We left Boston early in the morning but after rush hour and really had no issues getting out of town, then surprisingly into new York city was not really that bad. There is a fairly large roadway around all of Manhattan that flows nicely, easy to change lanes, and since our hotel was only one block from the major roadway, I did not have any trouble getting to this hotel in NYC. We stayed at a Hotel Conrad (Hilton Family) that was only two blocks from the One World Trade Center...I was excited to pick my hotel early because I found a room with a view of the OWTC...but I failed to consider that the building in that one block in the middle was about 45 stories and blocked our view. Oh well. The Hotel Conrad was also probably not the best for a family, but I found it as about the only thing in NYC with two rooms and three beds...they were super nice and brought us a roll away bed. Then when we found out if you touched anything in the stocked refridgerator, you could get up to $50 charges, we asked for our own refridgerator, and they quickly brought us another one for the room for our stuff. HAHA, we had many laughs about this hotel between 6 folks as there were no locks on the shower or bathroom door...I think I heard mom saying that she kept seeing Sam Butt. HAHA...and the lights on in the bathroom shined thru a shaded glass wall into the living room, and the same for the shower into the bedroom. A little too modern for this Alabama crew.
After checkin we quickly walked over to the trade center and were taken 102 stories high (1200 feet) to the view at the top. Here is where my planning got a little crazy as I thought this was the only thing on the agenda for the day, and didn't realize that there was an actual 9/11 museum...like 102 stories down right out da door. I thought the 9/11 memorial fountain was all there was...so Magan was super ready to go down and go to the 9/11 museum...and since I did not have this information...I was trying to make sure she good a good picture of the family at the top. I was also trying to make sure we got our money's worth out of the top. Kind of like a Chinese buffet where you keep stuffing yourself making you miserable while everyone else is just ready to go. Well that is what I did...we ended up getting like 5 people to take a picture for us, none up to my standards (which are based on what I think Magan wants). Magan keeps telling me it is fine...but I "know" she wants it perfect...so I purchase the green screen pictures...but she still wants something else (SHE WANTED TO GO DOWN TO THE MUSEUM DUMMY!!)...so I found yet two more people to take our picture...not to our standards. I then took anabelle and ruby around the floor where we posed, then they posed me for some pictures. And finally we went down...I later heard them describing the OWTC where dad held us prisoner for an hour.
Then back at the bottom, do you know what we found? YES, the actual 9/11 museum that Magan was so excited to go to. Open for another 2 hours, so we were still ok, and it was as Magan expected AMAZING. It was located directly below where both towers stood and we saw all the original foundation pieces. Excellent exhibits and a movie that easily stirred the emotions of that dreadful day. Magan was crying and Ruby pulled her the pictured handful of toilet tissue from her jacket pocket..."Here mommy".
Back up at the memorial, we got our picture by the fountain, went and visited the survivor tree, and I saw a cool picture that I could take of the kids with the OWTC standing high above them. I laid down on the ground and took what I thought was a really cool picture. I showed Magan, and she said, oh yeah, that is neat, then she got the kids to stand in the same place, then she like just bent over a bit, and snapped a picture 300% better. "How bout this one?" she asked with a smile...Oh well, both are in the grouping below...pretty sure you will be able to tell the difference.
And the day was ended with a visit to a restaurant PARM, where we had some excellent Italian dishes. haha, I surprised the kids here because I let them pick out whatever they wanted to drink (yeah, not just water), and this place that just looked like they had to have a soda fountain, brought back 3 CANS of coke and 2 CANS of sprite. haha...our shot at free refills of soda for the kids...ruined...but maybe the laughs and this memory are worth the $15 I paid for those 5 cans of soda.
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