NYC- Day 5

Day 5 was our last day in NYC. With all the fun and walking that we had crammed into 5 short days we were definitely ready to be back on a plane headed home! Little did we know however, that on day 5 we would be in for a BIG surprise...

I received a call from the CFO at my company asking if we were enjoying our trip and if we would be interested in seeing the New York Stock Exchange. Being the finance nerds that we are...we were absolutely interested! After a quick phone call and one short email, we were in!!

Since the NYSE is not open to the public we knew this was a once in a lifetime opportunity and we couldn't have been more excited (see..nerds! I know!)...only problem was....we needed "business attire" to enter the stock exhange. Hmm...minor problem. First time vistors to New York don't exactly pack business attire! So, we had about 1 hour to do something about our tennis shoes and jeans. Just as we were walking to grab a cab, D looked across the street and spotted a Men's Warehouse right in the middle of the Financial District! Perfect!...now to just find something for myself....but, to make a long story short, we were both able to buy new NYSE appropriate outfits and were on our way to Wall Street all within ONE HOUR! Talk about crazy! Only in New York right?
As we approached the stock exchange it was amazing to see how tight the security was in the surrounding area. Every car passing by had to stop, driver had to get out of the vehicle and then this lucky dog got to check everything out...it was pretty neat to watch.

New York Stock Exhange

11 Wall Street

New York, NY

Here is the outside security check point we had to enter through. We had to show our ID's at about three different stops and then once inside had our picture taken, a visitor pass made, and then walked through security just like at the airport. When one of the security guards saw that my ID was from TEXAS he said (in the best New York accent)..."Oh! Whatta we got here? A couple of Longhorns??" I laughed and said..."No, just the opposite...some AGGIES!" and he goes..."Alright! Texas A&M!"

Once inside I was able to take two quick pictures from up top before we went down on the floor.

It was so neat to be on the floor! We walked right up to Pit #7 where my company's stock is traded and got to see actual trades happening live. The floor wasn't as crazy as I had pictured, simply because now the computers take care of everything so there are no longer guys running back and forth trying to match up a buyer and seller to make a trade.

Two happy Aggies outside the NYSE!

Good-bye New York!