Today I went on a family trip to NYC. Last night we stayed at the Navy Lodge on Staten Island.. We were up early and drove to the ferry station and took the ferry to Manhattan, passing the Statue Of Liberty along the way. Laughing girls and ring billed gulls flew along with us.

We landed on the south shore of Manhattan. We walked north past the statue of the bull and past Wall Street. Wall Street is called that because in the 1600's the people from the Netherlands had their slaves build a wall to protect the town from intruders. Here is the rebuilt World Trade Center.

There are two memorial pools. This is the southern pool. The names of the people who died in the 9.11 attacks are etched into the stone. The pool on the north side is under repair and has no water in it. After that we walked north exploring places such as the African American Burial Ground, Stonewall National Park, Times Square, Radio City Music Hall, the American Girl Doll Museum and Central Park. At the end of the day we took the subway south and the ferry back to Staten Island.