Day 17 Drive home

Happy July 4th!

Hit the road leaving Times Square at 8:00 a.m. and made it out through the Lincoln Tunnel with very little traffic.  Decided to drive through Pennsylvania and West Virginia rather than take I-95 through Baltimore and D.C. for the 15 hour drive through thunderstorms and flash floods.  Didn’t matter since we had a fantastic trip and experienced a tremendous diversity of landscapes and culture through 16 states and 2 Canadian Provinces.  So much fun!

Day 16 NYC - Broadway

Woke to thunderstorms so we decided to watch Wimbledon and play with the boys' new Harry Potter chess set before having an early lunch.  Once the clouds broke we headed down through Times Square to Carmine’s for our favorite Italian food.  We had Caesar Salad, the Hot Antipasto with clams, salmon, oysters, polenta with mushrooms, asparagus with artichoke, fried cauliflower, etc., Veal Parmesan, and a giant Tiramisu - yum!  After the delicious lunch we walked across to see Spiderman Turn of the Dark.  What a cool show!  The music by Bono was really fun for the kids.  The sets depicting areas of New York were very elaborate.  But the high flying production was incredible - like Cirque de Soleil on Broadway.  How so many people have been injured is obvious with the difficult stunts they perform.  On the final fly-by of the performance Spiderman landed 5 feet from us in the balcony - very cool.  Really enjoyed the show!

Day 15 NYC - Museums

Took the train uptown to the American Museum of Natural HIstory and saw the Journey to the Stars in the Planetarium before roaming around to see all of the dioramas and dinosaurs that the boys enjoyed on our last visit.  Decided to walk through Central Park to the Metropolitan Museum to see the Egyptian Artifacts and the Arms and Armor displays again.  Walked through the impressionist displays to see works by Rembrandt, Monet, Van Gogh, and Degas before going to the rooftop for beautiful views of the city.   Before going to the train we walked up the street to see the Guggenheim Museum.  

Day 14 NYC - Harry Potter Exhibit

Cannot believe we were able to keep the plan to see the Harry Potter Exhibition a secret from the boys.  After stopping by the Fox News Friday morning concert, we headed to the exhibit.  Brett, Charlie and Jack got to meet Dave Briggs and Molly Line who were subs for the holiday weekend.  The boys read every last detail in the exhibit and loved seeing the costumes and props used in the Harry Potter films before spending another hour or so in the gift shop.  Great surprise for the kids!  Before heading uptown we stopped at Stage Deli for Pastrami and Meatball sandwiches.  Walked through the shops and lobby of the Plaza Hotel - couldn’t convince the boys to stop for tea.  Walked across the street to Fao Schwarz and wandered around through the toys.  Sad that they’ve outgrown so many of the toys since their last visit.  Afterwards, we walked along 5th Avenue to Rockefeller Center and dropped by the Lego Store.  Continued down 5th to Barnes and Noble to get books for Jack and Charlie to read on the drive home before stopping at Grand Central Station to catch the train back to the hotel for the night.

Day 13 NYC - Statue of Liberty

After breakfast we walked back through Times Square and caught the train down to the World Trade Center to see the construction on the memorial park and One World Trade Center.  For a look into the park we walked into the Financial Center overlook to see planted trees and a fountain in the center of the construction site.  We walked along the Hudson River through Battery Park to meet the ferry to Liberty and Ellis Islands.  There were beautiful views of the south end of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty as we approached from the water.  Once inside we enjoyed the museum inside the pedestal and climbed the steps up to the pedestal base for close views.  Loved getting to see the Statue of Liberty but got back on the ferry for Ellis Island where we watched the film about the first immigrants to come to America through Ellis Island. Brett was the Immigration Official that asked the boys questions and heard their request for entrance into the land - not so sure I would have let them in . .  .  After a full day we decided to take the train back although we had planned to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge for pizza at Grimaldi’s.  Stopped at Ray’s Pizza instead and got ready for another busy day.