Temple * Empire State Building * Highline * Intrepid * Museum of Natural History * “Come From Away”
Eric took the kids to the NYC temple this morning to do baptisms, Lara had some work to catch up with, so she stayed back at the hotel. The temple was only a 10-minute walk from our hotel. After the temple and a pane au chocolate we were off to the Empire State Building. The experience at the Empire State Building has changed a lot since Lara and Eric were here 25 years ago. There’s a lookout on floor 80 before going up to the traditional lookout on floor 86. There’s an interactive elevator that shows you the construction of the building as you head up 80 floors. On floor 80 there a 360* viewing area with huge windows. This city is mammoth and being up high is a great way to appreciate that massiveness.
After our visit to the Empire State Building, we trekked westward across mid-town to the new highline trail, an abandoned, elevated rail that has been changed to a pedestrian walking area. We found a little pizza joint under the pathway that sold pizza by the slice. It was quintessentially New York, and the pizza was pretty yummy as well. Our next stop - the Intrepid Aircraft carrier and museum - was a bit of a trek so we decided to take an Uber. That saved our feet.
The huge Intrepid aircraft carrier is parked in the Harbor with a bunch of planes on the deck, including the concord and Space Shuttle Enterprise. The juxtaposition of the NY skyline against the huge aircraft carrier was stunning. Wander the aircraft carrier was fascinating, especially the “island” above the deck where the ship’s captains and crew would maneuver this huge boat. Seeing the Space Shuttle Enterprise made this the 2nd Space Shuttle that we’ve seen on this trip.
At the same location there was a submarine we could tour that was used during the Cold War. It was parked off the East Coast of Russian on full alert ready to launch a nuclear war head into Russian territory if needed. Crazy to think that the world sat in a constant threat of nuclear war and destruction during that period.
After another Uber ride, we ended up at the Museum of Natural History in Central Park. We got there with only about an hour left before the museum closed, so we did a blitzkrieg, but took some extra time in the dinosaur area. We saw fossils of so many extinct animals we had no clue about. We also stumbled across some pre-Incan artifacts from some of the cultures we were introduced to in Peru, like the Moche.
After a cookie at Levains (Emma’s suggestion) we headed directly to the musical “Come From Away”. Based on the book “When the World Came to Town”, a story about 9/11 when over 30+ planes were diverted to Gander Newfoundland when the US airspace was closed for 72 hours. It was great - humorous, touching, thoughtful, and hopeful. And the music was so fun with a bit of a Celtic flare. We had read about the great reviews, but we didn’t know what to expect. We were pleasantly impressed.
Dinner tonight was really good street tacos!
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