Did You Say New York City??? (Part 1)

Why yes, I did say New York City! That was our destination for Day 2.  Everyone was excited for the big adventure and we were out the door and on the train by 9. The train ride was about 45 minutes and it was uneventful. When Thomas and I went, we rode a double-decker train, so the kids were slightly disappointed, but still enjoyed the ride. We got to Penn Station and got our tickets for a bus and boat tour. It was ridiculously expensive, but I had done my research and was able to haggle a bit; not enough to make it cheap, or even worth it, to be honest, but at least slightly better than what I expected.

On the train

BFFs

We got on our bus (which unfortunately, I didn't think to take pictures of) and headed toward Battery Park. Despite the ridiculous price of the bus, the "tour" was automated and some of the headphone jacks did not work. That was kind of frustrating. Also, the upper deck was full, so we had to sit downstairs and the windows were covered with advertisements, which I found ridiculous. That was even more frustrating. Eventually, there was enough room for us "upstairs" and everyone's mood improved significantly. It was a much better view from the top! We went through several neighborhoods, and learned a little about each. We opted to get off at Battery Park. I made a mistake and thought that was where our boat tour departed from, but it was actually at a stop about a mile away, so off we trekked. The boat left from an area directly across from One World Trade Center. And, I think it was the highlight of the day for everyone (except Luke, but more on that later). We went around the Statute of Liberty and it really tugged at the heartstrings. It helped that they played "God Bless the USA." Personally, I think they should have played "Coming to America," which is my favorite Neil Diamond song and a good tribute to what the Statute and Ellis Island represent. But, they didn't ask me and regardless it was a nice moment. I am fairly certain that my family is one of the ones that came to this country through Ellis Island, so it was nice to see it up close.

One good shot of Lady Liberty by herself.

Closest we could get to a smile from Luke

The other kids were more than happy to pose

One funny thing about the guide was he kept saying things like, New York has the highest concentration of Jewish people outside of Israel...New York has the highest number of Italians outside of Italy...New York has the highest number of Polish people outside of Poland...(I don't actually remember the countries he said, but he must have named 30). The older kids loved the tour and the views it gave of the city. Luke HATED it. I am not sure why, but he just kept saying he wanted to be on a bus, not a boat. He wasn't bad, at least for most of it, just surly. He did get mad when we went by the dock. Our guide said that the city is very specific about when you can dock and we were too early. Luke was extremely disappointed.

I enjoyed the extra time and seeing more of the skyline from the water, it was pretty amazing. There was one building that looked like a Jenga tower. All of us commented on it and then the guide pointed it out and said it was referred to as the Jenga building and that the top 3 floors sold for 60 million! One thing I learned from both tours is that I will never be able to live in NYC!

With One World Trade Center in the background

We saw an NYFD boat named 343, after the number of firefighters that died on September 11th.  It was made from the metal of the Twin Towers and was a nice tribute to their fallen brothers and sisters.

Jack with Three Hundred Forty Three

After the tour we went into a very fancy mall. We were going to eat at the food court, but the food was unfamiliar and the lines were long. Not what the kids were hoping for. So, we found a McDonald's (sad--I know!).  From there, we went to the 9/11 Memorials. They were sad and poignant, particularly seeing the roses placed on some of the names. We later read that the roses were placed on the names of people who would be celebrating birthdays that day had they lived.

I swear we took several pictures, but for some reason, this is the only one showing up.

We went into another mall (bathroom break for Luke) that was like being inside of a whale. One thing I do appreciate about NYC is the architecture. There are so many interesting buildings, both inside and out.

Stay tuned for the conclusion to our trip!