Day 2 Wednesday

 

We set our alarm for 7 but we were awake shortly before, it’s Statue of Liberty day today!

When we did the pre trip planning this was something we all agreed we wanted to do so it didn’t take much effort to get ready and leave.

We picked up breakfast from a street cart on our way up to Columbus circle to get the 1 train to south ferry. I got some very disapproving looks from a well dressed woman when I handed Dylan a bag of m&ms after he had eaten his croissant, “hey lady we are on vacation!” I said internally and didn’t feel one bit of guilt about my parenting.

We were amused that the announcer on the train sounded like Ernie from Bert & Earnie fame and we pictured him flailing his puppety arms around in the drivers cab.

There was a sizeable line already for the ferry but we quickly joined it having pre booked the tickets and we were ready to go through security and board the first ferry of the day. (You have to wear a mask through the security check so make sure you have it handy)

We sat on the second deck next to an open window as we didn’t fancy being bruised with selfie sticks and elbows on the top deck . Sitting on the right side gave us great views of the city and the statue on the journey out.

When we landed we headed straight for the lockers to stow our bags as they are not allowed when you go to the pedestal. The lockers take a quarter and if you don’t have coins there is a machine to change a dollar bill next to them.

Dylan chose the lift to go up (I didn’t protest too much) and we spoke to the ranger who told us in the 20 minutes he had been working the elevator he had already spoken to 10 different nationalities.

The pedestal offers great views of the skyline and I think it might be one of my favourite viewpoints along with dumbo and Brooklyn Bridge promenade.

We walked around before finding a seat to eat a few snacks including the goldfish from last night, I think sometimes we get caught in the trap of having 3 meals a day when we are on holiday even when this isn’t our eating style at home which can get very expensive so I say be led by your stomach rather than a timetable.

After that we headed to Ellis island, for a brief visit before the heat and tired feet got the better of us so we got the 1 train from south ferry back to the hotel for a power nap.

Woke up from the power naps and out we went to the Lego store 5th avenue, where we bought a yellow taxi, New York post card set and a custom mini figure, we gazed longingly at the home alone house set and spent a good while looking at all the displays, it’s is really well done.

After that we went to FAO Schwartz where we picked up a New York giants uniform from build a bear and a design your own funko pop then headed out as quickly as possible before we spent any more money. Outside there are some fountains you can stand inside where the water comes up all the way around you so we had some fun in those and walked around the plaza.

We were staring to feel hungry so decided to jump on the train down to dumbo, on the train some of us were berated by an obviously mentally ill person so we did the old subway car switcharoo at the next station and got into one where we felt much safer, it’s not the first time this has happened to me in New York but it did feel different this time having Dylan with me.

We checked out some cool street art on our way towards to water front where we sampled some food from the time out market, it’s a really nice place to eat and the rooftop offers some incredible views.

Once full we explored the dumbo area (more great views) and saw 3 separate wedding photoshoots.

It was an absolute joy walking along the water front watching the sunset roll in and the lights of the city start to to come on.

It was at this point i offered Nina & Dylan 3 choices, subway back to the hotel the way we came, walk over the Brooklyn bridge into Manhattan or get the ferry over to Wall Street and get the subway from there, consulting our tired legs the ferry was the unanimous choice!

The ferry is such a nice way to travel and well worth the small cost.

We nipped into a CVS on the way to the subway at Wall Street to get drinks and decided to get the train to Columbus circle and walk to the hotel from there rather than get off in Times Square and walk through the crowds, it was a good choice, a much more pleasant walk taking us past Hearst tower which is the head office of Nina's parent company.

In a stroke of luck the elevator was waiting for us as soon as we stepped into the lobby so up we went to be swallowed by those comfortable beds.

Another day done, we are having a great time but my Dylan is still not impressed by some of the smells of a big city in the summer.