... in Times Square! Honestly, I'm not sure what I was expecting - maybe its more impressive to see it after dark, but we took some photos and promptly skedaddled. Brian and I are not "crowd" people so I guess Times Square didn't have much to offer us... though we were on a mission to avoid all the characters - Elmo, Minny and Micky Mouse, etc that were standing around for photo ops. We encouraged the kids to wave to them as we sped-walked past!
Next we headed to the main event for the morning - the top of the Empire State Building!
We were fortunate that the wait wasn't too long, though the amount of walking inside the building before you get to the observation deck astonished me!
The kids thought the view was cool for a few minutes, but before we got half way around the perimeter they were ready to do something else. But we persevered long enough to take lots of pictures!
We started out on the east-facing side of the building.
We were so thankful for another warm, clear day to enjoy the view!
On to the north side of the building, with Central Park in the background.
A little better view towards Central Park.
Now looking south. You can see One World Trade Center (or Freedom Tower) towering above the rest of the Manhattan skyline, then to the right is the Statue of Liberty and on the left is the Brooklyn Bridge.
By the time we were done wending and winding our way up and down the Empire State Building, it was lunch time. I had fortuitously gotten a call the night before from Grandmother, who encouraged me to find a Jewish Deli to eat at and recommended trying the cheese blintzes. After doing some research, I found a well reviewed one just a few blocks away from the Empire State Building, the 2nd Ave Deli. We got a variety of items to share: I got the hot pastrami sandwich, Brian got the combo with one hot pastrami and one corned beef sandwich, one knish (new to all of us, it's fried dough filled with mashed potatoes) and a cheese blintz. Actually, Nathan was the one who ordered the cheese blintz. After perusing the menu, he pointed to "BBQ Chicken" on the menu and told us that's what he wanted. I said "That's perfect! B for Blintz! Will you order us a cheese blintz for our treat after the meal?" And he did. (I know I'm only going to get away with misdirection like this for a little while more, but I'll do it while I can!) All the food ended up being really good and Nathan was SO PROUD of his blintz selection - he even mentioned it again to me this past week! "Remember when I ordered that yummy treat in New York City? The... " "... blintz?" I supplied. "Yeah! The blintz! It was really yummy!"
Since our morning activity was not really geared toward the kids, we wanted to do something in the afternoon that they would really enjoy. And not just the kids, but the whole family really enjoyed our time rowboating on the lake in Central Park! Brian expertly maneuvered us past all the other boaters at the launching point...
...under the picturesque bridge that we had walked over the morning before...
...and into the main part of the lake.
Here's what I said about the rowboating in a previous post:
Even before we got on the boat, Sarah was saying "I wanna do that!", with "that" being the oars on the boat. So once Daddy handed over the oars, Nathan was just beaming ear to ear as he worked his oar, while Sarah was very intensely concentrating on her task. Nathan also told me "Do you know how I know how to row? I watched the people rowing the other day (on the Charles River in Boston) and that's how I learned how to row!" And to my surprise I really think he understood the concept of rowing (though I guess he also had just watched Daddy's technique) and was working his hardest to replicate the motion. We ended up spending almost 1:30 on the lake, most of it either with the kids rowing or begging to row again. So much fun and one of my favorite memories from our trip!
We spotted LOTS of turtles around the edge of the lake.
I took the next picture on the walk home to the apartment. Almost every time we crossed a north/south street, I would look towards downtown and be enthralled by the building-lined streets. I consider Boston a big city, but it just has nothing on NYC. The blocks and blocks of humanity all crowded together, just crazy to see and experience.
To end the day we grabbed some burgers and a chocolate shake to share at Joy Burger near our condo. A yummy end to another really great day!
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