We had the most wonderful and amazing opportunity to travel to the Northeast for two weeks in mid-October. This trip was inspired by Fanny actually. When we were studying about New York state during homeschool one day she said she REALLY wanted to go to New York and see the Statue of Liberty, eat a hot dog from a hot dog stand, and see Niagara Falls (all of which we did on this trip, and more...). The main locations we visited were New York City, Boston, Plymouth, Vermont, Palmyra, and Niagara Falls. Joseph and I discussed how much we have been wanting to go to these places ourselves and how educational, cultural, and inspiring it could be for us and the kids. So, we decided to make it happen and went! I am going to attempt to share our experiences in a few blog posts. Hundreds of pictures were taken, so I will TRY to limit how many I include and just hit our major highlights.
It all started with our flights to New York City from Salt Lake City. The kids were so fascinated with the planes and flying. They did a really wonderful job, slept part of the way, and got a huge kick out of taking off and landing. The only hard part was deciding who was going to sit by whom on our fist flight. What I planned on was not what the kids wanted. There was a little drama and some crying, but once we sorted it out, everything was fine and the kids were happy again :).
DAY ONE: New York City
We stayed in a hotel in New Jersey just across the Hudson River near the Lincoln Tunnel and took a shuttle into Manhattan the three days we were there. After figuring out the subway system and which line we needed to take, we hopped on the Metro to get to Lower Manhattan. Our first stop was the Financial District and Wall Street.
Charging Bull
Fearless Girl(s)
Trinity Church
Alexander Hamilton's headstone!
Beautiful doors!
Federal Hall where George Washington was inaugurated and where the fist Congress met.
New York Stock Exchange
Old U.S. Custom House, now the National Museum of the American Indian. I just love all the old buildings.
Fanny got her wish to eat a hot dog from a NYC hot dog stand!!
On the ferry going to see the Statue of Liberty!
It was a bit windy at the top of the pedestal.
View of Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn from the Statue of Liberty. You can even see a small part of Ellis Island on the left.
Ellis Island!!! This place is so fascinating. Too bad we couldn't see as much as we wanted to here. The kids were getting cranky and we realized we were trying to pack too much into one day. So wonderful, though, and very touching to learn about the various groups of people who came to America to seek freedom and a better life.
The Registry Room
Both my maternal grandparents came through Ellis Island. It was very neat and humbling to stand where they were when they came to the United States.
Lower Manhattan skyline again, with a handsome man in the picture this time ;)
The kids wanted to ride in the Fishbowl merry-go-round at Battery Park after we got off the ferry. Not something we planned on, but you are only in NYC once :).
Riding on the Metro. Nora wanted that Statue of Liberty foam crown so badly. I told her I wasn't going to get her one but that she could buy herself one with her own money, so she did. She was so excited to wear it.
♪ "They say the neon lights are bright..." ♫
Waiting for our shuttle to take us back to the hotel.
DAY TWO: New York City
We started the day at The American Museum of Natural History. A huge favorite with all of us. There is SOOO much to see there. Didn't get to do all of it (that would take days or weeks even), but we thoroughly enjoyed what we did get to see. The kids were just so excited to go to the same museum from the movie "Night at the Museum."
Easter Island head.
Anthon kept saying, "Hey Dumb Dumb, you give me gum gum." Haha!
Rex!!
I asked them to stand by the totem pole for a picture and got these awesome poses. This museum is truly amazing!! I would go back to NYC just to spend several days here. Joseph and I really wanted to go to the Met, but decided we better just go to one museum with the kids and thought they would enjoy the Museum of Natural History best, which they did.
Next was Central Park. We all really loved it there, too. So nice to get away from the hustle and bustle and see all the greenery. Leaves weren't changing much yet, but we got a lot of that in Vermont ;). This park is truly beautiful! It is amazing how it is right in the middle of city. This is a view from the Belvedere Castle. Fun little spot.
Several times I had the kids give a little money to the musicians and performers in the city.
They loved playing on the rocks.
Alice in Wonderland Statue.
Watching the little sail boats and relaxing by the water.
Hans Christian Andersen statue.
Bethesda Fountain!
OK, so I played the meanest joke on Nora. I told her to go stand by this "statue" so I could take a picture of her by it. Hehe. She ran right up to him and he turned and looked down at her. It scared her so much. I felt bad because she was so mad at me. I tried to talk to her and get her to go take a picture with him. I told her it was just for fun and that he was a nice guy. She wouldn't do it, though, but Anthon was happy to. The guy really was nice. He kept looking at Nora with an expression of "I'm sorry" on his face and put his hands on his heart. We gave him a pretty big tip in the end. I'm such a mean mom, haha.
The big bubbles guy was a big hit. The kids had a lot of fun popping bubbles for a little while.
Now this is what the kids will tell you was their favorite part of the whole trip. Black Tap milkshakes!!! They were amazing! The milkshake itself wasn't anything special, but all the stuff they put on it was super yummy and so much fun! The kids actually didn't get one whole one to themselves, by the way. The three milkshakes were split between the five of us ;).
The M&M store!!!
Times Square. This place was INSANE!!! Not sure why we thought it was a good idea to walk through at night, but I guess we had to do it once.
Oh the things you see in NYC :). Thought this was fun!
Crashed!!
DAY THREE: New York City
We started our third day at Ground Zero, the site of the 9/11 attacks on the two World Trade Center towers. These first two pictures were by this fun balloon flower fountain.
I can't even begin to describe what I felt as we walked up to the two pools where the towers used to be. It takes your breath away. The design is so symbolic. I shed a few tears as we stood quietly and contemplated the loss that took place there.
The girls reading some of the names of those who lost there lives during 9/11.
We had planned to go up to the observatory of the One World Trade Center, but it was such a cloudy day. The ticket takers were saying it wouldn't even be worth it, so we decided not to. I happened to catch this picture in a brief instant when the clouds cleared momentarily. Most of the time we were in the area we couldn't even see the top of the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.
The Oculus building was pretty neat.
St. Paul's Chapel, also called "The Little Chapel that Stood," is the oldest building in NYC. It was a place of refuge after the 9/11 attacks for those assisting in the area, and a miracle that it was not affected. It is also where George Washington participated in a prayer service with congress after his inauguration. He even redid his inaugural oath on a Bible in the chapel.
Next stop was Grand Central Station. The kids were excited about this because they know it from an early scene in the movie Madagascar. Haha.
Really fun thing I read about before we left that I was excited to try if we got to Grand Central Station was the Whispering Gallery. You can stand at opposite ends of this arch and whisper or talk into the corner and the person on the other side can hear you clearly!! It was so cool!
You can't not see a Broadway show in NYC. Do you like my double negative there? Haha! We thought Aladdin at the Amsterdam Theater would be the perfect show for our family. The girls LOVED it! It was a bit of a struggle to keep Anthon contained and quiet during the production, which made it a little harder for me to enjoy it, but what do you do with a 4-year old for three hours when you are visiting NYC?? It was a pretty fantastic show, though! The Genie was PHENOMENAL!!
And that wraps up our amazing three days in NYC.
DAY FOUR: Drive to Boston
After the NYC leg of the trip we rented a car and headed to Boston. First we made a swing over into Queens where we got to find my maternal grandfather's headstone in a huge Jewish cemetery. Super special experience. I never met my grandfather, Ari. He died before I was born. I am named after him. The headstone was intended for both my grandparents, but my grandmother is buried in Israel. I never knew her either. It was very touching to be able to take the time to be here. One day I will be reunited with my grandparents in heaven, and it will be a beautiful reunion.
This is the marker to my grandfather's Jewish society section.
The children by their Great-Grandfather's grave.
After spending time in the cemetery, we drove through Connecticut and Rhode Island to get to Massachusetts. We then checked into our Airbnb rental just outside of Boston for the next leg of our trip. To catch more of our adventures, stay tuned for my next blog post...
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