Visiting a place like New York City with a crew of kids is a rather daunting proposition, but we had two things going for us. First, we were visiting on a Sunday, when the city is relatively quiet. Second, our friend Gordon had given us some good planning advice and was there to meet us and show us around. In addition, we benefitted from a marked cool-down from the heat wave that just went through the East when we were at Gettysburg. We even had a few drops of rain early in the morning.
We started off on the Staten Island Ferry. Not only is this a free way to get to Manhattan, parking at the ferry lot is free on Sundays. The ferry gave us a great view of the Statue of Liberty, thus eliminating the need for us to pay for the costly (time and money) ferry to Liberty Island.
Gordon was a great help in taking us to places I never would have thought to visit. That included the statue of George Washington in front of Federal Hall, the place of his inauguration.
Location of George Washington’s Inauguration
Tomb of Alexander Hamilton. Luke holds a $10 bill.
We also visited Trinity Church and St. Paul’s Chapel, both historic institutions in the city. We were not able to approach very close to Ground Zero, and I believe we missed by about a month the new visitor’s center to be dedicated on the tenth anniversary of the attack.
Interior of Trinity Church, apparently haunted by a church mouse.
Katie hugs a bronze businessman.
If I had an extra day in the city, I would have enjoyed touring the antiquities collection at the Metropolitan Museum. Instead I settled for seeing the so-called “Cleopatra’s Needle,” an Egyptian obelisk inscribed by two of the greatest of the Egyptian pharaohs, Thutmose III and Ramses II.
“Cleopatra’s Needle” in Central Park
Prior to a little research before our trip, I had no idea that Central Park was the size of a city itself and that the value of the property, should it be sold, is about $528 billion. We walked through a small portion of it and I was impressed by the general cleanliness and apparent safety. (News reports had led me to believe that the park was primarily utilized by joggers and muggers.)
Overview of part of Central Park from Belvedere Castle. Our two friends and guides flank Mark and Bethany.
Our last stop was in Times Square. There was some concern that this might be an unpleasant day since this was the very first day that homosexual “marriage” was allowed in New York, but we saw nothing disturbing related to that event.
The family in Times Square.
If the boys were writing this, they ‘d make sure to mention each time we rode the subway between sites. It served as good transportation for us, but I can’t imagine getting to work each day that way.
Looks like a fun trip. Love seeing all the family pics….although there is one thing that makes me annoyed. Each time I enlarge a photo they are ALL properly labeled and organized.
-photo label-er underachiever
Mindy – congratulations to you and Chris on the baby!
Because my memory is bad, I make it a high priority to label photos soon after I take them, even if I don’t do anything else (and I usually don’t do anything else). I admit that I have failed at doing this in recent years with family, though I excuse that on grounds that I won’t forget which one is Luke. But for a trip like this, it won’t be long before I confuse Trinity Church with St. Paul’s Chapel.
That was a clever idea to hold up the $10 there. It would’ve been neat to hold up the $1 at Fed Hall, the $5 back at the Lincoln Memorial, $100 at BF’s grave (not far from the Liberty Bell). Oh well… I always think of things too late! Glad y’all had a fun time covering so many cool historic sites!
In regards to Alexander Hamilton’s tomb:
Did you know that my relative (on my paternal grandmother’s side),Aaron Burr, shot Alexander Hamilton? ;)
Ilena – if the question is “did I know that your relative was the crazy killer, Aaron Burr,” the answer is no. If, however, the question is, “might I have guessed?,” what that’s a different question :-).