The journey to DC

 July - part 2

From the moment we found out we were coming to the US, New York was top of our travel destinations and boy, it did not disappoint.

Investigating travel options was eye-opening. The train was by far the most expensive, but very efficient time wise. Air fares were cheaper than the train, but travel to the airport, the pre flight arrival time and then getting to Manhattan from JFK chewed up a lot of time. We decided to travel by bus, which was very affordable and departed one Metro station away from where we live, so we did the walk of shame with our luggage! Travel time was meant to be about four and a half hours, but the traffic was heavy so it took closer to five, dropping us at Broadway and W 30th Street. 

We stayed at the Crowne Plaza in Times Square (sounds fancy but was pretty tired!), so we did another walk with our luggage up Broadway to W 48th Street, walking past Madison Square Gardens and through Times Square. So many people, cars, bikes and so much noise. Also, plenty of tourists walking with luggage, so we were in good company.

View from our room

Times Square

After checking in and having a quick walk around Times Square we satisfied Ben's hankering for a meal at Raising Cane's, a chicken inspired fast food restaurant that he has been fantasising about since we arrived in the US, before heading up to the Neil Simon Theatre on W 52nd Street to watch MJ the musical. All of the performers were sensational, but the child, teen and adult Michael Jacksons were amazing with both their singing and dancing talent. We all absolutely loved the show.

 Times Square

Something from Ben's wishlist ticked off

MJ! Outside the Neil Simon Theatre

Inside the Neil Simon Theatre - stunning!

Following the show we wandered back to Times Square again and spent quite a while sitting on the red steps people watching before calling it a night.

Crazy car

Crazy t-shirt

The next morning we caught the subway down to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum in time for our 9am guided tour. What an incredibly moving experience. The tour started outside and explained a lot about the memorial, along with a handful of stories about people who lost their lives that day. We were also really touched to learn that the 9/11 Memorial & Museum recognises the birthdays of the men, women, and children whose names are inscribed on the 9/11 Memorial by placing a single white rose at each person's name on their birthday. We then moved inside and spent several hours watching videos, listening to audio and reading about the horrors of that day. 

Subway was pretty quiet

9/11 Memorial

The Last Column https://www.911memorial.org/connect/blog/story-behind-last-columns-first-markings

One of the steel beams

Whilst we could have spent so much more time at the museum, we had a booking on the ferry to the Statue of Liberty, and needed to get to the security check in at 1.30pm. We managed to secure tickets to access the pedestal, so got a perspective of the island from just under the statue. There are also tickets to access the crown of the statue but unfortunately they were sold out by the time we booked our trip. 

The view of the statue from the pedestal

The original torch

Looking back to Manhattan from Liberty Island

Once we got back from Liberty Island we wandered through the financial district, past the Charging Bull (would have loved to rub his head for good luck, but the line was about two blocks long) and the New York Stock Exchange up to the Brooklyn Bridge, which we walked over to the DUMBO neighbourhood. DUMBO stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass.

The Charging Bull

New York Stock Exchange

Walking over the Brooklyn Bridge

...and again

Dumbo neighbourhood, Empire State Building in the gap of the Manhattan Bridge

Close up of the Empire State Building

We teased the kids that we were going to make them walk back over the Manhattan Bridge, but caught the subway instead, as even Russ and I had had enough of walking by then. As luck would have it, the subway we caught delivered us to Bryant Park https://bryantpark.org/, a beautiful park in mid-town Manhattan where they hold movie nights in summer and ice skating in winter. There is a little street library, table tennis, chess and board games available for anyone to play. We got some amazing New York style pizza and people watched before heading back to Times Square for - you guessed it - more people watching!

Bryant Park

Sunday morning we hired electric scooters and cruised around Central Park. I was very slow and cautious, while Russ and the kids were dare devils. I was surprised by just how big Central Park is. There were all manner of people out and about - dog walkers, runners, walkers, rollerbladers, bike riders. There were softball games being played and horses and carts everywhere. just glorious! We were so lucky with the weather while we were in New York, not too hot and no rain.

 Central Park

..more Central Park

...and more...

...last pics of Central Park

Our bus home departed at 2pm and we got back to Arlington at about 7pm. What a fabulous weekend! We'll definitely be going back to New York before our time here is up.

Later in the month the kids and I visited another Smithsonian Institution museum, this time the National Museum of Natural History https://naturalhistory.si.edu/. Once again, lots of interesting exhibits, but my favourite was the Hope Diamond. I don't normally take photos in the museums, but we got a shot of this one! It was in a display box in the middle of a small room, and the stand rotated a quarter-turn every ten or so seconds. Very crowded with not-so-polite behaviour exhibited from some folk.

On Friday, 26th July we attended a Marine Corp Friday Evening Parade at the Marine Barracks in DC https://www.barracks.marines.mil/Parades/Friday-Evening-Parade-Schedule-Reservation/equesttickets/ which was fun and interesting to watch. We particularly enjoyed the Silent Drill Platoon, a 24-man rifle platoon that performs a precision drill exhibition.

Marine Band

Marine Band and Marine Drum and Bugle Corps

The following night Russ and I met up with our friends Luke and Julie. Luke is currently posted here, Julie lived here for two years and has recently returned back to Australia, but was over here visiting. We went to a very cool little champagne and wine bar in Old Town Alexandria called Brut https://brutwinebarva.com/ and had some lovely champagne and charcuterie to celebrate Julie's birthday.

What we've learned:

They really love their dogs over here. I mentioned in my first blog that there were dogs in the apartment complex were initially living in. That is very normal. It is also common to see dogs in hotels. When I book accommodation for us it often asks if we're travelling with a pet. I have seen signs on hotel room doors advising there are pets inside. There are also dogs in shops (Target, Lululemon, CVS). Crazy!

On the flip side, we have barely seen any cats.