New York City
This Christmas I was able to take advantage of a Groupon (http://www.groupon.com/) for a trip to New York City for the two boys and my husband and I for only $25 a person round trip. It was a good deal then and now, with gas at $4 a gallon, it was an even better bargain. We lined the trip up to coincide with my older son's eighteenth birthday (two holiday specials for one! lol) and this past Friday we all got up at 5:30am and headed to the park and ride to get on the bus. I was surprised at how well six year old Dakota did for those four hours, considering his movie player was only going to last the length of one movie and we couldn't find his Ipod. When we got there we took a short walk around Madison Square Garden and then grabbed a quick bite to eat. We walked to Times Square and I, personally, am completely fascinated with all the lights and sounds and flashing billboards and stories tall movies that are playing all around. We found the giant Toys R Us and spent a good hour in there oooohhhing and aaaahhhhing at the over the top displays and then the boys rode the 3 story tall ferris wheel.
When we left Times Square we took the subway (only $13 round trip for four people!), much easier than I'd anticipated, and went to the Statten Island Ferry station. Dakota was fascinated with Lady Liberty and I was fascinated with the whole scene. Huge orange ferries took hundreds of passengers at a time out to Statten Island, right past the Statue of Liberty and the best part again...Free!! Tour boats in the area cost $45 per person, but you can see everything just as well from the ferry for absolutely nothing. Once on Statten Island we walked to a minor league baseball stadium just past the boat dock and watched a few minutes of a high school baseball game. The stadium was ordinary, but the NY skyline in the background made it something special. Grabbing a quick hot pretzel from a vendor, we boarded the ferry again and headed back to Manhattan. Instead of getting right back on the subway, however, we decided to walk the several blocks to go to see Ground Zero and the 9/11 Memorial. I was at first disappointed because you really can't see anything. Large fences are blocking your view of the construction and I wondered why anyone would come here at this point. Then a gentleman who was selling 9/11 booklets approached us and so kindly paged through pictures of the devastation from that horrible day and pointed out that we were standing right where it all happened. He showed us pictures of the building to our right, destroyed completely and now shiny and black and looking like new. He showed us the Century 21 building next to that, completely gutted by the explosions and now, of course, perfectly fine. We were standing in front of a church and a graveyard....nothing looked out of the ordinary. He showed us a picture, however...one I had seen on the news and in the papers dozens of times, of that very same church and cemetary where we stood now literally buried in debris and dust. It was humbling and awe inspiring. We bought the booklets he offered for a very reasonable $10 for both and then walked around the corner and went into the building where the pictures and memories are all on display. My little son had no idea why we were there and he wasn't exactly well behaved, but for the three of us who remembered, you will never forget being there. Everyone in the building was hushed and the pain was written on their faces. You could stop and look at a fire chief's helmet that was all that was recognizable when they found him after the building's collapse. There were pictures and notes attached to a replica of lady Liberty, films rolling, pictures of the devastation and pictures of hope, the memorial that is set to open this year on September 11, 2011, ten years to the day that our world changed forever.
We hopped on the subway after viewing the memorial and didn't make it back to Times Square until very close to the time we had to catch the bus. We made it to Rockefeller Center to visit the Lego store (not half as good as the one in Arundel Mills) and then walked by Radio City Music Hall to see the who's who in the football draft world that were gathered there. Our hopes for a sit down meal were dashed and we didn't even have time for fast food, so we grabbed a drink and literally ran to the bus where we munched on our snacks from home and Dakota soon fell asleep for the entire ride back. It was an exhausting day, but very memorable and my little guy feels like he has "been there and done that" so we are all happy.
When we left Times Square we took the subway (only $13 round trip for four people!), much easier than I'd anticipated, and went to the Statten Island Ferry station. Dakota was fascinated with Lady Liberty and I was fascinated with the whole scene. Huge orange ferries took hundreds of passengers at a time out to Statten Island, right past the Statue of Liberty and the best part again...Free!! Tour boats in the area cost $45 per person, but you can see everything just as well from the ferry for absolutely nothing. Once on Statten Island we walked to a minor league baseball stadium just past the boat dock and watched a few minutes of a high school baseball game. The stadium was ordinary, but the NY skyline in the background made it something special. Grabbing a quick hot pretzel from a vendor, we boarded the ferry again and headed back to Manhattan. Instead of getting right back on the subway, however, we decided to walk the several blocks to go to see Ground Zero and the 9/11 Memorial. I was at first disappointed because you really can't see anything. Large fences are blocking your view of the construction and I wondered why anyone would come here at this point. Then a gentleman who was selling 9/11 booklets approached us and so kindly paged through pictures of the devastation from that horrible day and pointed out that we were standing right where it all happened. He showed us pictures of the building to our right, destroyed completely and now shiny and black and looking like new. He showed us the Century 21 building next to that, completely gutted by the explosions and now, of course, perfectly fine. We were standing in front of a church and a graveyard....nothing looked out of the ordinary. He showed us a picture, however...one I had seen on the news and in the papers dozens of times, of that very same church and cemetary where we stood now literally buried in debris and dust. It was humbling and awe inspiring. We bought the booklets he offered for a very reasonable $10 for both and then walked around the corner and went into the building where the pictures and memories are all on display. My little son had no idea why we were there and he wasn't exactly well behaved, but for the three of us who remembered, you will never forget being there. Everyone in the building was hushed and the pain was written on their faces. You could stop and look at a fire chief's helmet that was all that was recognizable when they found him after the building's collapse. There were pictures and notes attached to a replica of lady Liberty, films rolling, pictures of the devastation and pictures of hope, the memorial that is set to open this year on September 11, 2011, ten years to the day that our world changed forever.
We hopped on the subway after viewing the memorial and didn't make it back to Times Square until very close to the time we had to catch the bus. We made it to Rockefeller Center to visit the Lego store (not half as good as the one in Arundel Mills) and then walked by Radio City Music Hall to see the who's who in the football draft world that were gathered there. Our hopes for a sit down meal were dashed and we didn't even have time for fast food, so we grabbed a drink and literally ran to the bus where we munched on our snacks from home and Dakota soon fell asleep for the entire ride back. It was an exhausting day, but very memorable and my little guy feels like he has "been there and done that" so we are all happy.
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