Bargains, Bubble Tea, and Boats

Who doesn't like to sleep in on a Monday?  Since The Writer's "weekend" begins on Mondays, that's exactly what we did.  Even though we knew we had a lot to pack into his last two free days of my visit, we still got off to a pretty slow start.

Once we did get moving, we went down to check out Century 21, a store of hugely discounted designer duds.  We'd gotten off the subway right by the World Trade Center site, but like I'd noticed before, there wasn't much to see.  Once we got to Century 21 it was a madhouse.  The deals were certainly good, so I understand the rush.  The Writer found himself a new gray Tommy Hilfiger suit for over half off!  We left the store in search of the tailor shop they'd referred us to (my love has long arms, apparently) and some lunch. What an experience the tailor shop was! The older Italian gentleman running the place shared that he's been working in a tailor shop since he was seven years old.  Now that's a family business!

We got some sandwiche from Pret (baguette!) and started walking towards Battery Park for a picnic.  Along the way, I spotted a bubble tea street vendor.  I hadn't had bubble tea in such a long time. For a while, I was working at a coffee shop that made it and could have it any time I wanted.  Unfortunately, those days were over but I was about to rekindle my love of bubble tea just as I'd reawakened my love of baguette sandwiches.  The Writer was not a fan of my litchi bubble tea.

The Writer being silly

After our little picnic, we decided to investigate Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island ferry passes.  I wasn't initially interested in going out to see the landmarks, but it was something The Writer had really been wanting to do, so we went. I'm so glad we did!  We didn't spend too much time on Liberty Island where the Statue of Liberty is located because we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time in the Ellis Island museum.  We got back on the ferry after snapping some photos and walking a bit on the island.

I had to give it a try

I admit I haven't been much of a museum person in the past. Maybe it's because I'm usually being dragged through them by my parents who are either moving too slow or too quickly, but I really enjoy them with The Writer.  He'd been to the Ellis Island museum before so he knew which parts were absolutely necessary to see before the last ferry left.  Seeing the giant rooms where the incoming immigrants waited and hearing their stories was so interesting.  I wish we'd had a little more time to spend out there.

On Liberty Island with the Manhattan skyline in the background

Tired from our busy day, we had some Asian Fusion cuisine at Alpha around the corner from his residences.  I had the best spicy tuna roll that I've ever eaten there.  It was absolutely delicious.  The Writer had the sesame chicken, which I sampled and found was delectable in its own right.  After dinner, we decided to get some cool treats at Rita's.  Their melon/tropical flavors are just what I want when I'm craving something cold and sweet.  I had the honeydew again, but this time mixed it with cantaloupe and passionfruit as well.  Our night ended with a long, lovely stroll down Broadway in the Upper West Side.