Two Girls New to New Jersey- NYC Misc sites

When Holly wrote about her weekend in NYC, it reminded me that I had one more post to finish up about our time in NYC.

The first time that Abby and I took the bus into NYC, I didn't plan to go to grandiose places. I was, frankly, intimidated about being in the city. The first thing we planned to do was go to Bryant Park which is located in Manhattan. This park is Central Park's teeny tiny baby cousin. While Central Park has over 800 acres in it, Bryant Park has a mere ten. The small size of the park seemed more ideal to me for our maiden voyage into the city! I knew that I wanted to see Central Park, and we did so on another visit, but smaller was better for our first trip. It was easily within walking distance of the port authority bus terminal where Abby and I emerged from the bus ride from our base in New Jersey.

I have to say that of all the places that we went to in NYC, Bryant Park was the only one that left me a little bit underwhelmed. Perhaps due to an over- effective marketing strategy on its website but my expectations were off. I knew the park was fairly small which appealed to me but I pictured something more stately, more filled with beautiful flora and fauna. To be sure, there were plants- some very pretty flowers and trees adorned parts of the park. But overall, it was very crowded, filled mostly with tables where people sat eating meals from several of the take out small restaurants in the park or just around it. There was a large open grassy area referred to as the lawn that people were able to relax on or play lawn games like frisbee. This area is home to community events on certain days- there may be performers or a book reading or something like that which is open to the public. On the day that we were there, there were no such public events on the lawn. The park has a carousal which we didn't ride and a pretty fountain. Here are a few pics:

This cart was pretty neat. It had a variety of board games that people could take and rent for free while they sat at the park. 

I don't regret seeking out Bryant Park because it led us to a discovery of a building that awed us- the main branch of the NYC Library which is adjacent to the park. Prior to our visit to the city, I looked at a map and knew that Bryant Park and the library were close to each other.  However, I didn't plan to spend any time at the library. That changed when we saw how beautiful the library and its grounds were. We wouldn't have seen the library had we not gone to Bryant Park so going to the park was worth it for that. Originally, Abby and I planned to grab a sandwich for lunch and take it back to Bryant Park and eat at one of the outdoor tables. Once we saw tables and chairs in the picturesque and less crowded grounds of the library, we knew that's where we wanted to sit and eat so that is what we did. 

The inside was very pretty as well. It looked like there were some exhibits in there almost like a museum in addition to books. 

We stopped at nearby Chelsea Bagel and Cafe for bagel sandwiches and took them back to the library to eat at one of the tables on the grounds of the library.

On the day that my sister, Abby and I all went to the city, we spent time in Central Park and then we ubered to Staten Island to get on a ferry boat so that we could see the Statute of Liberty from the boat. This was a fun... if filled with long lines waiting to board a bus and then long lines to board a very full of people ferry experience. We only got to see Lady Liberty from a distance. She was the main draw. However, the ferry's guide was a fantastic one who gave us brief and witty snippets of historical and anecdotal information about many of the buildings we passed on the boat ride. Here are a few pics:

I loved spending time in NYC with two of my best girls!