NYC Day 5 - July 6

(Dave continues to guest blog)

This was my favorite day so Nikki is letting me type it up. We began by taking the 4 and 6 trains to Brooklyn (we had to switch to the express at 42nd). These trains were fairly packed because it was a work day, so it helped a lot to have April along.



The day began with a hike on the Brooklyn bridge from Brooklyn into Manhattan. Even though it was only 8:30, the temperature was already in the 90s. At least there was a slight breeze coming up the east river, which added to the shade directly under the supports allowed for some happiness. * Nikki adds : "while it was fairly hot, walking across the brooklyn bridge was really cool"


Once in Manhattan we quickly toured what we could in downtown. We saw the world trade center site, which is now busy with construction. We also searched for bathrooms - no luck at the Federal Post Office Bldg; better luck at Burger King. We walked past Alexander Hamilton's grave, through Trinity Church, and down Wall Street. This part was fairly uninteresting for the kids (except for the bull statue), but Dave enjoyed it. The kids and Dad had lunch at a falafel stand, while Mom and April stood in line for 1/2 price broadway tickets. The hope was to get Mary Poppins and take the older boys, but after standing in line they learned that the booth only sold the "good" seats, which were still very pricy even at half off. So Mom and April got tickets to Phantom and the boys will have to wait to go to a show.





After lunch we rushed to Castle Clinton to pick up our tickets for the statue of liberty (you have to reserve 6 months in advance to get to the crown, which only reopened in 2009). We stood in unshaded 100 temps for about 30 minutes while waiting to get on the ferry. At least we had a family from Madrid to speak spanish to and discuss the upcoming world cup semi-final vs. Germany.

The Statue of Liberty was definitely the highlight of the trip (in Dave's opinion). We toured the ground floor museum (which was air conditioned!) and then went up to the pedestal. Only kids over 44 inches were allowed to climb to the top, so we went in two group. Nikki, April, Noah and Ammon went first, while I stayed with Ian and the girls. Then Ian and I climbed together. Because I had the camera, the only pictures are ones I (or Ian) took. Hopefully we'll have April's pictures soon so we can post their trip up. * Nikki adds " walking up to the crown of the Statue of Liberty was very cool, but I must say, that I am not a fan of high places or tight spaces, so I was a little bit in a panic until we were back down to the pedestal."













After the Statue of Liberty, we took another ferry to nearby Ellis Island. We watched a 30 minute video on the "immigrant experience," but everyone except for Nikki and April fell asleep within 1 minute of the room going dark. (Nikki says the film was great). We then toured through the various rooms - medical rooms, judicial panels, money exchanges, etc. The kids favorite by far was the money exchange room which showed coins and bills from all over the world.

We took the last boat from Ellis Island back to Battery Park / Manhattan, and then the 4/6 trains back home. *Nikki adds " Ellis Island was an awesome experience, It really gave me a taste of what my Italian ancestors had to go through to make it to America. The kids really enjoyed the 'immigrant experience' I was amazed by how fascinated they were with everything."