NYC days 3 & 4

Our third full day in NYC was Thanksgiving. It was the coldest thanksgiving in 117 years.

Since I'd made these plans in August, I purchased tickets for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. It was extremely cold at that end of Manhattan. I purposefully decided not to get near the parade. We saw a lot of the set up the day before and I was grateful for that decision.

No good family pictures to be had

The kids enjoyed Ellis Island. Sonia followed a guided audio tour and learned a lot about immigration from the late 1800's to mid 1900's. They turned the building where immigrants were processed into a very kid friendly museum.

We spent 4 hours at the statue and the museum so we went home to rest before our Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant we chose (very randomly) in Brooklyn. It was very disappointing and very expensive. We took the subway both ways so at least we didn't overpay for transportation. 

On our last day, we split up. Sonia wanted to see a Broadway show so I'd purchased tickets to Wicked. First we visited the Empire State Building.

The Empire State Building as a cake.

Then we visited the Museum of Modern Art. This was a bust. The audio guide Sonia picked up was terrible compared to the made-for-kids version at Ellis Island. She was bored. I was bored too. In fact, large museums filled with people overwhelm me. I wanted to go to the more manageable Guggenheim but I learned that even though NYC is small, one cannot get around quickly. Walking is as fast as driving.. and the subway isn't much better. The Guggenheim was 2 miles a way while the MoMA was only 1.

We had a mediocre lunch and then went to Wicked. We loved that. I could see plays every day. Sonia agreed.

I really like NYC and I enjoy adventure. However, this trip was very expensive and the kids fought and complained a lot. It's made me re-think travel. I do not think I'll take them to another large urban center unless I have a free place to stay or some other obvious incentive.