We had to "cash in" on a mountain of points to stay right in the heart of the Big Apple, but it was worth it. The girls were thrilled and so were we! We had a clear view of the Empire State Building from our window, so allow me to show off some of our fun and silly pictures.
Aaagh! It's King Kong!
Jackson really preferred this view since all the traffic looked like real-life Matchbox cars moving around down there.
Once we got ourselves settled and had a game of Daddy throwing everyone on the big bed, we decided to hit Central Park via the subway system. It was already late afternoon.
There was a subway station close to the hotel, and we boarded a train for the park. Jackson was keenlyl interested in the pulsing traffic, both pedestrian and vehicular that was rushing in every direction. For once, he didn't object to his stroller; he was to enamored of the noises and movement in every direction. Everyone did very well on the subway, by the way.
We had no idea how huge Central Park was until we reached it. We were walking the pathways for what seemed like a very long time, and barely saw a small corner of it. There were people there doing every conceivable thing under the sun. A group of flyfishermen were along the banks of a pond. Some models outlandish costumes were posing for a photographer. There were joggers and walkers and rollerbladers and bikers and carriage rides. A couple was having engagement pictures taken on a bridge. A group was doing tai chi. Picnics and naps seemed to be the most common activities. We found carousel rides and a dog park, children's playground equipment and sports fields.
I had to include this picture of Jackson, engaged in his most common activity of the summer, losing - and being shoved back into - a shoe.
Once nature's light began to grow very long, we decided to return to Times Square, which Maddie was looking forward to seeing all lit up. We were there for the sunset, along with the Naked Cowboy, who apparently is world famous. Alas, I did not take any pictures of this man, clothed only in tighty-whiteys, cowboy boots, a large hat, and a guitar, although he had a long line of admirers with cameras. We saw people of every continent, country, state, race, language, age, gender (I started to wonder if there might be more than two?), and personal propensity imaginable. It was fascinating and huge.
Before we ventured out that afternoon, Franz and I had a big talk with the girls about staying close to us, and what to do if we became separated. I put small slips of paper with our names and cell phone numbers in each of their pockets, and advised them to stay where they were, but back up against a wall so as not to be swept away by the crowd. We let them know we'd be doing a full-family scan every two minutes so they would never be separated by more than that if it ever happened. Thankfully, in the entire summer, we did not have to experience that once!
After wandering endlessly, we realized we were hungry. We settled, oddly enough on a Red Lobster. I guess we were craving a little familiar comfort food in the face of so much newness, largeness, and strangeness. It was late and we were wiped out.
The next day, we decided to head to the Statue of Liberty via Grand Central Station, which was several large blocks away. It was grandiose and beautiful in the main terminal.
When we arrived at the docking area for the Statue of Liberty tours, we saw what would be a commonplace occurence in these huge East Coast cities; a bazillion people. The lines were hours long. We don't have very patient waiters in our group. While I stood in the mile-long line, Franz went scouting, as only a Forman can. He discovered a lineless cruise that would take us around the harbor, but not stop at the actual statue. Well, that was fine with all of us. I hated to think of jostling Jackson through the statue itself anyway. So, we headed over to that cruise and enjoyed a narrated tour in the freedom of relatively few companions which was a welcome break from the overwhelming crowds we are not accustomed to in the Great Wide West.
Here is Jackson admiring a passing boat; really the only thing that interested him on this little excursion since there were no crowds to watch.
We noted the New York skyline, Twin Towerless now for ten years. You can just see the memorial they are constructing on that spot. As soon as we disembarked, we walked the long distance to Ground Zero to see the construction for ourselves.
In the shadow of this mighty project, we sat on the steps of a nearby building, imaging the horrors of the terrorist attack that fateful September day. It was very sobering. The girls had just begun hearing of this part of our history within the past year. They were awed into silence, which rarely happens.
As we walked back toward a subway station that would take us to the hotel, we passed this icon of hope that you may remember from the photographs taken of the wreckage of the Twin Towers in the days shortly after the attack when New York was coming together to search for survivors. This was an I-beam that was recovered, broken exactly into the image of the cross. It is currently planted along one of the streets nearby with the plaque below, awaiting its final home in the completed memorial.
Madeline, and Katie especially, had been really enjoying the subway rides in New York, so we took a couple of pictures on our last ride of the night.
Silly girl, Katie refused to sit on the half-empty subway, just as she had every ride. She loved to stand and twirl around on the posts.
Here, above, is the everlasting proof of what country bumpkins we looked like, holding up traffic in Times Square to load suitcases, coolers, trailerhitch racks, and kids. Hilarious, so we might as well own it proudly!!
Navigating his way out of the city that late afternoon, Franz shockingly commented that driving in NYC was almost too much for him, lover of driving that he is. I'm just glad that it wasn't me behind the wheel in that city. Moving a large SUV through that city is not for the faint of heart! Weary and happy, the kids fell asleep in the backseat, confident that their Daddy would steer them right and they would awaken in yet another fun place to explore next.
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