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We are at the end of a very long day 3 and it was a great one! We began the day with a quick but filling breakfast at our hotel, got our luggage, and said goodbye to our Boston hotel. We hit the road at 8, thinking it would take about 3-4 hours to get to New York. About 5.5-6 hours later, we arrived! We ran into unexpected traffic in Boston, Connecticut, and at one point in New York, the entire highway shut down to tow a trash truck. Our lucky streak continues! Once we got into town, we got a very quick bite to eat. Our options included pizza, steak sandwiches, hot dog vendors, and a panini shop. It was very quick, but much needed!
Our first big agenda item in New York was the 9/11 Memorial. It is home to two enormous waterfalls and reflecting pools as well as the new skyscraper, World Trade Center One which recently achieved its full height of 1776 feet. It was a very neat but somber experience. It is so important to remember what happened that day and our tour guides did a wonderful job of telling the story in a way
our kids could relate to. Speaking of the kids, they responded perfectly. They were very polite, reverent, and respectful as they explored the grounds.
After the 9/11 Memorial, we took a walking tour of the city. We had to split the group during the tour, but we had great guides who did an amazing job showing us the city! The stops were in a different order for the two groups, but we saw nearly all of the same things. Group one began at Trinity Church which was founded in 1696 and is the final resting place for Alexander Hamilton and Robert Fulton, among many others. Up next was Federal Hall and the New York Stock Exchange. We were able to see where George Washington was sworn in and some of us got to see the Bible he used during the ceremony! Across the street from Federal Hall is the New York Stock Exchange. While we didn't get to go inside, it was very neat to see the building that is so critical to our economy. Next up was Bowling Green and the famous bull statue near the NYSE. Bowling Green is the oldest public park in the country and
is next to the site of the original Dutch fort. The bull statue made for a quick and pretty amusing photo op.
The final stop on the walking tour was St. Paul's Chapel. Opened in 1766, the chapel served as George Washington's house of worship during his time in New York. During the attacks on 9/11/01, it served as a triage center and as a place for rescuers to rest. Even though it is directly across the street, it sustained almost no damage. When we walked in we were greeted by a banner from Oklahoma sending words of encouragement to the people of New York. It was neat to see a little piece of home all the way up here.
Our final stop for the day was the iconic Empire State Building. We were able to breeze through security and the line before making up to the 86th floor! The air was a little hazy but the views were incredible! Many of us were able to watch the sun go down over the city. It was a little crowded up there, but well worth it took to enjoy the beautiful views.
Your homework tonight is to figure
out who orignially colonized New York and what its name was.
We hope you enjoyed our adventures of day 3 and hope you'll leave us a comment! Thanks!
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Darla Doyle
non-member comment
Thanks so much for sharing this, it's great to hear and see what you are doing every day!