Claire delivered Emerson to us at the PHX airport on Thursday afternoon. We flew to New York for her “Lulu and Papa trip.” We arrived in Newark at 11:30 PM, and took the train to Penn Station, then a taxi to the Warwick Hotel in midtown. It was a late night!
We slept a bit late on Friday morning, had breakfast near the hotel, and by 10, we were off, with a walk through Central Park to the MET. We roamed through the Egyptian exhibits, Arms and Armor, the American Wing, and Modern and Contemporary Art. We enjoyed all of it! We had a snack from a street vendor, then walked across Central Park, stopping at Belvedere Castle to climb to the top. We continued on the American Museum of Natural History, where we enjoyed the Hall of African Animals, the Hall of American Animals, and spent most of our time on the 4th floor seeing the extraordinary dinosaur exhibits. We had lunch at Shake Shack at Columbus/77th, and walked by Whitney’s old apartment on our way to Levain Bakery for cookies. It was a busy few hours!
We came back to the hotel by 3, took a short rest, and then Emerson and I walked to the American Girl Store and the Lego Store on 5th Avenue. She bought a box of Legos to build a yellow taxi. We crossed the street to visit St. Patrick’s Cathedral, then walked through Rockefeller Center. We returned to the hotel, showered, and got ready for the evening. We walked to Times Square and had a snack before going to see the Lion King at the Minskoff Theater. The Lion King was terrific, and we couldn’t help ourselves from singing along a bit.
Today, Saturday, was another action packed day. We had breakfast near the hotel, then took the subway to the Staten Island Ferry by 11. It was a beautiful day, and the views toward Manhattan, Brooklyn, Jersey City, and the Statue of Liberty were amazing! We rode the ferry back to lower Manhattan, then walked past the bull of Wall Street, and to the 9/11 Memorial pools. A fitting memorial in a hallowed place. We then walked across town, through Chinatown and Little Italy, with a pizza stop along the way, and to the Angel Orensanz Foundation for Emerson and me to attend a New York Fashion Show. Papa left us at the Fashion Show entrance and taxied back to the hotel. Emerson and I had an interesting experience! Afterward, we took a taxi to the Harry Potter store, but the wait to get inside the store was 4 hours, so we passed! We stopped at Eataly for snacks, then taxied back to the hotel. We had an early Italian dinner. A good day!
