It was crazy busy with tourists. They have closed down the street to cars and trucks so only foot traffic can now get anywhere near the New York Stock Exchange.
So how did "Wall Street" get it's name????..... A 6 foot high wall was built along this street in 1653 to protect the inhabitants from attack from the natives.
As soon as you start walking down Wall St you stumble onto The NY Stock Exchange. It now has a fence around it so tourists can't get too close to it.
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| Entrance to the New York Stock Exchange |
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| New York Stock Exchange |
Another building right across from the NY Stock Exchange that played a very important role in American history is the Federal Hall National Memorial. You can't miss it. It has a massive statue of George Washington out the front of it.
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| Federal Hall National Memorial - George Washington statue |
It was here in this building that the first president of the United States (George Washington) was sworn in and later when Abraham Lincoln was in office he made it the Treasury Building. Now, I must admit I was expecting it to be pretty boring but it is a cool little building. If you are down in the Financial district you might want to pop you head into this beautiful old place.
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| Some school kids sitting on the steps of the Federal Hall National Memorial. Also you may notice the camera equipment on the right side of the entrance to the Hall. CNBC were there taping something. |
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| Inside the Hall - there was an art display on show around the hall. The Hall reminded me of a fancier version of the Parthenon in Rome (round room with a hole in the ceiling - this one had glass covering the hole). |
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| One of the old safes from when the building was used as the Treasury. |
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| This is the stone that George Washington stood on when he took his oath. |
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| The corridor that leads out of the Hall. |
Onto much more important things......... the statue of the brass bull.
I did get to see the big bull however there were so many people climbing all over it I could not get a good photo without some girl's legs being spread across the bulls neck.....Now, I know all you male readers would have just loved for me to take a photo of that but I do have my limits.....sorry guys!
Because it was so hot and humid I decided I would pop into McDonalds and get myself a drink and I couldn't believe what I heard. They had the most amazing sound system and it was playing beautiful classical music. I went up ordered my drink enjoying the music and when I turned around and you could've knocked me down with a feather. It wasn't recorded music at all. I was listening to it was live music. Perched above the entrance there was a full sized grand piano and a pianist playing beautiful sonatas. I was speechless and I new I had to take a photo of this.
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| Now this is a classy McDonalds! |
So I decided to take 5 minutes and enjoy the music. When I sat down I also noticed that the tables had vases and flowers on them! Can you believe it! In McDonalds!
I passed the most beautiful government building and had to take a picture of it.
I decided that my exercise for today was to walk home. Walking from Wall St to Midtown Manhattan is not for the faint hearted, it is a long way but I wanted to see what Tribecca, SoHo and NoHo were like. And I totally fell in the love with SoHo. So many great shops. I think it is better than up on 5th Avenue near the park. This area felt more real, more everyday. I totally loved it.
As I was making my way up Broadway (the street) I stumbled onto Canal Street. Now this street is known for selling good knock-off designer handbags. You are not going to see them hanging up in their windows. In fact the bags they do have hanging on their displays are pretty awful, but according to one website you have to go into a shop and they will take you into a back room. I wouldn't recommend you do this on your own. I didn't. But it might be something I want to check out when I have my Bryan with me. If you are going to do it, make sure you take a friend.
Once I got home I crashed on the couch for a few hours rest before Bryan and I headed out for date night!
