Today I revealed Mum and Paul's surprise that I had bought them... They were going to be doing a helicopter tour of Manhattan!!! Paul started smiling and looked very excited (I knew that he wanted to do it anyway) and Mum's face just F R O Z E and her facial expression didn't change. Then she looked happier but said she felt a little nervous as she had never been in a helicopter before and I think she was just generally surprised and shocked! We got in a taxi and headed for Downtown Manhattan Heliport, Pier 6. We got there in plenty of time - Mum and Paul went through security and listened to a safety talk. Then they walked straight to the helicopter, got inside and they were off! As quick as that! I watched (and videoed) them flying straight up into the air and away. The helicopter just turned into a little black dot in the sky! Mum used my GoPro to video the whole helicopter ride and they both really enjoyed it (even though it was only 15 minutes long!)
Afterwards we found somewhere to eat lunch. It was a HUGE buffet place filled with all different types of food. Little did we realise until we were at the till paying that it wasn't a flat rate price per box, it was done by weight and so me and Paul's lunches ended up costing $40! I chose Chinese food and it was delicious!
After this we went on a boat tour. We began going around Liberty Island so we could see Lady Liberty and then it took up past Brooklyn Bridge and then back up the Hudson River. towards Midtown. It was veryyyyy cold on the boat but we had some great views and got some great pictures.
We got off the boat at Ground Zero. We saw the new World Trade 1. We spent about an hour there looking at the two 9-11 memorial waterfall fountains. It is so well kept and respected. Every single person who lost their lives in the tragedy of 9-11 has their name engraved onto the ledges of the memorial. If it is someone's birthday they have a white rose by their name. Its very powerful and emotional. But also very beautiful too.
We took the subway back to Grand Central Station and had a look around there - it is very lovely inside. We stopped by 'Baked by Melissa' to buy some mini cupcakes that they could take back for Melissa. (FYI Melissa, that was MY idea!!!)
We then went back to the hotel and relaxed for a little bit before then going to the Hardrock Café for dinner. We all had fajitas and they were delicious! After our lovely meal we went to Times Square so that Mum and Paul could see the magic of it a night time. It is one of my favourite places, it just has such a buzz about it. It's so true that New York City is known as 'the city that never sleeps' with 'big lights that inspire you'. We were so tired from our busy day that we went straight back to the hotel to go to sleep.
