Day 3 - Empire State Building, Mood, and Ground Zero

View of the Empire State Building (1,250 feet tall) from the Top of Rockefeller Center.

The perfect day to see all the major tourist stops in Manhattan is definitely a weekday. No lines!

Michael and Anne have been teasing me about my color-coded maps. Let me explain. In preparation for our trip, I printed out a map of Manhattan, circled all the things we wanted to see, numbered them, and then color-coded them a different color for each day with a highlighted walking path. What's wrong with that? It totally works.

So...today was HOT PINK day. We rode all the way to the top of the Empire State Building. Then walked down 42nd to the Chrysler Building. We strolled through majestic Grand Central Station and then rested our feet in Bryant Park (Home of Mercedes Fashion Week and the Project Runway Finale).

After that, we visited Mood and then walked through the financial district on our way to Ground Zero - the sight of the 9/11 attacks.

So after what surely must have been miles of walking...we reached Ground Zero. It's a busy, busy place. Lots of construction. We spent time looking at the previews for the new World Trade Center, and it looks absolutely stunning.

Here we are at the 86th floor observatory at the Empire State Building

The view south from the Empire State Building. The Financial District is in the distance. And past that out in the water is the Statue of Liberty...she looks tiny from this distance even though she is 305 feet tall.

Through the bars at the top of the empire state building

The famous lobby of the Empire State Building - seen in sooo many movies