As I was saying, we rushed up to the room to see what our view would be like for the next few days. It was raining slightly and very foggy...but the view was still amazing! Not only did they upgrade us to a Manhattan view, it was of midtown and not downtown (not as exciting of a view).
The king room was very modern and had the most comfy round chair I've ever sat in. Perfect for sitting in while looking at the beautiful skyline.
We had so much to do and wanted to see today, so we changed into our sneakers, put more layers on and we hit the pavement! It was only about 2 or 3 blocks to the Path train station into NYC. The walk was quick, even in the drizzly rain that was coming down. We were very cold though. It was only in the 40's, and we just aren't used to it living in Florida. Figuring out the Path train was easy and we purchased our Metrocard for our stay (can be used at the Path stations and subways in NYC). The train was waiting for us when we descended the stairs, so we quickly boarded and we on our way to 33rd St! I asked A what he thought of the train and the fact that we were under water. He seemed pretty impressed, but was a tad worried we'd be flooded.
Once in NYC, at the 33rd St. stop, we transferred to train going uptown. Again, this was quick and painless. This is where we witnessed our first subway rat. He was crawling quickly along the tracks. He was seriously disgusting. I hate rats! If he had been on the platform or in the train, I would have FREAKED out. I've seen those YouTube videos! YUCK.
The subway dropped us off directly at the American Museum of Natural History. You actually enter right from the subway. There was only a 2 minute line and we were quickly through with our donations. (You can donate whatever amount you would like, although there are extras such as IMAX..but we didn't have time for much more than the actual museum). Our first stop? The food court! We hadn't eaten alllllll day and were starving! A wanted a giant cupcake, and Stephen and I split a wrap and cup of soup. We also purchased a small soda. All this for the low low price of $25. Seriously. I thought Disney prices were bad!
Everything was tasty, if not a tad expensive. We were feeling at least a little satisfied so off we went to see some exhibits. Some of the animals and plant life on display were amazing! Our main goal of the day was to see the giant blue whale in the ocean life hall. A could NOT wait to see this. It was one of the things he's been most looking forward to. But like I sad, we first stopped to look at a few exhibits like this, a wall of animals.
The crowds weren't too bad. I suspect because it was Friday. Most of the school groups were, at this point, heading home so the Museum wasn't overrun with tons of kids. Perfect for lingering over whatever we wanted! Like I said, we were headed for the giant blue whale. And when A saw it, he gasped, "WOW." I can't even express how excited he was. He kept asking me how I thought they "hung" it from the ceiling. LOL
Notice is little video camera? I need to figure out how to get them on the computer..the trip was the first time using it.
Our next stop was to see all the dinosaurs. What kid doesn't love dinosaurs??? A has been obsessed with them for years. Plus, he's seen Night at The Museum so many times, it's crazy. He wanted to see the TRex!!! So, we went on a search!
We found him! We found TRex!
We saw many beautiful exhibits that day...but the ocean life and dinosaurs were our favorite. I wish we would have had more time for other parts of the Museum, but we just didn't have the time or energy. At this point we had been up for soooooo long and we were still hungry. We found a nice little area with giant windows overlooking Central Park. It was still dreary out, but it was a magnificent view!
There are two things A had been saying he wanted to purchase with his savings (piggy bank and his grandparents funding) was a fossil from the Museum and toys from ToysRUs. So, we walked over to the dinosaur shop in the Museum and he found a little kit with 10 different real fossils, including the one he REALLY wanted (an amenite..sp??). He was so excited, we opened it up in the dinosaur sitting area.
On a nicer day, we would have walked up to Times Square, but it was just rainy and cold for us to do it on foot. We exited the Museum at Central Park West and said hello to the Theodore Roosevelt statue out front. It only took a minute to find the subway stop and we were on our way to Times Square!!!
Next installment: Our first evening in NYC! ****More pictures from the day will be posted on my Facebook when the blog is completed!
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