We spent three day in New Jersey. Tuesday and Thursday (June 18th & 20th) were spent in Ringwood as we visited with Jennifer's Aunt Ann and Uncle Ernie and her cousins and their families. Wednesday (June 19th) was our day to spend in New York City and to take in as much of the city as we could. Instead of giving a blow by blow account of each day, I'm going to combine the two family days into one entry and give one entry to NYC. I've decided to start with the latter and then write about the former.
Our somewhat hair-raising adventure in Pittsburgh solidified this notion in my head, but we decided before leaving on our trip that we would not drive in NYC. I considered it when I first started planning, but as the time grew closer for us to leave, I began feeling that it would be better to use alternatives modes of transportation. A train station was located not far from the Best Western. Tuesday night, Jen and I used the free guest computer to check out train times and prices as well as the subway system. We felt the best option was to become commuters. Before we went to bed, we talked to Ben and Isaac about keeping close together and being alert. We wanted to have fun, but we also wanted to make sure we were safe.
The train station was within walking distance, so we gave the Optima a break. During our trip, we would need to make a transfer in Secaucus. I have to admit to being a bit nervous about switching trains since none of us had any idea where to go. We were given the first of several tender mercies when a man in a business suit struck up a conversation with us. When he learned we were going into the city, he offered to help us make the transfer and then he stayed with us when we reached Penn Station and gave advice on places to go and even a place to eat. We thanked him and he went on his way. To start our city visit off right, we had decided to make the Manhattan Temple the first stop on our homemade tour. After figuring out that we needed to take the "red line," I bought a metro card and we got on the subway.
Disembarking at the Columbus station, we walked up the stairs to get our first look at the city. It had rained the day before and the weather was just right--bright and cool. After being on the train or underground for about an hour and a half, walking up out of the subway and seeing the temple on the opposite corner was a neat experience; like finding something comforting in the midst of the unfamiliar--it set a nice tone for our city visit. We took pictures and then went inside the building to look around. Another set of doors would have taken us into the temple. To the right of those doors was a Family History center. We went up the elevator to the second floor and found a distribution center and a media center. Leaving the temple, we decided to walk around a little bit to stretch our legs and get a feel of the city. We found that the temple is across the street from Lincoln Center and the Julliard School is nearby as well.
The next place we wanted to visit was the 9/11 Memorial. We headed back down to the subway, used the metro card and hopped on the train . . . it wasn't long before I realized we were going the wrong way. I usually have a pretty good sense of direction (seriously), but I have to admit that I found myself completely turned around on this trip on more than one occasion (frequently, actually). Quietly berating myself for wasting money going the wrong way, we figured out how to get to the other side of the tracks to catch the train headed in the right direction. Realizing I needed to put more money on the card in order for us to get through the gate, I found a kiosk and started to read the instructions. Meanwhile, Jennifer felt impressed to talk to the transit worker sitting in the booth. She told him what had happened and he said he would buzz us through the gate. Jen got my attention before I started on the card and we slipped through the gate and caught the correct train.
Disembarking a few blocks north of the memorial (I couldn't quite tell which stop to use and we found that things weren't as far apart as they seemed on the map), we followed the signs to what was called the "preview site." It was here that we received our tickets and made a donation to the memorial. While the new World Trade Center building and the other buildings in the new complex are being built, entry into the memorial is by ticket only and we had to pass through at least three ticket checks (one with a bag check and another with metal detectors) before we were able to actually enter the memorial area. The outside of the new building (I think it's called WTC 1) is pretty much completed. The other new buildings in the complex are in various stages of development. I was very impressed with the memorial. The "footprints" of the original Twin Towers have been lined with the names of those who died in the airplanes that were used by the terrorists, the Pentagon, the Towers and the attack on the towers made in 1993 when a bomb exploded in an underground garage of one of the buildings. Water pours down the sides of the walls to collect in the center. A 9/11 museum is also on the site and will be open at some point (I don't recall exactly when). The other thing of note is the "survivor tree." This tree was the only tree to survive the collapse of the buildings. When the workers found it, the tree was an 8-foot-tall stump. It was nursed back to health and is now 30 feet tall. The tree was replanted in the memorial area. A storm back in 2010 uprooted it, but it continued to live. The tree was replanted again and is presently secured with guide wires until it can support itself. I was very impressed with the Memorial--it was very well done and brought the entire 9/11 tragedy into greater focus for me.
The new main WTC building.
A view to give an idea of what the Memorial looks like (South Tower).
There were several names that had either roses placed in the etching or American flags.
The "Survivor Tree"
From the Memorial, we decided to save our Metro card and walk down to Battery Park. We had already been disappointed to learn that the Statue of Liberty was not going to be open in time for our trip (not long before we left I found out it would reopen July 4th). Hurricane Sandy had not damaged the statue, but the storm surge and winds and torn up the sidewalks, docks and other support structures around the statue. I had considered possibly taking a harbor cruise that would take us close to the statue, but the cheapest one was nearly $20 per person. I couldn't justify $80 just to get a closer look. If I was going to pay that kind of money, I figured I should be able to actually get on the island and walk up the statue. We also considered taking the Staten Island ferry for free, but by this time it was nearly 2:30. I didn't know how long a round trip on the ferry would take us and if doing so would hamper us from seeing the other things on our list. In the end, we contented ourselves with taking pictures and video from the park and having some authentic New York City style pizza for lunch.
After lunch, we needed to get back on the subway to go up into the Times Square area. We found two helpful workers who pointed us to the subway entrance and instructed me on how to put a few more bucks on my metro card (when I showed my card, one nudged the other and said, "Hey, check out the new metro card!"). Ben took video of us (and I took video of him) riding the New York subway. When we reached Times Square, we found ourselves in the most crowded area we had experienced up to that point. It was loud, with things going on everywhere. There were shops and cars and people crossing the street before the light turned green. It was chaotic (kind of what I had expected, but hadn't seen yet). We saw the New Year's ball, Radio City Music Hall and Rockefeller Center. Ben and Isaac found a huge Lego store and made sure we entered and paid proper respect to all things Lego. :) After a visit to Saint Patrick's Cathedral, we decided to see the Empire State Building. We got some directions from a police officer (turns out it was several blocks from where we were--it came into view moments after we left him).
A block or so later after crossing the street, Isaac suddenly stopped walking for some reason and Jennifer, who hadn't noticed, bumped into him. The collision was just enough that she lost her balance and tumbled to the sidewalk (it happened so fast I didn't have time to try and catch her). There was an audible gasp from on-lookers who saw what had happened. I helped Jen up and asked her she was alright; she said she was (although the palm of her hand bothered her for a little while). Once everyone knew Jen was okay, they went back to their business as if nothing had happened. When we could finally laugh about it, we called it her "Broadway debut" (before anyone gets any ideas, I originally wasn't going to add that story, but Jen asked me to). About a block from the Empire State Building, we found out it would be $20 per person to go up to the observation deck with a possible 2 hour wait before we could get on the elevator--I don't remember that in Sleepless In Seattle. I took a picture of the lobby. The NYC Public Library happened to be on our walking route and Ben caught a glimpse of the building used as the Daily Bugle in the original Spider-Man movies (video, but no picture).
Our final tender mercy was offered to us on our train ride back to New Jersey. In much the same way the man that morning had taken us in tow, a woman returning from work must have heard Jen and I discussing how to handle our transfer and told us she would help us. We followed her through hurrying crowds at the Secaucus station to some stairs with a big electronic board above it. She pointed to the board and told us we needed to get on the Port Jervis line; it would take us back to the Ramsey station. We thanked her as she quickly disappeared into the crowd to meet up with her own connecting line. After finding the platform and getting on the correct train, we returned to our hotel tired and happy with our eventful day.
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