December in New York City Part II

Last week I posted about my first few days in New York City in December. Here's how I spent the rest of that glorious week:
Monday my husband had to return to work so I began my week of sightseeing solo. I had an amazing day returning to Bryant Park to go ice skating. Then I walked next door to the New York City Public Library to explore and visit the massive reading room.

New York Public Library

Tuesday I had tickets to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I walked out of the hotel in the morning to see large snow flakes coming down. It was a really wet snow, so I was happy to have my umbrella with me. The snow and fog caused a short delay for the boat. When I booked my ticket, the crown was completely sold out for the day but I managed to snag a ticket to the platform level. Due to the snow and delay I was the first person of the day to make it up to the platform. It was pretty peaceful having the space all to my self. Unfortunately with the fog I wasn't able to see the NYC skyline. As I'm told the platform is great place for a skyline view on a clear day. 

 

Next stop Ellis Island. The museum reopened less than two weeks prior to my trip after under going renovations needed following the hurricane that tore through a year before. The main halls were open, although many of the smaller exhibits had yet to reopen at that point. It was still an interesting visit for me because I believe some of my ancestors may have traveled through here at some point.

Ellis Island

After I returned to the Manhattan, I walked north a few blocks to the 9/11 Memorial site. There is an unbelievably long process and several checkpoints to pass through before you actually get to the memorial. There are two identical pools, one for the south tower and one for the north tower.

9/11 Memorial

On my last day in New York I decided to just walk through the streets and take in the city. At the end of our trip we stayed at a hotel in Times Square so I started from there and headed west to Fifth Avenue. I walked over to St. Patrick's Cathedral to take in the architecture. Unfortunately the cathedral is under massive construction to preserve it, so there wasn't much to see. Afterwards I continued north Central Park. My first visit to the park was during our trip to New York City in May. December in the park is a much different scene, but equally beautiful.

Central Park

 

What's your favorite part of New York City?