My American vacation: New York!

After my time in Boston, the next day we set off to New York! We decided to go by car, and we invited another friend of ours to come along, so the 3 of us set off on a road trip!

It was a pretty long drive, about 4 hours plus breaks, but we enjoyed each other’s company and good music! After a long time, I could see the New York skyscrapers in the distance.

We stayed in New Jersey, but most of our activities were in Manhattan, a famous section of New York City.

Our first step was to see the #1 tourist attraction: The Statue of Liberty!

The ferry left from the southern tip of Manhattan, and went around the island with the statue on it.

Manhattan looks impressive from a distance. I would say it looks even better far away than it does close up!

And there she is, in the distance!

After we went around the statue’s island, we continued to Ellis Island, which is a famous landing area for immigrants who came to the US 100 or more years ago.

There’s a museum and gift shop on the island. I wasn’t so interested in the immigration museum, but I found some interesting documents for my Japanese students!

And of course, the gift shop had some cute figures! Do any of you recognize this character? ;)

And to finish off the day, we went to Times Square. It’s famous of course, so I was happy to get a chance to get there… but there wasn’t many specific things that interested me. Also, it smelled very heavily of marijuana smoke (it’s legal in certain parts of America, and all of Canada!), and I hate it, so we didn’t stay long…

The next day would be our only full day in New York. We woke up early to go to the USS Intrepid, and American aircraft carrier from World War II.

I have an interest in military history, so this was an exciting chance to see some unique pieces of equipment!

These ships are HUGE! It’s like a floating city, with hundreds of men doing different jobs, not just military jobs! Of course, now it’s just a museum, but it was interesting to think about how it was in the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s!

We could also talk to some veterans, people who served in the military and have retired. These gentlemen served on this ship, or other ships, when they were active!

And of course, because this was an aircraft carrier, there were many military airplanes and helicopters!

And another interesting craft; the Enterprise! The prototype (original design) of the famous Space Shuttles! I couldn’t touch it, or go inside, but it was very cool to get so close!

After we finished on the Intrepid, we went to the Guggenheim, a modern art museum. My friends enjoyed the art, but it wasn’t my interest (I had my chance with the Intrepid!), but we went through Central Park, which was quite beautiful!

But, after the Guggenheim museum, and we were all pretty tired, we needed somewhere to eat, and I was shocked to find this Japanese restaurant in New York!!!

Ichiran Ramen! My favourite ramen chain in Japan! I never thought I could find one in New York, but I knew I had to get it as soon as I saw it! And inside, was almost 100% authentic! We ordered at a tablet, customized the spice, garlic, and noodle firmness, and then we were served our bowls through holes in the booths we sat in!

You could order extra noodles, and they give you a small tray to place on a sensor to summon the staff to deliver more to you!

And the taste we perfect! It was exactly how I remembered, and the spice (level 8!) was enough to make my nose runny and my throat burn! It was a great way to finish day 2!

That was mostly it for our New York trip! On the 3rd day, we drove back, so we had to leave a bit early, and we didn’t have time to see anything else. But my friend was so kind and bought me the perfect New York souvenir!

After we rested for a day at my friend’s house, he and I headed up north to a national park called Acadia, so that will be the topic of my next blog! Stay tuned! :D