We grabbed Starbucks from across the street again and decided to eat it on the Subway on our way to Southern Manhattan. We made our way to the right Subway entrance (thanks to Apple maps that include public transit options) and asked the teller to explain everything :).
The 1 train comes through very often, so with literally less than 1 minute wait, we were on board and setting up for breakfast. This was the very first subway trip for all three of us!
We got off at the stop in the basement of the World Trade Center.
And a short walk up to the road brought us to the 9/11 Memorial. This is the south pool in the footprint of the South tower. It is a huge reflection pool with a waterfall into the center. The names of those who died are etched on the outer edge.
After visiting the North pool where the north tower stood, we headed over to One World Trade Center and headed up to the Observatory. This is currently the tallest building in the USA, and our hemisphere. The 7th largest in the world. It is 1776 ft tall (Independence Day) and the observatory is on the 102nd floor.
After the 47 second plummet back to earth, we walked over to Battery Park. We made a quick stop to feed Kit... apparently she was hungry. A kind man even stopped to help give her a drink. Sammy was so appreciative! Looking back across town, we had a great view of One World Trade Center.
In Battery Park, we checked out the Korean War Memorial and then took some pics of the Statue of Liberty from the shore.
Then it was time to head back. We were both pretty tired and hungry so we visited a street vendor for some hotdogs and found a small wall to sit and rest a bit.
Then we headed back to the subway for our return trip. This entrance wasn’t staffed so I was thankful we had pre-purchased the return trip. However after Sammy walked through the turnstile, the machine wouldn’t read my ticket and I had a brief moment of panic. Three swipes later, and a few silent prayers for help, and it accepted my ticket and let me through.
Once we got down to the platform I realized that we were about to board a different train than I had wanted so we talked to a very kind man who was on his way home from work and found out that this train would also make a stop close to our hotel. So, we were fine - good lesson learned.
After we got back to Time Square we visited M&M World to explore all three floors of chocolate goodness. To my surprise, we walked out without any purchases so to quench my sweet tooth, I suggested we stop for dessert. Clearly, we made the right choice!
Even with two of us, we couldn’t finish it! We played Ticket To Ride on our ipads at the restaurant and after Sammy beat me silly, we headed back to our hotel for a movie. We had already walked over 9,000 steps before 1:00 pm and we both were ready for a rest.
After the movie, we decided to try some authentic New York-style pizza and ordered in a pie. Sammy got a kick out of eating in bed!
About 5:30, Sammy asked ever so sweetly if I might be interested in going shopping... and wouldn’t you know, she was hoping we could check out American Girl again. So we packed up for a quick visit to the store before we had to come home to clean up for tonight’s show.
I had told Sammy that we could buy her a new doll at the end of the trip this week, but after a lot of deliberating, we decided to bring her home tonight instead. Kit has a new friend! Her name Luciana, she has long dark hair and she is BIG into science!
The walk home was gorgeous...
And even more so from our hotel room as the sun set.
After a quick change and refresh on hair/make-up, we were out the door again and heading to Disney’s Aladdin. The crowds tonight in Time Square were the busiest we’ve seen.
We grabbed a shake on the way back to the hotel. As Sammy snuggled into bed, she said once again what a great day it was... I agree! It was incredible! So glad to have this special time with my girl!
