Sunday, July 19
The first item on our Sunday agenda was lunch at a longtime New York cheese shop in the Little Italy neighborhood. We perused the shop, which was arguably best known for its homemade mozzarella. We ordered a few mozzarella balls along with some sliced salami; the salami proved necessary to add some flavor to the unsalted cheese. No inside seating or silverware meant eating the cheese without utensils outside the store on New York’s hottest day so far this summer.
When lunch was over, we jumped back on the subway to make our way to south Manhattan, where we would board the ferry to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Thankfully, we had purchased tickets in advance, allowing us to get in the comparatively faster security line. After a half hour or more in line in the 90+ degree heat, we were on the ferry for the first leg of the trip, to Liberty Island.
Many, many tourists were in line to board the ferry.
Amanda made a wise choice for our place to stand on the cruise, which offered numerous unobstructed views of both the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline. Once the ferry was moving, the breeze and shade offset some of the heat from the line.
A selfie with the Statue of Liberty.
Liberty Island seemed nearly as busy as the ferry, with swarms of visitors filling both inside and outside spaces. Our advance tickets included access to the pedestal directly below the 151-foot copper statue; at that point, crowds thinned, and we enjoyed a reasonably uncrowded walk up 215 stairs to the pedestal level.
The State of Liberty from the base viewing level.
After taking in a few more views from the base of the pedestal, we retreated to the line to board the ferry to Ellis Island. The island was more interesting than the statue, with well-done exhibits and a worthwhile 30-minute video explaining the island’s history. Both may be worth a return visit with the full family, preferably on a cooler weekday versus hot and crowded weekend.
I used the close location and allure of an air-conditioned Uber ride to convince Amanda to have dinner at Shake Shack, a restaurant which hadn’t sounded good during the trip. (She liked our Shake Shack experiences in London, but of course, pregnancy changes appetites.) Amanda’s shake was disappointing, but burgers were both good, and we were able to pickup a souvenir octopus t-shirt for Noah. The Uber ride was so convenient, we opted to use the same strategy to return to the hotel for the evening; unfortunately, the second Uber ride was longer, and much less economical.
After returning to the hotel, I grabbed a few snacks at the nearby CVS and purchased a last-minute single ticket to U2’s second concert in Madison Square Garden. Amanda’s pregnancy-induced tiredness made the solo concert trip a viable option for me, as she liked the opportunity to spend time in the hotel room instead of exploring more of the city. Familiar with the walking route and concert start time, I left the hotel around 8:00, getting to my seat near the other end of the stage a few minutes before the event began.
It was a beautiful night for “Beautiful Day” and 24 other live songs in Madison Square Garden.
I left our camera in the hotel room with the intention of focusing more on the music and less on the documentation. That said, I still snapped a few photos with the iPhone and recorded their live performance of “Volcano,” another favorite song of Emmie’s. The concert also featured “Bad,” crossing off one of my bucket-list U2 live performances, and three other tunes unique from the first show. Between the two concerts, U2 performend 30 different songs.
Monday, July 20
Our final full day in New York began with a visit to the very well-done but very somber 9/11 Memorial and Museum. Artifacts from the day included everything from charred fire trucks to the last column from the tower. Thoughtful exhibits show the timeline of events from multiple perspectives. A room in the museum is dedicated entirely to victims, filled floor-to-ceiling with photos.
The memorial pools with victim names listed, one for each tower. Much of the museum is located under the pools.
Our afternoon consisted of a pregnancy massage scheduled for Amanda, one of the things she was most looking forward to on our trip. I found a well-rated massage spot in Brooklyn, allowing us to visit another borough on the trip and for me to explore a new New York City neighborhood while she was relaxing.
We broke up the subway ride to Brooklyn with a stop at Black Forty West in the Soho neighborhood. We found it to serve tasty if relatively expensive farm-to-table fare.
I of course found a spot for ice cream in Brooklyn while Amanda had her massage.
We walked a half mile to Williamsburg Cinemas in Brooklyn for an afternoon movie and popcorn experience. We decided to skip our tentative plan for a Brooklyn meal in favor of to-go food from the Pret A Manger by the hotel. We did make a few stops on our return journey, including the H&M flagship store where I picked out a watermelon dress for Emmie.
Tuesday, July 21
We took a final early-morning selfie from the hotel lobby before checking out and taking a cab to JFK Airport, where we began our return to Des Moines via O’Hare. We arrived in Des Moines on schedule, with the kids joining Grandparents Mac at the airport to pick us up.