We had some neighbors in California with kids the same age as ours, and they moved to Connecticut a few years ago, so on Tuesday night we drove out to see them. It was late when we got there, but the kids had a fun sleepover, and it was great to catch up with our old friends, even for a little while. My friend Stephanie had to leave very early Weds morning for a business trip, but her husband Tim and their two children decided to join us for our adventure to see the Statue of Liberty on Wednesday.
My kids had only two requests related to places they wanted to visit on our trip: the Statue of Liberty and the White House. Really, those were the only things they know about so far in school. We had planned on skipping New York City and just focusing on Boston and DC, but I really wanted to find a way to work the Statue in, and so this adventure began. I was trying to accommodate both the kids request to see Lady Liberty and my husband’s request to NOT drive in down town Manhattan, so my original plan was to visit from the New Jersey side. But as it turned out, our directions would have taken us through New York to get to New Jersey anyway, and as predicted, even with the GPS system on loan from our friends, we missed our turn, got stuck going over a bridge we didn’t want to go over, had to pay toll twice to get turned around and were stressed out of our minds trying to find a place to park once we finally found Battery Park.
But after that, New York was really cool. We found one of those little markets that are half grocery store, half take-out restaurant, with chairs and tables upstairs, and had lunch pretty much like the locals. There were some people eating lunch and playing cards at the neighboring tables, and of course everyone we asked for a place to eat had sent us to the expensive Italian dining restaurant in the park. So we felt pretty good finding the market on our own. Everything seemed to work out perfect for us when we didn’t have the car to worry about. The line for the ferry was awful, but once we finished lunch it had gone down to nothing. It was a nice boat ride over to Liberty Island with amazing views, and I spent a good 30 minutes just sitting and taking in the New York skyline from the grass in front of the statue. The kids were really bummed that we couldn’t go inside – you had to make reservations in advance for that – but all in all it was a wonderful time.
Even though it’s been six years since 9/11, we couldn’t go to New York without thinking about it. On Liberty Island they have a memorial of trees and a plaque where you would normally have seen the twin towers, and I was surprised at how quickly the emotions came back just being there. We found out we could walk just a few blocks to visit ground zero once we got back to Manhattan, so we decided to do that before leaving. It was a huge construction site and you couldn’t make out much, but there were quite a few memorials already up on the walls in the viewing area.
We read what we could read, stopped at another local market for ice cream, and made our way back along the beautiful stretch of sidewalk along the water back towards our parking place. Once we got back in the car, we immediately got lost again and completely stressed out trying to drive and find the tunnel to New Jersey. So we’ve now learned the lesson of not driving in downtown Manhattan about three times over.
By the time we got out of New York and into New Jersey, Mark and I decided to drive for awhile and get moving down towards our next stop – Washington DC. I did have a cousin in Philadelphia, but with everything going on, we had to bypass that great city as well this time around. One thing about trips like this – you can’t think of it as a “once in a lifetime” experience, or you’ll drive yourself crazy trying to do everything. I keep thinking of course there will be a next time, and now I’ll know better what I want to see and do. But for now, I’ll take in whatever I can take in. Mark and I drove all the way through New Jersey and got a hotel either in Delaware or Maryland. Although we couldn’t see much at night, it became very apparent that there is SO much more to see on the east coast. We passed over the Chesapeake Bay, and I honestly think we’ve passed seven or eight presidential museums or homes.
My kids had only two requests related to places they wanted to visit on our trip: the Statue of Liberty and the White House. Really, those were the only things they know about so far in school. We had planned on skipping New York City and just focusing on Boston and DC, but I really wanted to find a way to work the Statue in, and so this adventure began. I was trying to accommodate both the kids request to see Lady Liberty and my husband’s request to NOT drive in down town Manhattan, so my original plan was to visit from the New Jersey side. But as it turned out, our directions would have taken us through New York to get to New Jersey anyway, and as predicted, even with the GPS system on loan from our friends, we missed our turn, got stuck going over a bridge we didn’t want to go over, had to pay toll twice to get turned around and were stressed out of our minds trying to find a place to park once we finally found Battery Park.
But after that, New York was really cool. We found one of those little markets that are half grocery store, half take-out restaurant, with chairs and tables upstairs, and had lunch pretty much like the locals. There were some people eating lunch and playing cards at the neighboring tables, and of course everyone we asked for a place to eat had sent us to the expensive Italian dining restaurant in the park. So we felt pretty good finding the market on our own. Everything seemed to work out perfect for us when we didn’t have the car to worry about. The line for the ferry was awful, but once we finished lunch it had gone down to nothing. It was a nice boat ride over to Liberty Island with amazing views, and I spent a good 30 minutes just sitting and taking in the New York skyline from the grass in front of the statue. The kids were really bummed that we couldn’t go inside – you had to make reservations in advance for that – but all in all it was a wonderful time.
Even though it’s been six years since 9/11, we couldn’t go to New York without thinking about it. On Liberty Island they have a memorial of trees and a plaque where you would normally have seen the twin towers, and I was surprised at how quickly the emotions came back just being there. We found out we could walk just a few blocks to visit ground zero once we got back to Manhattan, so we decided to do that before leaving. It was a huge construction site and you couldn’t make out much, but there were quite a few memorials already up on the walls in the viewing area.
We read what we could read, stopped at another local market for ice cream, and made our way back along the beautiful stretch of sidewalk along the water back towards our parking place. Once we got back in the car, we immediately got lost again and completely stressed out trying to drive and find the tunnel to New Jersey. So we’ve now learned the lesson of not driving in downtown Manhattan about three times over.
By the time we got out of New York and into New Jersey, Mark and I decided to drive for awhile and get moving down towards our next stop – Washington DC. I did have a cousin in Philadelphia, but with everything going on, we had to bypass that great city as well this time around. One thing about trips like this – you can’t think of it as a “once in a lifetime” experience, or you’ll drive yourself crazy trying to do everything. I keep thinking of course there will be a next time, and now I’ll know better what I want to see and do. But for now, I’ll take in whatever I can take in. Mark and I drove all the way through New Jersey and got a hotel either in Delaware or Maryland. Although we couldn’t see much at night, it became very apparent that there is SO much more to see on the east coast. We passed over the Chesapeake Bay, and I honestly think we’ve passed seven or eight presidential museums or homes.
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