NYC: Part Three and Last

[kv0925]

Okay, I'm just gonna power through the rest of the New York photos and recap, cool? So this will be a whole mess of photos, be warned. :)

So where was I? Okay, Sunday, last full day of the trip. The weather looked to be a lot better and we wanted to explore more of Central Park, and I figured we'd start out at the Central Park Zoo. But we were up early, and the zoo didn't open until 10am, so I thought first we'd check out the 9/11 Memorial Plaza since it was so close to the hotel.





I definitely felt like we were on hallowed ground, you know? When we visited The Sphere at Battery Park I gave the girls the gist of what happened on September 11, and we covered it a bit more at the Memorial, of course. They didn't seem too fazed by it, though I don't imagine it really sunk in, either. And I didn't want to dwell on it too much, because what a bummer.


The plaza was beautiful, if a bit eerie. Lots of security guards around, and workers busily polishing the panels of names surrounding the pools. I spotted a few names I recognized, like Todd Beamer from Flight 93.


Waiting for the subway uptown.


We ducked into the lobby of the Plaza Hotel for a quick look.


We got to the park before the zoo opened, so we headed for the playground I was actually looking for the previous day, home to a very cool slide (and, it must be said, not much else). Hallie loved the slide, though, she must have done it half a dozen times. And it was early so we mostly had it to ourselves!


Hermione's so serious. I worry about her sometimes.








I'd read not to expect much, but we were actually very impressed with the Central Park Zoo! It's not at all large, so there aren't THAT many animals. But they have some really cool critters, and the habitats are very nice, most offering a number of different vantage points.


A zoo employee gave us a tip that we should head to the snow leopards first thing, because apparently they tend to stay out of sight for most of the day, and are most visible and active right after being released into their enclosure. And sure enough, they were out and playing around, so we had a ball watching them and remarking how much like typical housecats they act. :) Beautiful creatures they are, too.


Up close and personal!






Nice (if VERY stinky) penguin exhibit, too.


Kinda cool. Outside of the zoo we happened upon a guy proposing to his girlfriend. I hesitated, so I didn't get any shots of him holding the ring and popping the question, but I snapped a few after she said yes, and gave him my card so he could get in touch for me to send him what I got. :)


The Children's Zoo was very nice as well.


Silly pigeon thought it was sheep.












Adorable!


Onward to hit some more highlights of Central Park, we found ourselves back at the model boat pond, with boats this time!








Most every time we came across an impressive rock outcropping, the girls (and okay, sometimes me too) had to climb it!




Belvedere Castle.








Don't worry, this wasn't really as high or as steep as it looks here. :)


Conservatory Garden, and the Burnett Fountain.








This little sparrow kept coming in for a bath and a drink. :)




Untermyer Fountain.




We literally walked from one corner of the park (Columbus Circle) to the diagonal opposite corner, which was probably a good 4 miles all told (at least!) since the paths aren't straight lines. Plus the climbing and whatnot. It was awesome to explore so much of the park, and especially on such a gorgeous day. But we were ready for a break, so we caught a subway back to the hotel to relax for a bit.


Speaking of the hotel, this was it!


Obviously not my photo, but this gives you an idea of how close the hotel was to (and the damage it received from) Ground Zero on September 11.


While the girls rested I snapped some photos from the hotel room windows.






And the room itself--a little messy since we'd been there a few days!

For the evening I had planned a nighttime sightseeing cruise, from Lower Manhattan out towards the Statue of Liberty. The ferry dock wasn't too far away, but we took a taxi since we didn't feel much like walking!


Snapped a shot while waiting for a cab. This is the new subway/transportation hub being built for the new One World Trade Center. Looks like it will be pretty impressive when done!


We got to the South Street Seaport and got our tickets for the cruise, which we discovered would be delayed a bit due to some fireworks that were scheduled to go off. But that was a bit of a treat before the boat ride!


The cruise was really good--the guy narrating the trip was funny and quite informative too!


I didn't have much hope for my shots from the cruise, because I had to use some slow shutter speeds, from a moving, bobbing boat, no less. But the image stabilizer was up to the challenge!







I'd considered hauling us to the Empire State Building after the cruise, but it was already a bit late and the girls were ready to be done, so we just grabbed some dessert on the way home (mmm, gelato) and called it a night.

Monday! Last day, time to go home. But we had all morning and part of the midday before we needed to head towards the airport. So I checked out of the hotel, stored our luggage with the concierge, cleared up a couple of billing irregularities, and we grabbed a cab over to the seaport again.


We hopped on the East River Ferry to DUMBO, a name I love. :) It stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, for those out of the know.


The plan: explore the Brooklyn Bridge Park area a bit, and then walk back to Manhattan over the bridge. Initially I'd planned on visiting the NY Transit Museum while we were in Brooklyn, but I'd forgotten it was closed on Mondays! Oh well.


The BB Park area was very nice, parts of it still being worked on.


Jane's Carousel. Closed on Mondays also, but that was okay, we'd already gotten in a few carousels anyway.




The tour guide on the sightseeing cruise told us that the Manhattan Bridge was largely the result of complaints after the construction of the Williamsburg Bridge, which was/is an ugly steel monstrosity with little of the aesthetic appeal of the Brooklyn Bridge. And indeed, I found the Manhattan Bridge quite attractive. Rather loud, though, with the subway trains constantly passing through it! I would not want to live in the vicinity without some serious soundproofing.


Almost right under the Manhattan Bridge we spent some time at Main Street Park, which had a great nautical-themed playground.


The girls played, I took pictures.
















We found our way onto the Brooklyn Bridge. It was a nice walk, not as long or as crowded as I'd feared. There were indeed a lot of people, but the traffic moved pretty well, and the weather was just glorious. And I'm glad we walked it in the direction we did--the tour guide on the night cruise said walking with the view of Manhattan ahead of you is the only way to go, and he was right. :)








Clearly not immune to the Love Locks phenomenon.




Arriving back in Manhattan, it was lunchtime so we walked over to Chinatown, which Hermione was very interested in seeing.


We had lunch at Wo Hop, a great basement-setting Chinese place. Very tasty, though I ordered way too much food for us to finish. :)


A quick stop at Washington Square Park.


Ready to go home? I think so!

We walked back to the hotel to collect our luggage and set off for the airport. And that was an adventure in itself! Initially we were set to fly out of Laguardia, but a schedule change gave us a 3-hour layover, and I knew we wouldn't like that, especially when we'd be eager to get home. So I switched to a nonstop flight out of Islip on Long Island instead, figuring it would be more fun to spend a couple hours on trains getting to the airport than it would be to sit around on a layover with nothing to do. And it ultimately worked out fine, though I did have a panicky moment when I took the subway a stop too far and felt like we were going to miss the LIRR train I wanted to get on. We just barely made it! But after that everything was smooth. And the Islip airport, it must be said, was a lot smaller than I expected! But that made security a breeze, so I guess that was a bonus.


Okay, that's it! Thanks for looking, as always. :)