The Final Stop: NEW YORK CITY

If I ever want to restore my faith in humanity I will head straight to the NYC, specifically the subway.  When we were in NYC almost 7 year ago we were in awe of how overwhelmingly nice strangers were.  This trip I was equally impressed.  I wish I thought my kids were old enough to pick up on the fact that it always seems to be people who have less who are willing to share more.  There were an awful lot of people who offered to stand so my kids could sit even thought they themselves looked pretty tired.  A man on the subway saw that Gabby had a cut that started bleeding and went up to Dan who was standing across from her and handed him two bandaids.  We stayed in our friend’s apartment and his downstairs neighbors sent up a plate of food from their Iftar, which was delicious.  I am incredibly grateful for all of these random acts of kindness.

I had soooo many things I wanted to do in NYC, however by the time we got there my will to be on a tight schedule and cram everything in was broken.  Perhaps that was for the best.  We got to spend time with amazing high school friends.  The girls got to walk dogs, which reminded them of the book their preschool teacher wrote called “Gigi’s Window.”  We spent lots of time in Central Park.  We also spent a lot of time explaining the differences between a park and playground.  We found plenty of playgrounds to keep everyone happy.  We saw the 9/11 Memorial, which was incredibly moving.  We took the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  I wish we’d taken less time at the Statue of Liberty and more at Ellis Island.  We didn’t make it to a Broadway show, but I’m pretty convinced if you stuck any of us in a dark theater we’d have fallen immediately to sleep.  We also didn’t make it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but there has to be something to go back for right? 

Professionals at work

Hands free walking

Gabby^2

Time Square at night is incredible and overwhelming

Wandering around Prospect Park

Grand Central Station

Sometimes you just need to sit down with a good book.  NY public library is just the place for a rest!

Way too fast for my taste!

She read the book in his hands much to the delight of the people standing near us who insisted I get pictures

Shared food from the downstairs neighbors.  DELISH!

Doesn't everyone go to NYC and ride around the subway with dogs?

Beyond words

Memorial for Orlando

Stay classy

Major toe jam

Audio tours are our fave!  Ellis Island's was especially good.

This may explain why a broadway show was out of the question :(

Final leg on Amtrak