I obviously didn't sleep too well. The prior days activities, coupled with anxiety of visiting the big apple for the first time with kids, gave me a little nausea and some stomach upset. The constant laughing at 03:00 and what seemed to be continual minivan door slamming from other sites added to this effect. It was also warm at 72 degrees, with no breeze, and humid. I know how NY can be in the summer time. Forgotten were just 5 days earlier, temps in the low 60s.
I was up from about 2:30 to 4AM, waking up with the sun at 5:30. Avery was already dressing for her trip. Everyone up bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready to go. We were at the terminal getting on the Metro by 6:50 AM. As we got on the train, I suddenly realized that there were not too many seats. Rows of two on one side, an aisle, then three on the other made me realize that we as a family were not going to be sitting together. I also realized this after I sat next to a large man, who took up 1.5 seats of the two seat row. It was only a 30 minute trip, right? GT, Jen and Avery also sat with different people at the other end of the car. Not long into the trip, i noticed we were on the 'quiet cars'. Everyone was either sleeping or trying to. Headphones, shut eyes, and open mouths were the norm here. Chalk this down as lesson learned.
A single stop in Harlem before we got to Grand Central station. Basically a painless ride. LUckily I was able to send Avery a text telling her and Jen not to get off at the first stop! After a few texts with her I turned off my phone and we all got off once we got to Grand Central.
GT was NOT amused when he first got to NYC. "Dad i am having trouble breathing, there are way too many people, and I haven't seen a single cool car yet". Well son, we've been in NYC for about 20 minutes. Please be patient.
Once again unprepared, we arrived in NYC with no maps. Not a single map. As we exited the station huddled together, a lady outside was offering free hand held fans as a promotion. I was the only one that took a fan. Glad I did because i went to her and asked how to get to Times Square knowing it was close. She pointed me in the right direction and we got there in no time after a quick stop at Starbucks. Lots of people. Lots. As we got closer GT noticed the GMA set, with Ginger Zee showing the weather and interviewing a kid. We got there too late to participate, but watched from behind those who were there on time. It was pretty cool watching that. Here are a couple of pics I was able to take in Times Square.
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| behind the scenes GMA |
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| Ginger Zee |
I then realized that we were close to Central Park, so we walked there. Gt started to calm down a little, only stating he hated NYC about 45 more time in the next fifteen minutes. Not long after I saw the trees. We made Central Park and sat down on one of the benches to make a plan, and allow GT to calm down a little bit.
We never found the art galleries. So we continued on. It was still pretty early and a lot of shops weren't open. Avery tried to get into a coach store, but for some reason no shops in NYC open til 10AM. Luckily it was only 9:30 when she tried to go. Bummer. I'm so sad she couldn't shop. No i wasn't. Since GT was still preaching how he hated NY, we stopped in the microsoft store to cool down and so he could check out the newest, latest and greatest video games. When we left there, he started to become his old self again, but still let me know he didn't see a cool car yet and it'd been about two hours. I told him that, like shopping, most NYC'ers arent out with their fancy cars yet. NOt two minutes later, and two blocks away, not one but TWO Lamborghini CABS sprinted by. He was ecstatic. He lets out groans of orgasmic delight that would make Ron Jeremy proud. The kid loves his cars. NYC instantly got better and he was on the hunt to find more. The days finds consisted of an Audi R8, multiple ones, a Ferrari 308GTB (I knew that one) a million dollar Maybach 62 (that GT didn't know about, but I did) and a couple of others. By the end of the day, GT LOVED NYC. I'm not gonna say I told ya so, kid, but I damn TOLD YOU SO! :)
On our walk to South Manhattan (from Central park, ugh) we noticed the St patricks Cathedral. IT was open. I had to have my backpack checked, but a rejuvinated GT asked to take a couple of pics. I probably should have turned off Manual mode when he took them but they turned out OK. It's a massive older church, but not IMHO as nice as the Cathedral at Notre Dame in South Bend. We all said prayers, like we non-practicing (of late) Catholics do, and moved on, stopping at shops along the way.
It was getting HOT in the city so we let Avery hit some stores-I wanted AC, and to notice Avery as she explored these high-end stores just to see her 'sticker-shock' expressions. $500 for a jacket mom? Really? Ha! Enjoy what you already have kid. If you want to work for these things later, you can damn sure go for that. Sky's the limit. Git some!
We were sight seeing, and after knocking out two of the five things planned we were off to check out the (exterior) of the Empire state Building. We did not hit the observatory, and I'm glad we didn't because I hadn't heard good things. What is it about everyone on every street corner trying to get you on a tour bus? I was politely declining someone about every 45 seconds it seemed. A few quick pics of the building and the Trump tower and we worked our way toward Katz Deli b/c i was told it was good from a friend who used to live in NYC. Only 45 more minutes of walking kiddos, we'll get there and it'll tast amazing. "Look honey, there's big ben"
I gotta say though, the mass of the buildings, and the architecture of the older buildings were nothing short of incredible. There were wonderful sights to behold on the way to Houston St.
We finally arrived at destination three for some much needed food. Peanut butter crackers and granola bars just weren't cutting it. Time for the real deal--Katz's Pastrami Reuben, with Philly Cheese steaks for Jen and GT, and a pile of steak fries and a grilled cheese for Avery. I can't state how good this sandwich was in the blog, you'll just have to take my word for it. Multiple layers of Pastrami aged in a 200 year old cellar mixed with roast beef and sauerkraut. Perfection. Usually I'd be bloated as all getout after eating that, but after another 12 mile day in the loafers, it went down easy and gave all of us energy for the conclusion of our NYC trip.
We still had a couple of places to visit-the Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty, and the WTC memorial. We viewed the Brooklyn Bridge from a far as it was close to 95 degrees and we were all bone tired from walking that day. I snapped a pic to say I saw it, and did the same with the statue of Liberty.
Finally we hit what I wanted to see. The WTC and Memorial. What an absolutely beautiful reflecting pool, and memory of what once was. There were no smiles for me here--only reflection of that day's events. This is something that we lived through, the lives of thousands lost, the first responders lost. Something terrible that happened to people of MY generation. It was hard to grasp, especially since I've worked directly with first responders for the past 15 years, including when the planes hit. A horrible, senseless attack, changing the world forever. NYC did this memorial right. I took pics and choked back tears, remembering that fateful day.
NYC, we'll be back, and will come prepared next time to do some of the things we missed this trip. You're a powerful, beautiful city. Stay strong.
We grabbed a cab, and quickly left grand central station, heading back to Croton. We were all a little amped, and then realized it was pouring rain at our campsite and humid on top of that. Florida humid. A decision was made to just load up and leave that night. We thought we'd find a spot south of NYC in a hotel for the night. Twenty hours later we pulled in the driveway after an all night and half day drive. Was it worth it? Yeah, I believe so after 15 VERY busy days.
Was glad to have 3 days of recovery time after this trip.
4400+ miles, 8 states, and a lifetime of memories. Was it worth it? It's ALWAYS worth it!
Thanks for following along.
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