Follow up to New York trip

While I posted from New York City on our recent trip, I never followed up to cover the last couple of days. So, I thought I'd hit some of the highlights.

On Monday, August 10, our big event of the day was the visit to NYU. Rachel wanted to check out the campus (college is only three years away) so we signed up for a college tour. Arriving at the place by means of the subway, we met in a group of over 100 parents and kids. We heard a presentation and then broke up into groups to tour various buildings, all close by. NYU certainly has a vibrant urban campus, very reminiscent (although much more compact) than my alma mater, Boston University.

Afterwards, we were in Greenwich Village and wanted to eat! I couldn't find much via Blackberry but our wandering brought us to La Palapa, a Mexican restaurant in the West Village. Going in to check it out, the restaurant was empty (admittedly it was late for lunch). Since I HATE eating in empty restaurants, this gave us pause, but the menu looked good so we stayed. Good choice. We had one of the best meals of the trip and the service was excellent. We'd go back in a minute.

That night, after refreshing at the hotel, we saw our first Broadway show, Phantom of the Opera. I was amazed at how small the theatre was and surprised to find out later that the show has been in the same small theatre for its entire 20+ year run. Wow. The show itself was fabulous and the music just great. For a first Broadway experience, it was a good one. Ben enjoyed it because of all the killing.

The next morning was our biggest excursion of the vacation as we traveled over to New Jersey to take the ferry to Ellis and Liberty Islands. The trip to the ferry involved no less than three different trains but we had no trouble. Ellis Island was interesting, although I think much moreso for adults than kids despite efforts to make it accessible, and very crowded. The ferry system worked well conveying the crowds, though, which improved the situation.

Liberty Island was very cool. The weather was just brilliant, really setting off the beauty of the harbor, the city and the ginormous statue. While waiting in line for our turn to enter the pedestal, we discovered how important it is to do your research in advance. We saw several groups attempt to get in line only to discover that they couldn't go up into the pedestal or statue without advance tickets. I mean, really, shouldn't you do just a little research before visiting such a famous monument? The fact that others were denied the experience just enhanced our enjoyment of course!

The pedestal contains a museum and then you get to walk up to the base of the statue. We didn't get the tickets to go up into the statue itself but at the top level of the pedestal is a transparent ceiling allowing you to see all the way up through the inside of the statue. That was unexpected and cool.

We took the ferry back to NYC where we walked to Ground Zero and saw that construction is visible but still unimaginably preliminary eight years later. (I actually visited the Twin Towers in the mid-eighties and went into the observation deck in the North Tower.) We checked out Wall Street, the site of so much recent fun for the world, and then headed back to the hotel.

We wanted to see another Broadway show but didn't want to pay full price so we bought same-day half price tickets for Mary Poppins. The show was fun but not as good as Phantom (duh). What cracked me up was the attempt to "up the conflict". In the original Disney movie, there is no villain; Mary Poppins is in total control at all times. But that doesn't make a compelling show.

So, during the musical, the children have a falling out with MP and she leaves the family. To replace her comes their father's old nanny who is clearly evil and dishes out discipline through her malignant bottle of cod liver oil! Oh, the horror! When MP inevitably comes back, the stage is set for an all out battle between a woman with supernatural powers, including telekinesis and the ability to transport people to supernatural realms, and a woman with a bottle of bad-tasting medicine and a spoon! Can you guess who won?

Ben didn't like Mary Poppins as much because no one was killed.

The next morning, we packed up and caught our train back to Maryland. We had a remarkably busy (thanks to Carol), well-planned and fun trip (also thanks to Carol).

To close, here's my upskirt shot of the Statue of Liberty. Enjoy.