to me for the first time in daylight. Today would be a long day that would take us down south to the Empire States Building, working our way north and to the east at Grand Central Station and the United Nation, then hustle our way further north and to the west as we skirted Central Park and finishing our day trek in the American Museum of Natural History. The night would be capped off with the Broadway show Mamma Mia!
For those who are ever planning on visiting the Big Apple, I would highly recommend planing ahead and buying tickets to the sites you want to see before hand. This single tip saved us at least 3 hours of waiting in line; we were able to avoid long lines at the ESB and the Statue of Liberty. The ESB is quite an amazing building in its own right, marble and granite adorn the entrance way and a style that you would come to expect from early century architecture. We slowly snaked our way through the security, making our way to the first elevator in our journey up to the observation deck (86th floor). This was the first time I ever experienced my ears popping on an elevator ride. I watched the display in the elevator speed through the numbers skipping floors by tens, our journey to the 80th floor took no more than 30 seconds. There we were greeted again with another line, this time for an elevator to the observation deck. This too winds its way
around the 80th floor, which was unfinished exposing the skeleton of the building as well as dating itself with the scattering of radiators along the walls of the floor. The second elevator would be substantially slower than the previous one. The observation deck was packed full of people, all in amazement of the view this majestic building had to offer. If not for the midsummer haze that had hampered the weekend, it would have been an extraordinary day to shoot the New York skyline. Needless to say, the view was still breathtaking and well worth the cost of the trip up here.
We now made our way to Grand Central Station, there we would try to find the restaurant that 
we had made reservation to eat for the night, at the Oyster Bar. This was the first time I was a bit disappointed by the size of the place, having seen it in many movies and TV shows. Don't get me wrong, it is big; but I guess being exposed to huge things so far in NYC, it was small in comparison. The outside facade and the
interior design were amazing though; everything is carved out in stone, and the ceiling reveals a painting of the night sky. After finding the Oyster Bar in the basement of the building, we decided 
that it would be better suited for a lunch and not a dinner. We then began walking toward the East River to the United Nation.After stopping to take a pictures of the Chrysler Building, we made our way to the UN and there we find a common sight, another security check. For those planning on visiting the UN, they only offer tours of the site on the weekdays and therefore we were left to meandering around the common areas of the area. There were some interesting displays and statues on the grounds of the UN, but it was a bit unfulfilling not being able to see the vast interior meeting room. After taking a few photos of the area, we
made our way back to GCS for lunch and enjoy a well needed rest for our legs and feet. I wish I had good things to say about our lunch at the Oyster Bar, but the food and service was sub-par at best. At least the cheese cake was delicious. My mother didn't like it one bit, nor did her stomach, so we made our way back to the hotel room for a pit stop and to get a reprieve from the sweltering heat.
After a nice rest, we started toward the American Museum of Natural History. On the way there, we walked around the outskirts of Central Park. The movies do not do Central Park justice for its size; it is HUGE!! The heat did not deter thousands of people enjoying everything the park had to offer, but it did not interest us at that moment. Air conditioning and a shorter walk was on our agenda, at that seem to elude us as we made our way slowly up Central Park West. After a 45 minute hike, we finally made it to the entrance to the museum
. I guess thousand of people had the same idea we had in escaping the heat as the foyer was filled to the brim with people. Those in the military will be happy to find out the it is free for us to go inside and enjoy the attractions the museum had to offer. There is no way to see every exhibit and
truly enjoy the masterful displays in one day, so we made our way to the space and precious gem areas of the museum. Once we had our fill of the museum, we made our way back to the hotel to get ready for the show that night. I decided in my infinite wisdom to make a go at the subway system and significantly shortening our walk. It was a $6 lesson to learn that not all entrances take you to the train you want. Frustrated and defeated, we decide that we might as well suck it up and just huff it back downtown by foot, so we did just that.After showering and shedding our sweat soaked clothes,
we enjoyed a nice dinner in the hotel and made our way through the Time Square crowds to the theater to watch Mamma Mia! The show was fantastic and was everything I had hoped a Broadway musical would be. The Abba soundtrack along with the constantly changing set was were seamless. My parents fought off the exhaustion of the day as best they could, though with the lights out and the few scenes with dialogue, they succumbed to the enticing moments to catch a quick nap. Once the music started up again, they were wide awake with my mom singing along to the recognizable chorus. It was a nice ending to a jammed pack day in Manhatten. The nest day would begin early in order to get to the Today Show set in Rockefeller Plaza so we could say "Hi Davin!" on national TV, as well as to visit the Ground Zero and the Statue of Liberty.
