NYC

Before I begin it is important to note that if you want to see NYC you should spare more than 2.5 days for it. This is good advice for your sanity. I will attempt now to relate what we did with our time.

DAY 1 – SEPTEMBER 6, 2023

As soon as Kay arrived we wasted no time shoving water bottles into backpacks and catching a ferry from Liberty Park to Pier 11/Wall Street. The view of the skyline from the river had us running back and forth across the aisles in the boat to see it all. Sienna was so excited she could barely contain herself. Little yips and yelps were coming out of her as she bounced around on the tips of her toes! This was definitely her most highly anticipated stop of the trip. The ferry docked at Pier 11 and just like that we were walking down the dirty, dingy, dark (elevated freeway above) and weed-smelling streets of New York City. Welcome to the jungle. Soon we got a beautiful view of the Brooklyn Bridge as the sun set, igniting the stone monoliths on either end of the span with a rich, amber light. The scale of the bridge was almost too much to contemplate. We tried. Sienna was a little disappointed because she had thought we were going to go on it and not just look at it, but I couldn’t fathom how long of a walk it would be just to get to the beginning of the span which must be deep in the heart of the city given its gargantuan height overhead.

We headed into Manhattan on Fulton Street and quickly got lost in the labyrinth of narrow streets, but enjoyed the rambling nature. We craned our necks, and our heads swayed back and forth as we tried to see the skyscrapers. City slickers we are not! We found a hole-in-the-wall pizza place and crammed in to 5 booth seats along a tiled wall and enjoyed the novelty (for us!) of eating a slice in NYC. Teagan made a friend as she absentmindedly danced to the techno music coming out of the speakers. She joined her in dancing for a moment. The owners gave us a small pizza on the house – which was delicious and I told them so. Kay laughed at me, ‘no one tells them their pizza is good’, she said.

We left and walked across town to the 9/11 memorials and gazed down into the giant holes with the falls pouring into the blackness in the center. We walked slowly trying to read the names etched on the plaques encircling the absent towers. The girls noticed multiple names with ‘and unborn child’ written after them. This sobered them. I told Sienna to stop taking so many pictures and just read some names in respectful silence and watchfulness. This made her a little peeved that I didn’t think she was being respectful. 

The memorials are incredible for their absence. The jarring gaps are like a physical presence. I am awed that they didn’t rebuild and instead left the holes.

We took the ferry from Vessey St back to Paulus Hook and walked through town until we reached Liberty Harbor.

The RV park we stayed at was a parking lot. No grass, no trees, no picnic tables, no fire rings, no trails, no birds, no wildlife – unless you count rats. We had just enough space between our site and our neighbors to walk between the RV’s without hitting our shoulders. 

Urban camping in the concrete jungle.

We set up the dinette for Kay and went to bed.

DAY 2 – SEPTEMBER 7, 2023

The next morning we caught the 9am ferry back to Pier 11. We had an amazing breakfast at 100 Market St which has an endless selection of foods. The selection was so endless that we all got too much food and missed our 10 o’clock boat to the Statue of Liberty. I got a little frustrated at my inability to articulate my plan.

We walked over to the ticket office at the Castle Clinton NM in the Battery and waited in the scorching hot sunshine for tickets on the 11 o’clock boat out to the Statue. I was dripping with sweat. Kay extracted an umbrella and gave us some blissful shade. You have to go through airport style security before boarding the boats. Some Euro gave Wendy a hard time for not ‘queuing’ properly. I should have offered him a bandaid since he clearly got cut by her sharp elbows. We sat on the upper deck to get a breeze and a view and watched as Miss Lady Liberty neared. And watched all the foreigners jockeying for pictures.

This was Teagan’s most anticipated stop in NYC. She couldn’t wait to see Miss Lady up close! The Statue of Liberty is awesome for her size, but also for the way she was built (repousse method), the fact that she was a gift and for what she represents for so many. We climbed the 195 steps inside the Pedestal and walked around the outside platform taking in the huge views of the city and the harbor and swatting away the invasive Spotted Lanternflys that are everywhere. Ava did not want to join the ‘Stomp Squad’. We took the boat back after getting some lemonades and viewing the neat virtual display on liberty in the museum.

The boat ride back was hellish. It was hot and crowded – my two least favorite environments. The girls were all giddy and bouncing around on the bench. I feel asleep with my head against a post and Teagan woke me with a start and I was soaked in sweat. It took FOREVER to get off the boat and I about lost my cool thinking, ’I could do this better!’ ‘I’d have two gangplanks!’ ‘I’d only let 350 people on, not 650!’ I was ready to throw down.

We had dumplings for lunch – soup dumplings! That helped revive me – but the A/C was at a trickle and we could barely cool down. After lunch we descended into the subterranean labyrinth of the NYC subway system. This was a little nerve-wracking and had been a source of contention with my parents. They did not seem to think traveling with our kids in the NYC subway system was a good idea at all. I don’t blame their apprehension.

We entered at the Bowling Green stop, asked a transit worker for some help, and entered the platform. He told us the kids could duck the turnstiles. They kept asking at every station, though. ‘Is this ok?’ ‘Are you sure?’. At least they are honest kids.

We did some shopping in Soho next. This had been Ava’s most anticipated stop. That girl can shop! We went to Glossier, Nike, Urban Outfitters, MoMa. I was running out of steam (money) here again. The city was such an overload for me. Too much noise! Too many people! Too confining!

Back into the subway with much confusion this time. N train? R Train? Express? Local? Brooklyn? Or Downtown? We made it back to Pier 11 just in time for the 7pm boat back to Liberty Harbor. For dinner we walked straight to the Surf City restaurant right next to the RV park and had pizza and salads while watching rats scurry around the perimeters of the patio. I crashed hard that night and did not ‘hang out’ after we got back to the RV. I went straight to my room and slid the door shut to block out any further stimulation. The heat and the constant logistics had addled my brain.

DAY 3 – SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

Day three dawned hot and muggy again. Another scorcher in the city. The skyscrapers lay in a haze of smog and moisture. We took the light rail this day to the PATH train under the Hudson river to the World Trade Center. From there, we took the subway uptown to Columbus Circle. Don’t I sound like a pro, now? At Columbus Circle we found the Broad Nosh Bagel shop and had a quintessential NYC experience. The line snaked inside down the steps toward the back of the shop and did a quick u-turn in front of the glass display. The proprietors took your orders impatiently. I couldn’t decide so I asked the guy for the best combo. That is how I ended up with the $25 Lox and Sable sandwich with capers, dill and cream cheese on an everything bagel. Oops. But it was fabulous. Ava had some snafu’s with her orders and was pretty upset until she spotted the Taylor Swift exhibit at the Museum of Arts and Design across the way. We stepped in and visited and that lifted her spirits!

After our bagels we walked into Central Park and I found the Sheep Pasture for iconic views of the tall buildings surrounded by green grass. We exited the park (first mistakenly walking into the Central Park Zoo) and headed on to Madison Ave. The heat caught up to me and I was pouring with it again. Trying desperately with a crumpled paper towel to keep my face dry. I felt I was again losing interest in moseying around anymore. We ducked into Gucci, Versace and Chanel No. 5 for the A/C and the wonderful juxtaposition of the elegance of the products and our complete lack of elegance! Let’s just say the sales people did not see a potential sale when we walked in.

We dropped back into the subway again for a ride to Times Square. When we came up and out the ritz and glitz and sparkle of Times Square was awesome. The girls whopped with joy. The big screens rose all around and they could even see some of their music icons on them. We had a late lunch at Five Guys and then visited the World’s Largest Candy Store. Teagan had misplaced a buffalo pendant at Five Guys and somehow the cleaning guy there had found it and saved it when I went back for it!

From there, we walked toward the Empire State Building on Broadway. We ducked into Macy’s (World’s Largest Store) to get out of the rain and re-group. Ava and I waited for the others to use the bathroom. I’m afraid I was not much good company. I felt fried. The claustrophobia of the elevators, subway stations, trains and streets was real. I guess I do not mix well with big cities anymore.

We talked briefly about me just heading back, but it wasn’t like our ‘camp’ was just around the corner. It was an epic train ride back. And it seemed silly to split up. So we stuck together and headed toward 34th street in the stormy afternoon.

At the Empire State Building while we waited for Kay to get some cash we watched a police convoy arrive and park in front. Two officers got out in vests, helmets and rifles and waited out front while two others went in. Nothing eventually happened but Kay got a photo with them!

The trip through the museum and up to the observatory was memorable. Weather had closed the outdoor viewing area, but they opened it while we waited. We gazed at the epic view of the city below us while the rain fell and the clouds moved like army formations across the low ceiling. We went around a few times and then descended the 86 floors (did I mention claustro…) to the street and went back to the subway on 34th street.

We took the express instead of the local line so we had to get off so as not to miss our stop. The local train – the R – never came so we went upstairs to wait for the 6 train instead. It was taking too long so we just exited the station and started walking. I was nearing my frayed end. Was actually in the fray. Trying to navigate away from the station and back toward the PATH train to NJ we almost ended up on the pedestrian walkway over the Brooklyn Bridge. But, of course, Sienna had wanted to walk across this all along! I blew up at her a little and told her we were lost and had been on our feet for almost 10 hours at this point and that the Brooklyn Bridge was exactly the WRONG WAY! Poor kid. Parents suck.

All this time (actually for the last two days) the girls had been dying for Boba (milk teas and such with tapioca beads) and we had failed to find any (like good bookstores too, come on NYC). Finally, Wendy found one and it gave us something to celebrate and the iced coffee gave me a much needed boost. We finally made it back to the PATH station in the Oculus center near the WTC. We did a little shopping (yes, more shopping) before hitting the platform for the ride back to Exchange Center and New Jersey. We walked to a sushi place near the station for a much needed dinner. Everyone scrambled to find an outlet to charge their depleted phone batteries. Surprisingly, after this scorching day, hot tea and hot soup revived me.

It was near 9pm now and we needed to take one more train back to Marin Blvd and home. Wendy helped direct a blind lady to the platform in one of her typical bouts of selflessness. She is never afraid to step out and do something others seem unwilling to do, or to do something outside the norms. I love watching the girls watch her do these kind acts. We waited at the platform but someone had to pee. While they went in to the Five Guys (coincidence) across the street the rest of us watched our train come and go. Finally, another one came and we hurriedly piled on.

Earlier on the subway we had literally almost been separated by a quickly closing train door. Three of us off, two of us still on. Thankfully, a guy had been standing in the doorway and caught the closing door full on the shoulders. I had been able to shove a hand in to force it back open. Needless to say, after that we stayed in a tight cluster while entering and exiting the various trains.

We got on the train and then promptly missed our stop. Somehow, while we waited on the wrong side, the doors opposite opened and closed. Shit! So we had to get off at the next stop and then wait again for the next train coming back the other way. Of course, by then there were some shifty characters on the platform and now it was like 10pm. So stupid, I thought to myself, what a jackass, how could I let this happen. All that stuff spiraled through my head as we all discreetly watched this dark, hooded gangster pace back and forth near us. And imagined all the horrible things that could go wrong.

But we made it back to ‘camp’.

12 hours later.

Whew.

And that was our 2.5 days in NYC. The next day we woke and packed and left town as quickly as we’d come. 

As you can see…way too much for that amount of time. Keep your sanity intact, spend a few more days.