Day 4, June 26
We started early because we had timed tickets for the Statue of Liberty. I am glad we waited until Monday to have a timed morning thing. It allowed us to ease into the time change a little!
Instead of the subway we chose the East River Ferry boat ride this morning to get us to lower Manhattan. So great to be out on the water with that beautiful, unique skyline. Loved every minute of it. Walked along the water front to Battery Park where we boarded the boat for Liberty Island.
A perfect day to visit Lady Liberty. Blue sky, abundant sunshine. It was amazing. We took our time there and saw it all. Read every placard around the perimeter outside and in the museum inside, listened and followed the audio tour, Keiton got his Junior Ranger badge, and of course I took lots of photos. We spent over 3 hours actually on the island. We had tickets to go up to the pedestal and of course we (as in, Layth) chose the stairs for us all instead of the elevator. A long climb led to gorgeous sweeping views once there. By the time we were done and ready to return it was a little before 2pm and there was a long line to catch a ferry back. I think we waited through 3 full boats. And I've never been so glad that every morning each of us packs in our backpack: a Cliff bar of choice, 1/4 cup almonds, 1/4 cup Mike & Ikes, and a beef stick. We may be sick and tired of those choices after 3 weeks, but it saved our lives today (as in, we didn't kill each other because we were so hungry!). It felt really good to take a break from being on our feet on the ferry ride back.
Finally back in Manhatten we ended up at a New York Deli (they are known for their unique delis) for a very late lunch. A unique experience; eating hot food at a picnic type table in the middle of a convenience type store!
We stopped by Charging Bull for Layth to grab a photo and then onto the 911 Memorial and Museum. I didn't take any pictures there really, at all. Somehow it just didn't seem right to ask the boys to turn and smile in a setting like that. The whole thing was very moving; very sobering; hard at times. But I'm glad we went. Again, we took longer than I had anticipated, not leaving there until close to 7pm.
Our time in New York was coming to a close. We stood outside the museum, near One World Trade Center and Soren spoke up and said he still had a priority list of about 3 he wanted to do which included the MET. I hadn't realized that he had a list and might have moved faster if I'd known! Unfortunately, all the art museums were closed by that time of night. So, Soren didn't get there, and I didn't get to The Highline, get to walk the retail part of 5th Avenue, or peek into the library and Grand Central Station. Among other things. Maybe I'll just have to return some day?!
Because we hadn't eaten lunch until after 3, none of us were very hungry, but we decided we could handle some ice cream, so we stopped in at a place on our way to the East Ferry Landing as we headed back to the hotel. A ferry ride at sunset back to LIC landing was the perfect way to close our day in New York. We landed just before 9pm and the ferry landing was packed with people and activity! Music was playing, the food shack was open and people were everywhere; old and young, families and couple's... It was really interesting. By this time it was nearing full dark and we got to watch the lights of Manhatten on the other side of the river light up while waiting for our hotel transportation to pick us up. It seemed a fitting end to our stay there.
The landing closest to our hotel where we would catch the East River Ferry.
View of New York from Statue of Liberty
911 Memorial
Ice cream for dinner? Sure, why not!
East River Ferry ride at sunset. View of Brooklyn Bridge.
The food stash (some chose Cliff bars instead of the KIND bar) we each packed every day which saved our lives more than a few times!
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