9/11 in New York: Munching, Museums, Memorials

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So our hotel was very close to the World Trade Center. Very, very close. While I was showering, the fire alarm went off. On September 11th. It was a test. Who tests the fire alarm system in a hotel in that location on that day?

Anyway, after getting ready I left to meet my friend (DP hereafter) for lunch in the Upper West Side. I've never seen as many on duty police officers in one place at one time before. Around our hotel and the neighborhood in general there were easily two per block. Every block. Pretty strange to see, but not that surprising.

DP and I decided to wait for Grace to finish work, so killed the time by grabbing a beer. A nearby bar seemed appealing in that it was implicitly vouched for by the two dozen firefighters there. We didn't take into account that this made us by far the least important customers. Oh well.

Once Grace arrived we set off in search of lunch. Ended up deciding on Jacob's Pickles. The website bills it as "a new American craft experience," which probably tells you everything you need to know: hip to the point of satire (of course you'll be drinking out of mason jars). Shamefully, this is pretty much right up my alley, despite not liking pickles much. I got draft root beer, something featuring fried chicken and deliciousness in equal amounts, and we all split a bunch of pickled veggies of various types. The pickles were tasty but formidable in quantity. It's hard to eat a whole lot of pickles.

I wasn't kidding.

I wasn't kidding.

After lunch, DP had to attend to some chemistry, so Grace and I went on our way to the Museum of Modern Art. It was awesome; I wish we could have spent more time there. I generally think taking pictures of existing art can be a bit silly (as I assume it's better documented elsewhere), but I snapped a few from our trip.

The MoMA gift shop is almost as awesome as the museum itself. We did indeed exit through it. The rest of the evening was hanging out with family. Got to catch a glimpse of a 9/11 memorial, though.

Hard to see from this angle, but there are actually two separate beams of light.

Hard to see from this angle, but there are actually two separate beams of light.

Enter the nephew

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At last, the whole reason for visiting New York (well, apparently Grace had "work" or something; I wouldn't know anything about that): visiting my sister, brother (in-law), and nephew! There will many pictures of him (and a few of them) over the next few days' posts, but here's one for now.

Yes, he really is that cute.

Yes, he really is that cute.

The evening was pretty low key. Or as low key as it could be with a very excited toddler. Fun times.

The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island

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Our flight to New York was early enough that we had time in the afternoon to play tourist. We decided to take they ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Turns out we were too late to do both, so we just went to Ellis Island (but got to see the Statue from fairly close while on the way).

Ellis Island was pretty cool. Unfortunately, a lot of the exhibits were unavailable. Hurricane Sandy knocked out a lot of the electrical systems responsible for climate control. You'd think repairs could have been completed by now, but apparently the Natural Park Service isn't exactly swimming in cash. Who knew? Maybe they should create an anti-terrorism division.

To New York!

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We arrived in New York, NY on September 10, 2014. Travel from Washington, DC was pretty uneventful. Plane was surprisingly (and pleasantly) empty. Commenting on the available space for my unwieldy carcass will probably be a common theme of this blog. On landing, we got an email saying our luggage had been lost. A fairly inauspicious beginning to our travels. Particularly when paying $100 per extra bag. Halfway through filling out the lost baggage forms, though, we noticed them stacking up bags that looked a whole lot like ours right outside the window. Turns out they were ours. Whew. No more paperwork necessary.

It's hard not to feel absurd carting a massive amount of luggage everywhere. In addition to Grace's backpack and my messenger bag, we each had: one rolling carry-on, one large rolling suitcase, and one large rolling duffel. All four larger pieces of luggage were right on the 50 lbs limit. Anyway, all this gear makes getting around an airport, getting a cab, and similar much more of a hassle. Move along, Prius, you are inadequate for this task.

An hour or so and many tips (to compensate for said absurd baggage) later, we got to our hotel. Nothing too remarkable here, but nice enough. A bit cramped, but I imagine this is usual for Manhattan. Or at least Manhattan at less than $500/night.