When I last left you, we were on the ferry and headed to Ellis Island….
It was a short ride over and soon we had arrived.
If you can’t tell from the picture above, we started losing Matthew at this point. He just didn’t care about the exhibits and was tired and bored.
This computerized flag/photo thing was the only exhibit Ian and Matthew cared about at Ellis Island. LOL
I want to go back without the kids some time. The exhibits were so interesting to me. I probably could have spent a full day there. The hour we spent was just not enough time.
Baggage exhibit on the first floor:
The Registry Room (second floor):
They had copies of Passenger Manifests on display.
We really didn’t get to see any of the exhibits on the balcony. I believe all of the rooms were previously dorm rooms and they were set up with exhibits inside. I quickly walked through one while Mike took the boys to the mens room but (again) I really could have spent a lot more time exploring.
The photographs of the Registry Room that they reference above were really cool. Unfortunately, they really didn’t photograph well.
In one of the dorm rooms they had an exhibit showing what the dorm rooms looked likein 1908 with triple-tiered bunk beds.
I’ve never been in a prison but I’d say those bunks don’t look much different than what you’d find in jail. Not very accommodating, huh?
At this point, we pretty much had to leave. Naggy McNaggerson was nagging to leave and we were tired of trying to reason with him. LOL
On the way out, I got some more pictures of the baggage on the first floor.
It was such a fascinating place to visit, I can’t wait to go back!
After we took the ferry back to Battery Park, we sat in the park for a bit to people watch and to snack on some food we bought from the carts/trucks in the park.
We walked over to the The Sphere. The sculpture stood in between the original World Trade Center towers and survived the 9/11 attacks relatively intact.
After a short break, we walked over to the 9/11 Memorial. When I planned our trip, I made reservations for admission around 3:00PM because I wasn’t sure how much time we’d need Liberty Island or Ellis Island. We were worried the ferries would take a long time and we’d miss our entrance if we scheduled them too close together. We figured if we had extra time that we could go down to Times Square while we waited. When we entered the Statue of Liberty security line, we were given passes for 1:15PM. Since we got to the memorial at 12:55PM, it actually worked out much better to use the 1:15PM tickets.
I’m going to be honest, the 9/11 Memorial was a bit intimidating. After a long line through security and multiple checks of our passes (3-4x?), we finally got into the memorial. There were armed police officers EVERYWHERE and cameras all over the place. Even once we were past security and on the grounds of the memorial, we were still asked to show our passes multiple times. Obviously security and safety are a big concern given the nature of the memorial but it was disconcerting, distracting, and unwelcoming.
Given all of the security presence, it probably comes as no surprise that Mike and the boys were “talked to” multiple times about the boy’s behavior (walking in places they shouldn’t walk, touching things they shouldn’t touch). We didn’t stay long because the boys were losing interest and it was nearly impossible to keep them occupied without breaking rules.
That being said….the memorial was gorgeous, peaceful, and very sobering.
I’d like to say Ian was overcome with emotions due to the nature of the memorial but mostly he was upset about getting in trouble for who knows what. Please note the look of frustration on Mike’s face. LOL
As we left, I noticed the line to get into the memorial was so long that people were standing in a maze. I’m glad we went when we did and didn’t use our 3:00PM tickets. We never really had to wait in a super bad line. While the line was long, it moved pretty steadily through the security process so that we weren’t just standing around/not moving.
After leaving the 9/11 Memorial, we took the subway down to Times Square. 
Times Square was as busy and as overwhelming as it always is. Actually, it was worse with kids. LOL There are so many people, so many cars, so many lights, so much to see that it is very overwhelming and making sure you don’t lose your kids (or spouse) in the crowd is stressful. It’s just insanity. I don’t really have any pictures that demonstrate how nutty it is because I only took pictures in the more calm areas where I wasn’t as worried about losing my kids. LOL
One of the first things we saw in Times Square was MARIO!!! Ian had **just** gotten a new Super Mario Bros game for his 3DS a few days before our trip so he was ALL about Mario.
Mike has a pretty funny story about the chaos that ensued after the boys took pictures with the characters. Mario came over looking for a donation so Mike tipped him…but he didn’t have enough small bills so Hello Kitty got a bigger tip (which was really too bad because the boys only cared about Mario and Minnie Mouse). The three characters almost got into a fight over the money right on the street until their handler came over to get them under control. The best part was that Mario was arguing with Minnie and Hello Kitty in his high-pitched character voice. LOL
After walking around a bit, we headed to the Toys R Us in Times Square. The store is multiple levels and just completely over the top. It has a full-size ferris wheel in the lobby and enormous statues, dinosaurs, Lego creations, and super heroes all over the place.
Lego Statue of Liberty, Chrysler Building, Empire State Building (mostly out of the picture):
Ferris Wheel:
At this point, the kids were pretty much DONE. We had bought them small Lego packs and they were desperate to have them opened. Since we still had to walk to the subway, take the subway to Lower Manhattan, walk to the WTC train station, take the train back to NJ, drive to our hotel, and get to our room….opening the Lego packs was pretty much the last thing we were going to do and they were NOT happy.
On our way back to the subway, we stopped in the Hershey Store. Not even a 5lb Hershey bar could cheer them up. L0ok at that grump face on Ian. LOL
We finally found the subway station for the downtown train and quickly caught a train.
Matthew insisted on sitting by himself.
I’m not sure we were on the train for two full minutes before this happened:
When we finally got back to the hotel, we swam in the hotel pool for a bit and then walked across the street to eat at Popeye’s. We were all really tired from the long day, walking, and heat and just needed a low-key dinner.
After dinner, we watched TV, played games, and read in the hotel room.
