while the day had been quite warm, the temperature had started to drop and a slight breeze was coming through but it was still relatively pleasant. The tour started through Broadway and Times Square before heading down through Soho and Chinatown. And then we got to the Manhattan Bridge…where the terror started…. I was on the top on an open double-decker bus, which was probably top-heavy, without a seatbelt and when you cross a bridge a slight breeze turns into some serious wind. Looking over the side was like looking into an abyss and I was certain that the bus was going to tip. Rational me said that they do this trip multiple times a night every day of the year so it must be OK but I couldn’t shake the feeling that it just wasn’t safe! Everyone else seemed fine and we obviously made it across safely. After a lovely drive through Brooklyn (which even at night was quite pretty) it was time for the return trip…and another bridge crossing.This time was just as concerning and while I’m sure that the pictures would have been amazing, I have none. Once we were off the bridge the rest of the tour was fine. It was a good tour and the guide was entertaining but I don’t think I’ll be in a hurry to do it again.

I set aside Friday morning to visit the Empire State Building. Everyone talks about the length of the queue, however I arrived around 10am and only had to wait about 10mins in the ticket queue before I was good to go. Once you have a ticket it’s a bit of a rabbit warren before you get up to the observatory. Firstly, a super fast elevator to the 80th floor, followed by a meandering exhibition about the construction of the building and the another elevator ride to the 86th floor observation deck. Not a great day for it unfortunately as there was a fair bit of fog around but still quite impressive. Photos to come.

My Wall St tour ended at the World Trade Center site which gave me the perfect opportunity to visit the 9/11 Tribute Center and the 9/11 Memorial & Museum. The 9/11 Tribute Center was founded by the families and survivors of 9/11 while the Memorial & Museum is the official site and includes the reflecting pools located where the twin towers once stood. An incredibly moving place – from the missing posters displayed in the Tribute Center, the white roses placed against individual names around the edge of the reflecting pools and the detailed biographies provided for each victim. The museum itself is very well designed and while working through the exhibits it genuinely took me back to that night watching it unfold on the TV. Incredibly sad but highly recommended.

On Thursday morning I headed downtown to the Financial District for a guided walk of Wall St. I figured this was probably the best way to see this area and actually understand what you were looking at. First impressions were that it is actually very pretty, in between the skyscrapers there are some beautiful stone buildings and even some cobblestone streets (unfortunately the skyscrapers block out most of the sun so some parts are a little on the dark side). The tour guide was a former stockbroker for Lehman Bros so he had some interesting insights into what happens behind the doors (apparently he’s now an “actor”….). Wall St was part of early Manhattan so there was a lot of interesting history but what I found most interesting is that many of the financial institutions and stockbroking firms moved away from the area after 9/11 and the office buildings are now being converted into apartments so it’s becoming a residential area. The roads around the New York Stock Exchange are still blocked to vehicles with barriers/bollards (and bomb-sniffing dogs) so people can freely wander down the street without worrying about traffic. All up – a very interesting morning!

Apologies to everyone (particularly my mum) for the somewhat delayed updates on here. I haven’t been very well over the last few days – just a head cold – nothing serious, however I’ve been forcing myself to get out and about every day which has meant that when I get back to my hotel I’m exhausted and pretty much go straight to sleep. I’m currently on a bus to Atlantic City and providing the wi-fi holds up (yes – they have free wi-fi on the bus- this is the future!) I’m hoping to catch up.

P.S I’m feeling much better 😀