Today was one of the coolest days so far. We started off by going on a cruise of New York Harbor. After that we all went on our own to shop and do other things. After a certain time we went to the 9/11 Memorial. Once again after that we went on our own, and then we met at the Tenement Museum were we learned about immigrants who came to New York and all the struggles they had. Later on our groups split up in China Town and Little Italy to end the day. My favorite part of the day was when I went to Burger King. I know there are plenty of Burger Kings out there, but I went in one after I just bought my new LeBron jersey. In my words, some thought I was a god, the manager let me cut about 20 people in line and they brought me into the middle of the room and told everyone to clap for me. This about sums up what happened today.

--Daniel

                Today was the second day of the Freedom Tour and we did a harbor cruise around New Year Harbor. The cruise was a lot of fun once you could walk without falling! After that we went the 9-11 Memorial where we saw where the buildings used to stand and see the names of the people who died.

Also we got to see the Freedom Tower which is the highest tower in the United States. My favorite part was dinner because we ate in Chinatown. The food there was real Chinese food and it was very good. After, we walked around Little Italy, where we got desserts (very yummy). On the way back we got to drive though Times Square, which was so cool and we could see where all the stores are for Monday. Well that was the day. J

--Alyson

 

                 Today was, to say the least, tiring. We started off the day with a cruise in the New York Harbor where we got to see the Statue of Liberty and Battery Park. From there we walked through Manhattan and got to see some monuments and bought souvenirs. Then we got to go to the 9/11 Memorial where it was a little like walking through the security at an airport. Once actually in the memorial we got to see the reflecting pools and I have to say it was probably the best part of the day. Once we left we walked to the South Street Seaport and got back on the bus and went to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum where we split into two groups and my group went into a sort of living history museum. My group pretended to be a family and we all had a good laugh at “mama” and “papa”. From there we went to Chinatown and little Italy and had dinner. Once we were thoroughly exhausted, we went back to the hotel. I was dead tired. To sum up the day, it was a lot of walking, sitting in the sun and dealing with New York traffic. And it couldn’t have been more fun!!

--Samantha

 

         Day 2 was, tiring, and wonderful. We started out with a harbor cruise around Manhattan Island, with a great view of not only the New York sky line, but the imposing Statue of Liberty. Of course like every day, I think I, along with others start their day optimistically. It was a beautiful and intriguing cruise for the first 3 hours of the day no matter how tired we were, most of lack of sleep, but most moods changed when we began walking around Manhattan. We split into groups and made our way around with a printed map and, gratefully, a travel-wise leader on our team. Our group walked the famous Wall Street, and got the strangest flavor smoothies from the most stylish pharmacy I’d ever seen. Tired and sweltering, we all made our way to the 9-11 Memorial, where we saw the great fountains pouring into the once south, and north tower bases. It was saddening and beautiful, all at once. Finally we spread out for some sight seeing and met back for a short but well needed rest on the bus. Soon China Town and Little Italy were upon us and a surprising population of people all bustling the streets greeted us with, “NYC hats for 10 dollars!” or “hey, check out ____” which is when you would receive a pamphlet. My favorite part of the day was waiting for food at Puglia, when a man came in and started playing songs. My especially favorite song was the Napkin song, in which we all hopped up on our chairs, shaking our napkins, and sang, “Get up, get up, get up and shake your napkin”. A fabulous way to end our packed day, with a long bus ride back to our New Jersey hotel and much needed sleep for most. Over all, this day was productive and worthy of a trip named the Freedom Tour.

-Aliza