A Full Day in Manhattan

My boys are wimpy vacationers, well, Nolan is. We wore him out by 3 p.m. today... "when can we go back to the hotel and relax?"

We started the day out in the financial district. We stopped by Trinity Church, then walked over to the NYSE, but the NYSE isn't open to the public anymore. Then we visited the site where George Washington took the oath of office and became president. Ground Zero was next. It's essentially a very large construction site. They are 60+ stories up on the construction of some of the buildings. The reflection pools are "in". I think it's too bad that the real estate that Ground Zero sits on is so valuable that it has to be developed. I think that a big, green park would have been a more fitting memorial instead of skyscrapers and reflecting pools. Next we walked along the river front and let Miles feed his bagel to the birds.

About midday, we headed uptown. We got off at Grand Central Station (because I wanted to see what that train station looks like, since it's one of the few "famous ones" the U.S. has. Then we walked over to the Empire State Building and went up to the 86th floor observation deck and peered down on an overcast, gray Manhattan. It was quite cold up there, as Miles frequently reminded us. FAO Schwartz was next for Miles. He loved the large stuffed zebras and giraffes (he wanted to ride a giraffe) and the regular sized "kitties" and "pup-pups". He especially liked swinging the cats and dogs around by their tails. We dragged a screaming Miles out of the toy store and walked through Central Park to find the Manhattan Temple (which was not very impressive compared to all the freestanding temples in the world, but is still cool in its own right) and Lincoln Center (and Julliard, which almost impressed Jonathan). We took the subway back to Times Square. Miles liked the lights! We ate at Olive Garden because there was something there that everyone would eat, then walked by the Ed Sullivan Theater. We tried to find the theater where "The Book of Mormon" is playing, but someone gave us the wrong address. We walked by Radio City Music Hall, where Charlie Sheen is having his rant session tonight, then over to Rockefeller Plaza.
After the Plaza and a visit to the LEGO store we declared ourselves "done for the night" and took the train back to Brooklyn. Fun & busy day!