New York City- Day 2

Day 2 started with a subway ride down to Battery Park in Lower Manhattan.  We had tickets for an 11:00 Statue Cruise to go see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

Battery Park looks a lot more like what we are used to at home.  Trees, grass, parks, still lots of buildings but not nearly the chaos of midtown.  This squirrel was running up to people.  It was insane and everyone was taking pictures.

The boat ride felt amazing since in was already 90 degrees by 11:00.

We were so close we could read "July 4, 1776" on the table she holds in her hand.  It was very surreal being there and understanding just what Lady Liberty means to our country on the eve of it's 242nd birthday.  

As we got in line to board the boat for Ellis Island a huge storm was brewing across the river in New Jersey.  The lightning and wind were pretty scary so we decided to head back rather than stop.

I was disappointed because I had spent a long time trying to explain exactly what Ellis Island was and what it stands for to the kids. With all that is going on with immigration in our country right now, I really wanted to see it and teach the kids about it's history.  But better safe than sorry.

After we got off the boat we walked a few blocks in search of real authentic New York style pizza.  We found it, kinda.  We happened upon a kosher deli where there was plenty of pizza, but no meat.  We lurve us some pepperoni.  So we ate ziti pasta pizza and multi cheese pizza and a few yummy sushi rolls but the kiddos agreed they liked Little Caesars better.  Lol!

We had 3:00 tickets to The Freedom Tower.  We had decided before we came that the kids were too young for the 9/11 Museum but we wanted to see the memorial and where the towers had stood.  That was something I will never forget.  Those pools of water and fountains flowing.  Wow, it was absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking.   Then Trace noticed the names.  So many names.  All the way around both building sites.  He got it.  Even though he wasn't even a twinkle in our eye that awful day, he got what it meant and seeing those names made it real for us all.  We tried our best to answer all of their questions but how do you explain something you can't even understand yourself even all these years later.

We went to the top of Freedom Tower after that and the views were unbelievable.  A totally different view of NYC than we saw from the Empire State building the day before.  We paid $20 and got iPads that showed and told about everything you can see from the top.  Trace was in heaven.

After that tour, Jimmy was in search of some new shoes.  His feet were killing him (he's old ;) and in our search for Sketchers, we found the Westfield Mall.  It's an underground mall build right beside the memorials and Freedom Tower.  It was SO cool!  It even had a subway inside it.

We got back on the subway and headed uptown and popped up at Grand Central Station.  The kids got to see "the clock" from Madagascar.  Such a beautiful, iconic place!

Then we grabbed a taxi and headed back to the hotel for a little rest.  We got ready for dinner and walked next door to the Empire Steak House.  Jimmy's only request of the trip was to have a really good New York Steak.  I can say, it's the most we've ever spent on a dinner and the fanciest place we have ever taken our kids but he said that Porterhouse for 2 was the best steak he's ever eaten. 

After dinner, we grabbed a cab and headed to Times Square.  We knew we needed to see it at night and it didn't disappoint. 

The only NYC souvenir we bought all week.  She loved her blingy hat!

We headed home stuffed and exhausted.  I think I could have slept right there on the sidewalk of Times Square.  It had been a long, full day and we were ready for bed and then day 3.

New York City on the 4th of July- Day 1

This crazy idea had been brewing for a while in my mind.  Honestly, it's been brewing for 8 years after a not so great go around for Jimmy's 40 birthday.  I read back over my blog post from 8 years ago and while the pictures painted a fun, relaxed time what I didn't say was I was 14 weeks pregnant and started "spotting" the night we got to NYC.  I panicked (shocking) and called my doctor who told me to locate local hospitals just in case and then spent the next few days terrified and hardly moving.  We cancelled all of our dinner reservations, and changed our plans from miles and miles of walking, to riding and seeing the sights of Manhattan on a double decker bus and a horse and buggy in Central Park.  So many things we just weren't able to do after that little scare.   Wasn't quite the baby moon/ 40th birthday celebration we had planned, but THANKFULLY 8 years later, the little nugget that caused all that trouble is a healthy, beautiful 7 year old that couldn't wait to see the big city from the outside this time. 

I have been wanting to take the kids back and while Jimmy would have rather gone and done ANYTHING else, he obliged.  Safe to say that was most definitely Jimmy's last trip to the big apple.  ha!

This was the first time Keatyn remembers flying.  She was a baby when we flew to Disney.  Alarms rang loud at 4 a.m. on Monday morning and we flew out of Chattanooga airport (SO easy!!) at 6:10 bound for Newark, NJ.

The kids always complain that the only states they've been to are Alabama, Georgia, and Florida.  Well... now they can add New Jersey and New York to that list!

I told them before we left, we would probably take every mode of transportation at some point on this trip.  We rode the AirTrain into Manhattan from the Newark airport and actually went under the Hudson River.  We popped up right in the middle of it all at Penn Station during Monday morning rush hour and walked out to see Madison Square Garden.  Let the games begin...

Check in wasn't until 4p.m. and it was 9 a.m. so I figured we would leave our luggage at the hotel and head out to see the sights.  When we walked into the Kimberly Hotel she said, "It's your lucky day, your room is ready!"  Nice!  We got settled, rested a minute and then the kids and I hit up the rooftop deck for some free pastries and tea.  (Anything you come across in NYC that's FREE is a must do! :)

The beautiful fish tank in the lobby.

We set out and took a cab to the Empire State building.  Before noon that day we had been on an airplane, an airtrain, and a NYC taxi cab.

It was hot. HOT.  Apparently, NYC was having a rare heat wave with humidity off the charts.  Shew... we were used to it in the south but I kept thinking the north was supposed to be cold!  We knew we had to pace ourselves and took taxis when we probably could have walked due to the heat.

When we got to the Empire State Building we saw the line... oh the line.  And the AC was out in the waiting area.  Jimmy asked a guard and he said the line to go to the top was at least 75 minutes and that they had apparently lost power to the air conditioning.  Well, dad came through and promptly upgraded our tickets to VIP and we were whisked into an elevator and straight to the top.  This was the 86th floor, the one you see in all the movies. 

And then, we got to go to the very tip top, the 102nd floor.  Uh, dad, do I even want to know how much you paid to upgrade our tickets and skip this line?!?  I warned the kiddos not to get used to this VIP treatment because we WERE NOT doing this at every sightseeing stop.  Anyway, a fun way to kick off the trip and Jimmy scored major cool points for making us VIPs.

This was a teeny tiny view area that was air conditioned and offered amazing views of NYC!

Trace had a major crush on Emma Watson, so we had to get a picture of him with her at the Empire State Building.  Ha!

Then we took a taxi down to Chelsea Piers where we saw the golf ball driving range that you hit into nets on the Hudson River.  Pretty cool place!

I had been told that if we get to Chelsea, we have to walk the Hi Line.  It's now a walkway/park built over the old train tracks that run through Chelsea.  We were in desperate need of food and AC by that time, so we walked for a while and then finally found a place to eat. 

The Cookshop in Chelsea... $120 later for 4 hamburgers, we decided 4:00 a.m. had come early and we were ready to head back to the hotel and crash. 

We got back to the hotel and hit the bed early.  It was a fantastic but HOT first day in the Big Apple!