NYC Day Two

We started off day two in a casual manner. The kids watched TV while the adults chatted and made breakfast. I ran into town with Shauna, Audrey and Sam to get some new shoes. For some reason I was thinking I really wanted to pack light for this trip. I have a tendency to over pack and I was trying to break that cycle. In the spirit of light packing, I only brought one pair of shoes, dress boots to be more exact. By the end of day one, I thought my feet were literally going to kill me. I found a pair of comfortable looking loafers at J. Crew (they were indeed not comfortable and rubbed two large blisters on the back of my heels…ugh).

All the kids begged us to let them stay home and play instead of sight seeing. I insisted they come with us to see the Statue of Liberty (when the boys first found out we were going to New York, the Statue of Liberty was the only thing they mentioned wanting to see). After a hair-raising ride into the city (which included more than one “I hate you” from Sam) we arrived at the dock for the SOL boats. The line was two hours long (and I was wishing I had listened to Eric and let the kids stay home). There are very few things in life I will stand in line for two hours to see, and the Statue of Liberty is not one of them. We decided to take the Staten Island Ferry instead. It runs right past the SOL and gives a great view. The kids really seemed to enjoy the ferry ride. I was thrilled with it and the statue was beautiful. I couldn’t help but think about what so many immigrants must have been feeling as they saw her for the first time. So much excitement knowing their long journey had almost ended and their new life was just beginning. It was very humbling and inspiring.

Next we walked (ouch) over to a dock nearby and had hotdogs and ice cream from the street vendors. Then we walked (ouch) to Ground Zero. It was interesting, but not a whole lot to see. It was pretty nerve wracking trying to keep the kids from being totally disrespectful (climbing on the fence or what not).

The kids went home with the driver and the adults went to China Grill for dinner. It was a fun place and the food was plentiful and tasty. We ran (ouch) to our show when we realized we were going to be late. We were on the second row, smack in the middle behind the orchestra for “The Producers.” The show was amazing. Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick are no longer in the show, but the actors were unbelievable. The sets and costumes were incredible, and the play itself was crazy funny. I loved every minute of it! What a great night!