Thursday October 15, 2020 Manhattan Baby!!!!!

Good Morning New York City!!!!!!

Graham and I went on the most incredible run this morning. We ran on the same boardwalk that we explored last night, but from the other side.  How cool is it to run by the Statue of Liberty!!!!!! We started at our campground and found a pedestrian path that led to the board walk.  Then we proceeded to go as far as we could.  There were many runners and bikers out today.  I also saw many police officers patrolling the whole area, which of course I appreciate.  

This picture needs to be framed!!

Jersey City has a beautiful 9-11 monument.  We looked at if for a while then decided to get a picture going through it.  

Miss Liberty herself!!

Ellis Island

Snack Break

School was short today. I  changed the curriculum for this week so that we could go to the city and learn about the Big Apple!!  Isn't Pepper the cutest math girl ever!!! P.S.  When I bought Pepper's math curriculum, I bought the Common Core books and the Saxon Math books.  I LOVE the Saxon math.  It is 100% better than Common Core math.  Pepper is doing great in math!!!

The kids begged me to go to a skate park here in Hoboken today.  It took us about 20 minutes to drive there.  The one way streets in Hoboken are packed.  People park on both sides and some how I had to squeeze my dually through the smallest spaces.  I was totally surprised at what I could squeeze Doug through.  

The road that led to the skate park was closed and I had no idea where to park.  I was worried about getting towed so I went and talked to Jr. (who is a security guard for the area) and I asked him where I could park.  Jr. let me park our truck in his parking lot. He was so nice.  So the kids took the boardwalk down to the skate park.  The pictures I got at this skatepark are seriously eye candy.  The kids, the ramps, the river and the city in the background!!!!  Breathtaking.  

We finally got  a picture with Charlie Rocket!!!

New York here we come.  We had to take the Ferry over to the city because there is no other way to get there without driving back through the George Washington Bridge which would take us an hour or so.  The ferry ride was 12 minutes and it dropped us off at Pier 11 which is right off Wall Street!!!

We took our time walking down Wall Street and soaking in the "feel" of the big city.  The kids all said to me at one point or another that they really like the big city.  I do too!!

We walked all the way to the 9-11 Memorial.  We didn't go to the museum because I have tickets to go to it when Scotty can come.  We walked all around the fountains and I told the kids everything that I had learned on my previous tour about the park.  

Kathleen Ann Nicosia was on one of the planes that hit the towers.  She is a cousin to my father.  I have never met her so I don't know her but she is family, and every time I see her name, my heart grieves.  I have no idea how scary her last minutes were.  It's hard for me to think of that.  When I meet her in heaven I want to give her a huge hug and tell her I love her.  

The fountains are placed in the foundations of the two Twin Towers.  The first waterfall is 30 feet and then the water goes down to a "Void" that is the second 30 foot waterfall.  There are many stories as to why it is like this, but the one I remember is that the water represents all the souls of those who died.  They fall down the first water fall then they fall down into a void never to be seen again.  So sad.  

The flowers are placed on the peoples names on their birthdays.  

The surviver tree is a pear tree that used to be by the Twin Towers.  After the attack, people were  cleaning up the rubble and they found this tree mostly burned and basically dead.  As they looked closer, the workers saw small signs of life so they uprooted it and sent it to the Bronx to a nursery that would try to revive it.  The tree started to grow but then there were many horrible hurricanes.  Some how the tree survived the hurricanes too.  This tree did not want to die.  When the tree was healthy enough, it was brought back here to the site of destruction and re-planted. This tree is beautiful and alive today.  If we could all be like the survivor tree!!!!

This is Joe!! He is a worker at the park.  He came over and told some new facts the we didn't know.  Facts like; Everyone who works there wears a blue shirt to represent the blue sky before the attack.  Also, the fountains are a deep blue to represent the sky as well.  The trees in the park are all planted in perfect lines.  There are 400 + trees that represent the first responders that died that day in that very spot.  

The 9-11 Memorial is very heavy.  We all left a bit sad.  It's our history and it's necessary for us to understand what happened and do our best to make America the best place to be by loving and serving each other.  

We hit the gift shop for some I ❤️ New York memorabilia.   

New York has the best shops to sit and eat at.  We were tired and hungry so we found this yummy place to chill.  

Our last stop for the day was to see the "Charging Bull" on Broadway.  Honestly, I can't remember why it's so cool.  I need to look it up.  

Then we walked our way back to the ferry to take us home!!!!

Scotty was done working and wanted to go for a night ride with lights.  We put lights on our bikes and went out to play!!!  Asher wanted to watch the Dodgers game so he stayed behind.  These moments are so beautiful in life.  

Doesn't this look so unreal???  Scotty took this picture!!!