Family Trip Report - Day 4

We actually woke up early this morning. We headed downtown to ride the Staten Island Ferry. We opted not to do the SOL/Ellis Island, but may try that next time. Kids enjoyed the ferry, but have to say I found myself queasy. What%26#39;s up with that? We had great views of the SOL, but the highlight for the boys was counting how many jellyfish they found in the water. I think the count was 22!

Headed to South Street Seaport after that. This was not on my list, but a lady on the subway mentioned it and thought the kids might like. It did offer wonderful views of the Brooklyn Bridge and it was nice to sit in the chairs on the deck out back and just admire the view.

We headed to the World Trade Center site next. I have to say, I felt strange heading there. So many people were just snapping picture after picture. I did find a fire station right across the street and they had a memorial on the side of it. We also went to St. Paul%26#39;s Chapel, which brought us all to tears. Such moving tributes inside. Afterwards, we went to Trinity Church. It is a beautiful church and organ music was playing when we walked in, so we sat and just listened. We located the graves of Alexander Hamilton and Robert Fulton. But what I found interesting was that in the midst of all the commotion of that area, this area was a little oasis. We saw 6 kids with what appeared to be day care workers wandering around in the cemetery. They were blowing bubbles, playing with sidewalk chalk. Right in the middle of everything.

We spent quite a bit of time at both churches, more that I had expected, but the kids did not want to leave. But, when we did, we took a look down Wall Street, found the NYSE and Federal Hall. We also found the bull. We got fun pictures of the front of the bull and of the back! What memories! We found the Sports Museum. Did not go through the museum, but the kids enjoyed perusing the gift shop.

Headed back to home base and what did the kids want to do, but go to Central Park! We found a pizza place around the corner from the hotel, so we stopped by there and ate some wonderful pizza. Had fun chatting with all the locals that were coming in to get pizza to go. I can%26#39;t believe they could tell we were tourists!!!

Walked to Central Park and found a great spot to chill out and watch the kids throw the ball around. Didn%26#39;t know what was going on that night, but come to find out Hair was being put on. Didn%26#39;t watch, but had a great time listening to the music! What a great city. My kids have no desire to come home! They have fallen in love with New York.

Family Trip Report - Day 4

I found St Paul%26#39;s Chapel very moving too. Just everything about it but especially the marks on the pews made by the firemen%26#39;s boots. The actual site itself I found very difficult to connect with all the pictures I%26#39;d seen on TV.

Family Trip Report - Day 4

I was interested in your comment about ';feeling Queasy'; on the ferry... I have had a bad experiance on a boat and never want to feel that again. My family and I will be taking our first trip to NYC and do plan to ride the ferry. Should I be concerned?????

What a great day! I wish I had your day instead of mine.

Funny thing about the ';jellyfish';...are your sure they weren%26#39;t the special NYC breed of jellyfish, as seen in this photo?

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Massfamilyfun, I have also had a bad experience on a ferry (on a very rough day in Lake Erie) and wouldn%26#39;t want that experience again. But I found the Staten Island ferry to be very smooth and not bad at all. I would just say if it%26#39;s a stormy day with rough water, you may want to wait until it%26#39;s calmer just to be safe; otherwise, go ahead and have fun!

Not to be dismissive of cmdmom%26#39;s reaction, by I have spent, literally, thousands of hours riding the SI ferry, and never found it to be a particularly rough crossing. The reason NYC became the great city it is has a lot to do with the fact that the upper bay is almost perfectly protected from the currents of the open ocean.

A couple of year%26#39;s ago I rode a ferry across Cape Cod bay after a night of violent thunderstorms; now THAT was nauseating. But the only times I ever felt queasy on the SI ferry, it was due to my own poor judgement...or pour judgement, if you know what I mean.

queensboulevard - you crack me up! I hope we were counting real jellyfish. We have been to the beach enough that I hope I know what they look like!!

As far as the queasy thing, every other person riding the ferry will be fine. I am a complete and utter wimp. And I was looking down in the water which did not make things any better. I usually don%26#39;t turn on my jets in the bathtub because I can sometimes start to feel queasy. How sad and pathetic is that!!

Some individuals(my wife, for example) find the roll of the ferry (even when perfectly calm) makes them seasick. One trick for this not to happen is to look out toward the horizon, not something close on the boat. In any case, everyone seems to be having a great time.