Lady Liberty

Our first full day in the big city.  We started off by getting our tour bus tickets sorted (after turning down about three guys offering tickets on the way).  We took the bus down towards lower Manhattan, and found a place for breakfast before starting.

First up, the 9/11 Memorial Museum - an impressive museum, but a hard-hitting experience.  It's hard to believe that the exhibits were part of such a tragic event.

Next stop, the Statue of Liberty and a long queue through security and for the boat.  Probably the longest queue of the trip, but still only around 45 minutes, so really not too bad.  The boat trip was good on the way out to Liberty Island.  On the way back, the boat stopped at Ellis Island, but we stayed on to get back to Battery Park.

After watching some street performers (and parting with some cash for what probably ended up to be a non-performance), we got back on the bus to the hotel.  We had a rooftop bar booked for tonight, so we went back to the hotel first.

Dinner and drinks were at Gallow Green at the McKittrick Hotel.  To get to the bar, the lobby area was designed like a deserted train station - to fit in with the two shows they do, I think.  The weather was too cold for drinks on the rooftop, but we had dinner in the rooftop bothy instead.  With maps of Scotland on the wall, the place could have felt like Scotland, but the staff in their checked shirts and US accents were more lumberjack than Scots.  The food was good, and it was good to know we had found it and booked it before Lonely Planet had featured it as one to visit!