Trip report to the east. The good, the bad, and the ugly

Day 15, Friday:
Our last day of vacation. Bittersweet.

The kids were saying they are so happy we made them continue on a go to NYC. They really enjoyed the Statue and the entire experience. But at the same time, they were all homesick.

We slept in a little and wanting to take advantage of the entire day, we took the subway to our first destination. We had already passed this area yesterday on the bus tour and it probably cut our travel time by half. The kids needed to take a subway anyway, they had never done it before.
Subway ride in NYC. Check. Sorry, it's blurry.
We got off in the upper west side in a residential area. This part of town I really enjoyed. It wasn't overcrowded, it just seemed more pleasant and less touristy.

We went to visit the American Museum of Natural History. It was pretty awesome.




We did that for a couple of hours, (we completely skipped the diorama portions) and got back on the bus hungry. We did have a goal of eating pizza in NYC, b/c isn't it famous for pizza? When we got on the bus we asked the tour guide about where to get good pizza. Of course she knew, bc she's local. It happened that her favorite place V&T, was just at the next stop. Perfect! We got off and it did not disappoint. Best pizza ever! We ate every morsel.


We got back on the bus to finish up the tour. We noticed that we were driving right past the tomb of Ulysses S Grant. The kids had to go to the bathroom, so we got off to check it out. We didn't have our passports with us to get stamped so we just stamped paper and put it in our backpack to tape into place later. Interesting stop. My daughter couldn't figure out where the dead guy was, who he was, why he had a house, who lived here, what a tomb was.....




We got back on the bus, and found it was standing room only. No fun. We passed by Central Park and got off, my son had to pee again anyway. We got back on a less crowded bus and took that one to the closest stop to the 911 Memorial, then my son had to pee again.....

We had to walk just a little bit to get to the Memorial. Seeing as how it was a place where a horrific terrorist attack took so many lives, I felt that the smiling pose would be inappropriate. I got a pic of the kids' backs while they pondered the moment.




We had to high tail it back to the ferry to make the last one of the night.

This was a yacht in the harbor that my son loved. I told him I really hoped he would have one of those one day. :)

We live in Maryland and when we go to the ocean we always go to Assateague for the beach. Even if you are not camping the beach at Assateague is much easier to access than Ocean City and usually not as crowded. You do have to watch your belongings on the beach at Assateague as the ponies will grab things and go off with them.

It is nice that you got to Fort McHenry and got to help raise the large flag. We have also be able to do that.

I'm glad you enjoyed your time in Maryland. BTW I would not camp in Maryland in the summer without AC either.

Day 14, Thursday:
I had purchased crown tickets to the Statue Of Liberty back in February. Being completely unfamiliar with the area and mode of transportation, I had some reservations about how to get to the ferry for the statue. I just asked at the desk and she told me which ferry to take and by the end of the day I feel like I had the whole "How to get into NYC" figured out. We didn't do the PATH train at all, but I think I could have figured that out as well.

Anyway, our tickets were for 10, and I didn't want to be late, so we erred on the side of caution and arrived early. I really wasn't sure if the 10 am time was for the ferry ride over, or the entrance to the crown. I thought maybe they wouldn't let us board the ferry until 10 and we arrived at 9. In the end it didn't matter what the time said to the ferry people, they just let us on, they never checked for a time. We must have had the best timing ever because we never waited for more than two minutes for transportation this entire day. We ferried over to Liberty Island without issue.
Originally, (before this trip started), I had wanted to visit Ellis Island. My attitude toward this trip changed considerably after the axle broke. I relaxed a LOT. The trip is different than what I thought I wanted, and that's not bad; just go with it, it will still be great. Nobody wants to go to Ellis Island? Ok with me. I explained what it was, took a picture from the ferry, and went directly to the statue. That was the biggest priority anyway.

We all agree that this was the second best part of the trip, with Assateague being #1.


View from the crown


We hiked up 340 steps in a tight spiral to reach the top. Not unlike going up a very tall lighthouse with better steps and handrails.




You can get this shot if you lay on your back in the far corner of the walkway. Another couple and I exchanged the task. Maybe this will be on my Christmas card as well.


We had an unexpectedly pleasant lunch on the island. There was fresh fruit and yogurt and sandwiches. We didn't have to eat fries and burgers again. It was sunny but not hot, there was a breeze, we had just completed a hike up to the crown of the Statue of Liberty. We felt triumphant. What a great day!! We went to the gift shop and the boys wanted a souvenir that was a box with a pic of the statue on it and their name. I think it cost $2. No problem boys, no problem. We also got pencils. This turned out to be a big pencil as a souvenir trip. They're cheap and when you have 3 kids it works. The kids had brought their own money for souvenirs and not surprisingly, when they had to spend their own money, they were very conservative. I offered tshirts, hats; nope they weren't interested. Great, savings for me then.

We ferried over to Battery Park in NYC. I'm not opposed to subways, I've managed to not get lost in Paris and London, but you don't really see much when you're underground, so we splurged and bought a two day on/off bus tour for everyone. It was worth it. We got off the ferry, and saw a bus at the curb. No waiting for us again. Score!

It was quite an experience. The kids were quiet I think because they were trying to absorb and process everything.


Our first stop was the American Girl Store. My daughter had been saving money that her grandpa gave her at Christmas last year. That's a long time when you're 6! The store is 3 stories tall and she was overwhelmed and excited, like a 6 year old on crack! We let her run wild for 30 minutes then had to settle her down to focus on what doll she wanted. Here she is.


We decided to take the boys to Toys R Us since they were patient for their sister. We were close to it so we just walked. We walked through Time Square. Why do people do that on purpose repeatedly? I'll never understand!
Anyway, they choose a video game. They had to pay with their own money again. Usually it's $50 for one game. Without any suggestions from us, they decided to split the cost of a $40 game. Yep, lots of lessons learned on this trip for everyone.

We got back on the bus and rode it to the ferry. Waited 5 minutes and ferried directly over to the campground. We were toast.


He's pounding on the door right now, "Let me in!" ;)


We ended up getting take out from the restaurant right on the harbor side at the end of the campground. We figured we ate healthy for lunch, let's have some garbage. It was all really good.

All in all, we had a really good day!

tragusa3 wrote:
It is quite the coincidence that we both had bearing failures. Glad to see that it didn't send you packing.

You know, I actually thought of you and your experience when I was having doubts about my trailer's ability to get us across the county. When I was wondering how often that type of issue occurs with trustworthy trailers, you came to my mind and it gave me a lot of reassurance. You made it home and you didn't have a half million dollar diesel pusher. Maybe we could too.

Who knows, maybe someone reading my story right now will have a similar experience and be encouraged from it as well.

Day 13, Wednesday:
Travel to Liberty Harbor RV park.
I had heard that Fort Delaware was pretty neat to see and it was directly on our path. Our original plan was to stop to see Philly en route to NYC, now that we had already done that, I thought maybe we'd check out Fort Delaware. Eh, again, nobody was enthused at all. We'd already seen a fort this trip, and a battlefield, and a prison, and......you get the picture. Fine, I don't want to force the issue and it's not like I'm driving past the Liberty Bell and not stopping to see it. So we drove directly to Jersey City.

Thanks to everyone that answered my questions about traffic and road ways. It really was uncomplicated to get to Liberty Harbor. We arrived at 3:30 in the afternoon and had zero problems with traffic, just as someone suggested. Perfect when you're completely out of your element.

I tell you what, I've never seen the Statue of Liberty. When we crested a hill and I saw it in the distance for the first time ever, I actually got goosebumps. It was a very exciting experience. I'm sure it's no big deal for those that live locally, but if you're an adult and have never seen it in your entire life, it just seemed significant to me. Suddenly, my kids were excited again too!

The campground is unimpressive, but I was prepared for that.
We set up camp and headed over to Liberty State Park just to check out the views and we got some amazing family pictures.
Maybe this will be our Christmas card this year.








There was a memorial in the park there from 911 and I appreciated that my children could have that unexpected educational experience. We planned to go to the 911 Memorial in NYC, but this was less crowded, easier to get to, and still powerful.


The kids played at the playground for a long while. It was a pleasant evening. I saw many families with young children and I realized that they had to come to the park to let their kids play outside, they have no yards. I can't imagine working all day and hanging at the park afterward so my kids could run in the grass. That made me feel fortunate too, I have a yard, trees, grass. I just open my door and let my dogs outside, I don't have to walk them. The playground was the most diverse mixture of people and races I've ever seen. I couldn't help thinking how much less sheltered my children will be because of this experience.

SandZilla, after all the support and encouragement you gave to me, I am excited to read of your adventure this summer! I have to say, it looks like the "perfect" family trip to me!

It is quite the coincidence that we both had bearing failures. Glad to see that it didn't send you packing.

Camping with the ponies looked really cool. Love your comment that you gave the older boys the option and then "made" them. Hahaha. That's my strategy too. Let them think they have an opinion. LOL. Truly, kids just need a push some times.

Thanks for taking the time to share. I'm looking forward to the rest of the story!

That's a great attitude! Your kids are lucky to have good roll models.I've got some catching up to do as far as my attitude goes when things go south on me! I'm a work in progress.

Come on come on... I'm anxious for the next update

All I could afford wrote:
Beautiful shot of the sunrise with the wild horses in the background.

I know you lost some days and dollars with the wheel bearing, but I hope to read that u still made it over to jersey. Hopefully on the ferry

We never did make it to the ferry or over to Wildwood. They didn't see wild dolphins either. There was a lot we didn't do that we had wanted, all of DC in fact, but I feel like we still crammed in a TON of experiences. We're going to focus on what we did do instead of what we missed. If we ever go back, we'll keep it on our short list of something new to try.
As my son said, "When someone asks me what I did over the summer, it's going to take me 12 years to explain."

Day 12, Tuesday:
Our last day on the ocean. It had been a magical experience for us these past few days, but something seemed off today. It took me some time to figure out what the problem was. Our 10 year old son was homesick. He was having a great time, but he missed his cat, his dogs, his own bed, etc. He wasn't complaining at all, but he had lost all enthusiasm. He didn't want to swim or do much of anything. This is the longest he'd ever been away from home.

We went out and did some laundry and grocery shopping to break up the routine we had developed and that didn't seem to help either. Then my oldest son said he didn't want to swim. He was bored.

This started those doubts again for us parents. Do you force the trip and finish off NYC as we planned? We're already over budget and bringing along two reluctant older kids is NOT my idea of fun. We had learned that we weren't exactly road savvy in the east side of the country. Lots of tunnels, some allow propane, some you have to turn it off, some you are completely prohibited. What should we expect?

In the end, we decided that we just needed to change location and that would solve the issue. Plus, after all of this trouble, I didn't want to have to come back east again. Let's just finish it off! So we told the boys they didn't have any options and we made them go swimming with us. Of course they had a blast!


The ponies visited us for our last bonfire.


We packed up outside and resolved to finish the vacation even if it made us all miserable.......but we really hoped it wouldn't!