We're off to NY to visit Kristy and take a trip to The Big Apple!
We've arrived!
We went to Lilac Playground which is completely made of old logs.
Then we headed next door to the Lamberton Conservatory
Hit Lake Ontario Lake and Pier for sun bathing (that water was way too cold to go into more than ankle deep) and an ice cream treat.
For dinner, this amazing place called Super Crab Juicy Seafood was awesome.
The next morning we took a walk along the Erie Canal.
We took a dip in the pool at the complex and packed for NYC.
On our way to The Big Apple!
6 hours later, we swung past the city and headed to Massapequa, Long Island to see Nana's childhood home and hood.
It was so cute! The whole neighborhood was adorable. Everyone's lawn neat and all the homes taken care of.
Unfortunately no one answered the door but the windows were open and through the storm door Kristy snapped a picture of what the inside looks like now.
Nana's old high school which is now a middle school.
Our 1st bridge of many we drove over.
We drove back through New York to New Jersey and went to a park which faced the back side of The Statue of Liberty.
Further north in Jersey is where we stayed at SureStay-Best Western. It was recently remodeled (actually they were still working on some floors but not ours) so everything was fresh and new. We walked across the street to the Carnegie Diner which was also part bar and loud and fun.
The next morning we drove through the Lincoln Tunnel.
After we handed the car off at a sketchy garage on the side of a main street...literally jump out of the car, keys in the ignition, hope you grab everything, and here's a ticket.
The High Line was first. It's a park built on historic elevated rail lines over the streets of Manhattan.
There were a lot of interesting buildings, plants and flowers, and art along the walk. Over Canyon's head way back there is a tiny red tree. We decided to go check that out after we hit the Chelsea Market on this end.
The Chelsea Market is indoor shopping which feels underground. It was refreshing to be in the air conditioning for awhile.
We got a snack and drinks to cool down.
The 1 day this Little Island was closed of course is the day we were closest to it. The island is a park on cement columns which reminded me of giant golf tees, It's at Pier 55 on the Hudson River.
Back up to the High Line on the sidewalk elevator.
We made it to the Old Tree. It's a 25 foot tall sculpture. I think it's meant to represent a real tree and how they closely resemble human organs and our connection to nature.
Can't go without a slice of NY pizza! And this pizza didn't disappoint. It was really good!
Then we drove through the Friends neighborhood. Very cute area.
We drove by the One World Trade Center but had discussion that we really need to figure something out because we were stuck to be driving ourselves and never getting out or finding a garage and being stuck to that area only because garages were $40 a day and up.
So, we attempted to figure out the subway. Thank goodness for Kristy because I would not have done that on my own.
Off we go!
So, interestingly, we came to the Trade Center Memorial and looked around. Then we saw this building and thought it looks pretty cool, what is it? Apparently it's the building we came out of when we got there. We were so turned around and had no clue until we went back inside and I thought, wait a minute, we were here already. Haha.
The Oculus
Inside The Oculus
Back in Jersey, we ate dinner at Houlihan's and got frozen yogurt.
Today is going to be a big day. We have 5 or 6 landmark buildings to check off our list and have to walk between each one.
Empire State Building
NY Public Library
Grand Central Station
St. Patrick's Cathedral
Rockefeller Center
Street dog for lunch
Radio City Music Hall
Times Square
No matter where we went, Canyon found a place to sit. It was a big walking day to see all these landmarks.
We stopped at a few stores to souvenir shop.
Then we decided to get tickets for the Top View bus. They included a 2 day pass and a ferry around the Statue of Liberty and we can hop on and hop off to see things.
Our 1st stop was all the way out to catch the Ferry but we were 7 minutes late! So we had to blow time with nothing around for 2 hours before the next one. We found a Dunkin and took advantage of that having air conditioning. I also found my new favorite frozen coffee!
Here comes our boat.
I'm glad we went or we would have just see her from the back in New Jersey.
Back on the Top View and it started to sprinkle so they handed out ponchos. Rain happened a few times on our trip but only lasted a few minutes.
Street pretzels but no cheese so they weren't that great.
This beautiful mural is on a building in New Jersey by the subway.
I don't know how many miles we walked today but we had to get blood out of our feet tonight. It was a really busy day!
Back to the Empire State Building to visit the observation deck this morning.
Going up in the elevator the ceiling had a movie of the workers building it as you went up. It was really cool. We didn't know it was going to happen so I couldn't record it.
All the walls in the museum part had video continuously playing of the workers.
One level was inside observing and another level was outside.
Today was pretty overcast but we still had a good view.
We were headed to a chicken place for lunch but along the way decided to go have a sit down meal at Margaritaville.
Back on the Top View to circle Central Park. Then decided to hop off about half way around to go to the Museum of Natural History. That place needs a whole day itself so we only hit the rooms we most wanted to see.
Giant Sequoia that lived more than 1,400 years.
Nothing like a 3 foot tall spider!
This room was AMAZING! It was really cold in here but I could live there. All the little windows in the picture on the 2 levels are actually entire seascapes with life size dolphins and sharks and squid...The whale in the middle, 95 feet long.
We could have seen so much more but this is day 4 and we are pretty spent. Back out to wait for the Top View bus. And wait, and wait, and wait. Turns out the bus stops running a 4 and it's 5:09!!! So, now it's a long walk through Central Park to get back to where we started.
Beautiful walking and separate jogging trails. Horses and buggies, bicyclist, families and dogs.
We walked all the way through and then up to Times Square again. Back past the Empire state Building and back to the Subway.
Goodbye NYC!
Heading out of Jersey the next morning we stopped for breakfast.
We had diner with Caleb who just started on his new job.
Said our goodbyes to him and headed back to AR early the next morning.
It was a great trip and I can check NYC off the bucket list and all the landmarks. I'm glad Canyon held up as well as he did with the heat and the long long days of walking. As long as he got a drink or a snack every couple hours, he was good to go. I'm also glad we did the extra things we didn't even plan on like the ferry and observation deck for sure and the bus and subway too!
Thanks sis for the experiences!!
