I was a bit nervous about driving into Philly this morning during rush hour in order to make the train connection to New York, so I made everyone get up at five so we had plenty of time. It was a good thing I did because we were none too early.
Connie only lives 12 miles east of Philadelphia, so with no traffic, it’s not a bad drive, then it’s 90 minutes on the train and we were in the heart of New York City. We were all energized to be there, so the lack of sleep didn’t affect us at all.
We arrived at 8am at Penn Station, just a block or so from the Empire State Building, so we thought we’d cross that off our list to-do list right from the get-go. What a good choice that was. It had just opened and there were no lines. As we saw, once we got inside, it could have been worse than Disneyland, with the back and forth roped off areas just to buy a ticket… it went on and on and on. Whew. No waiting for us, and no real crowds uptop either. Also, the skies were gray but the visibility was still pretty good. Later in the day it poured down rain so once again the early viewing was a true blessing. We took a few photos, pointed out some spots of interest in the city to Kaleb and we were back hitting the sidewalks in half an hour.
Kaleb made a list of the things he wanted to see and do in New York, mostly based on sights he’s seen in different movies, or things he’s read about. The Empire State Building was written about in the Percy Jackson book series so that got his heart beating when we took the elevator up to the top. We stuck to his wish list, since Kory and I did New York on our anniversary, 20 years ago. Fortunately, most things Kaleb wanted were just on the “see” list and didn’t cost a thing.
We took the subway (one of the items on the “to-do” list), down to lower Manhattan to see Ground Zero, the Statue of Liberty and Wall Street. They were all within just blocks of each other so walking around provided lots of other opportunities. We ran across the Smithsonian Native American museum so we went inside and learned a few things there. They had a cool hands-on display about how Indians tanned leather and it was there we learned that an animal’s brain is just the right size to be used in making the paste (add lard and lye) to preserve the hide. Yuck. It was a great museum though and we could have stayed half the day there, but we were on a mission to see other things.
The Statue of Liberty is easily visible from the shoreline and Kaleb had no desire to go see it up close and personal, so we stood by the water and took photos from afar. Kaleb wanted goofy photos with him in the foreground, looking like he was eating it (see photo above), using it as a toothpick, sticking it up his nose… little boy things. So we had fun with that for a while.
We were all bummed out when we walked over to the NY Stock Exchange (above) though, to find out they no longer allow people to go watch the trading floor. Kaleb’s owned stock in companies since he was five years old and has a great interest in the stock market, but we could only see the outside of the building. Ever since 9/11, they closed down the public access part. One more freedom lost.
Kory spent a good deal of time just standing on the sidewalk next to Ground Zero (see photo above of the wall memorial), watching the construction workers, work. They are opening a big memorial center in a few weeks for the 10 year anniversary of the event and the area was all abuzz. It’s not much to look at these days, but we got up on a viewing platform and took a few photos.
All over New York, every corner had 2-3 police officers just standing around. It must be one of the biggest employers in the city and I’ve never seen such police presence everywhere. Some places even had soldiers in uniform with Uzi’s strapped to their sides. I wasn’t worried about personal safety, that’s for sure.
We took the subway back up to Midtown at noon and had lunch in a great deli in Time’s Square. It started raining pretty hard when we were there and the black cloud overhead almost gave us that “after dark” experience with the whole place lit up with moving signs and billboards. What a zoo that place is, but lots of good “energy.” Kaleb was pleased to discover the Toys-R-Us store across the intersection so we made a bee-line in there until the rain died down. That place is incredible, and even has a Ferris Wheel right in the entrance that people were riding on. I think that will be the thing Kaleb remembers about NY more than anything – just how huge and impressive that store was.
Every other place we wanted to see was within walking distance (if you’re in good shape, have no blisters, and the day isn’t too hot), so we walked. I was so thankful for that cooling rain, even though the humidity was high, the temperature was perfect. We went to Rockefeller Center, where Kaleb enjoyed the Lego store and the Nintendo store, but wasn’t the least bit interested in a tour of NBC Studios. He didn’t even know what NBC was or any shows they produce so the idea wasn’t too impressive for him. We walked past Radio City Music Hall, but again, Kaleb had no idea what was so special about that place. But he could have stayed all day at the New York City Library and he loved Grand Central Station (but he was quick to point out the things that had been changed in the movies he's seen filmed there.) He did enjoy FAO Schwartz toy store, however, where some of the props from the latest Smurf’s movie were on display. They’d filmed part of that movie in the store so that got his attention. It was right across from Central Park, so we took a stroll through there as well.
I thought we’d hail a cab to get back down to Penn Station, as I was so tired of walking by then and had a huge blister on my pinky, but we popped into a Brookstone store and the guy let me sit in the massage chair for about 10 minutes for the full body treatment and that rejuvenated me like nothing else could have. The chair squeezed my arms and legs, massaged my back, vibrated my feet and tilted me back so the blood rushed into my head. I felt like I could tackle Manhattan all over again after that bit of refreshment. Sweet.
Kaleb was disappointed I had energy to walk back to Penn station, since the last thing on his to-do list was to hail a cab. We were only five blocks from it, but I let him do it anyway. It cost under five bucks, so it was worth it, as he stood on the curb with his arm out (see below), got the cab’s attention, then told him “Penn Station” like he was a real New Yorker. That gave him a thrill.
We had dinner at another deli as Kaleb wanted “Lox and bagels” to complete his New York experience. I just had a pretzel from a sidewalk vendor to complete mine.
We had a really great time and Kaleb was impressed by all the city has to offer and wished we lived closer or could visit more often. I’m sure we’ll be back. He kept saying, “Wouldn’t it be great to be able to just come here and go shopping?” I told him many people do – they even fly over from Europe for a weekend for that very purpose.
Twelve hours after we arrived, we departed. It was the perfect amount of time and we were back at Connie’s by 10:30. What a great day. Kaleb’s only disappointment was that we didn’t buy an I (HEART) NY t-shirt. Oh well, at least he’s now “Been there, done that.”
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