New York Visit
David, Laura, and the kids moved to New York, so we went visiting. We found a great place near the Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier Five to picnic and to view the lights of Manhattan. The blue lights consists of 88 vertical searchlights arranged in two columns of light to represent the Twin Towers.
Our inspiration for traveling to New York was this silly guy (with his version of a crepe mustache) who had his 9th birthday. These crepes were so yummy and the birthday boy was a delight, as usual.
David met us at the Port Authority Bus Terminal and walked us to the metro with a stop off at Times Square. We had planned to leave Silver Spring around 11:30 am and arrive in the early afternoon but had received a notice by Greyhound that our bus had been delayed and would not leave Silver Spring until 2:20 pm. When I double checked just before noon to be sure of the exact time we needed to be at the bus depot, we discovered that the bus was no longer delayed and left at the original time. What???? I finally got ahold of someone and they verified that the bus had left on time and that the notice of the delay was just a guideline and I should have checked earlier. Who knew? I now know that if you go by Greyhound and they tell you the time has changed, it is more of a suggestion. We finally got on a bus around 4:30 pm, much later than we had planned so it was sure nice to have David meet us and help us get around.
We were happy to spend time with the birthday boy who guided us around Brooklyn. He uses the metro maps like a pro.
Ben was also the photographer. He takes pictures of the trains from different levels and perspectives and puts them together in videos. His videos are well done and super interesting.
We had lunch at the famous 129 year-old New York Katz Delicatessen. This was also the location of the scene in the movie When Harry Met Sally with Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal where Estelle Reiner said. “I’ll have what she’s having.” Lots of famous people have pictures on the wall, but they didn’t offer to take our picture for their wall. :))
The pastrami sandwiches are loaded with pastrami and served with dill pickles and dilled cucumbers.
And for dessert, we visited Economy Candy which is the largest candy store I have seen. The candy store also had lots of candies from our childhood that we have not seen in a long time. My favorite was the O’Henry candy bar.
On another day, the whole family walked to the Brooklyn Pier 5. We went under both the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges on a beautiful walk.
We walked by the river and watched the ferry boats.
We went to an interactive park which included a mirror maze. It was a kick trying to get around without running into yourself.
This place also had stones that could be stepped on to make songs. David and Clara played some tunes. The park had a great place with sand and water where the kids could make tunnels and rivers.
Our day ended with a picnic overlooking Manhattan across the river. The kiddos were off playing so I didn’t get them in the picture.
A beautiful sunset drew our day to a close. It was a wonderful trip.