When we visited New York City in early August, there was none of the turmoil we’re now seeing on the news. We took the train to Grand Central Station and boarded our tour bus right in Times Square.
It went right past the Wall Street bull, with only the normal tourist and business fanfare, although we did see security when we walked down Wall Street. Who could know how much would occur on those same streets just a month or so later.
We were a little annoyed that the tour bus required us to get off at Battery Park – we really just wanted to stay on the bus for the loop because the hop off/hop on feature seemed doubtful. It was too hard to figure out where to find the bus and we were concerned it would be full the next time it came around. So we just walked from there, past the future 911 memorial construction site, shopped in China Town and bought lunch from a corner vendor – we even walked in Central Park. And by the end of the day our legs were tired and we were ready to take the train back to New Jersey.
Tips:
1. To save on parking, stay at the Robert Treat hotel in Newark, and take the PATH train to Manhattan. The hotel was old, but nice, and there’s a great deli just around the corner. Not much to see in Newark, but if Manhattan is your destination and you only plan to stay a couple days, it can be a decent budget option.
2. Look for a deli near Central Park, on 5th Avenue, with a place to eat upstairs. We people-watched from the second floor while we enjoyed a cold drink and snack.
3. Research and buy tickets for attractions before you go, looking for deals on bus tours.
Wisconsin to NYC Roadtrip Series:
Roadtrip Tips
Gettysburg
NYC September 11 Tiles
Philadelphia, PA
Lancaster County
Princeton University
NYC Before Occupy Wall Street
As we continued on our trek to NYC, we traveled through New Jersey and my husband was surprised that there were some very pretty areas that looked an awful lot like Wisconsin – unlike what he thought we’d be seeing this close to New York City.
We stopped to visit Princeton University and it was a beautiful campus in the lovely, stately city of Princeton. We checked out some materials in the admissions office and then caught a sale at a campus shop and both kids got Princeton shirts. (Orange is my son’s favorite color!) They also sat on the tiger statues – which were hot on this 85-degree day!
We also visited the Jersey Shore not far south of New York City, and spent the afternoon chasing waves. It was a great break from the road trip.
Wisconsin to NYC Roadtrip Series:
Roadtrip Tips
Gettysburg
NYC September 11 Tiles
Philadelphia, PA
Lancaster County
Princeton University
NYC Before Occupy Wall Street
As we continued our roadtrip to New York City, we passed through Hershey and discovered the founder of Hershey was a very remarkable man who worked hard to build a strong community for his employees. We also discovered in a chocolate-making class, that ground red pepper tastes good in milk chocolate!!
Further south in Lancaster County, we had hoped to visit the establishments were the Amish work and sell their products, but it was Sunday and they were at church and with their families. We did visit the Amish Village, however, and took an interesting tour of a former Amish farmhouse.
The “Pennsylvania Dutch” are actually not Dutch at all, but German – the “Dutch” came from a mispronounced “Doetsche” earlier in American history. The Amish came to America to escape the religious persecution they faced in Europe, and they choose not to use electricity because it would bring things into the community that would be difficult to control. This is very true, when you think of the electronics that are available to modern-day youth.
The tourguide explained many aspects of Amish living, much of which hasn’t changed for centuries. For instance, women may not use any buttons on their clothing, so they pin their dresses together with straightpins – every day! The Amish in Lancaster County do, however, use propane to power lights and many appliances, and they use gas generators to run their wringer washing machines.
The horses and buggies remain the same, and on this 95-degree day, the horses were very warm.
Wisconsin to NYC Roadtrip Series:
Roadtrip Tips
Gettysburg
NYC September 11 Tiles
Philadelphia, PA
Lancaster County
Princeton University
NYC Before Occupy Wall Street
Next stop on our Wisconsin-to-NYC roadtrip was Philadelphia! We were pleased to find out that many of the attractions in Philadelphia are free to the public, much like they are in Washington, DC. We visited the Liberty Bell, Constitution Hall, Carpenter’s Hall (the site of the First Continental Congress) and we listened to storytellers on the benches situated around historic Philadelphia.
Our favorite story told of the day when Susan B Anthony marched down to Constitution Hall and demanded equal voting rights for women. The storyteller did a fabulous job of retelling that important part of history.
For small fees, we also visited Betsy Ross’s house and heard the story of how she designed the stars, and created the flags in secret, recycled from British flags. We also visited Christ Church cemetery, the final resting place of Benjamin Franklin.
TIP: Arrive early! We were in historic Philadelphia by 8:15 AM and were able to get a parking spot on the road next to the visitor’s center. It was $5 for 2 hours and we paid twice. Our SUV was too tall for the underground parking at the visitor’s center, so we were happy to find a shaded spot on the street!
Wisconsin to NYC Roadtrip Series:
Roadtrip Tips
Gettysburg
Philadelphia, PA
Lancaster County
Princeton University
NYC September 11 Tiles
NYC Before Occupy Wall Street
In northern Wisconsin, the morning of September 11, 2001 was a beautiful, sunny, warm fall day. I had just dropped off my four-year-old daughter at preschool and was taking my toddler son for a walk in his stroller. I wasn’t working at that time and we were going to visit Dad at the high school. I hadn’t turned on the TV or radio since early morning.
We went into the high school counseling office through the resource room and saw the TV on (which was unusual) and everyone was watching it. I watched, in shock, the footage of the first plane hitting the tower. Then I watched the second hit and was momentarily confused before I realized it wasn’t just repeated footage. My feelings shifted drastically from sadness to fear. The second hit meant we weren’t witnessing a tragic accident, but an attack on our country. The discussion about this tragedy would become a common experience for Americans in the following hours and weeks and years.
When we visited New York City this summer, we wanted our now 12- and 14-year-olds to visit Ground Zero, but there wasn’t much to see unless you took the tour into one of the surrounding buildings to look down into the construction zone. Much work has been done, but from the sidewalk beside it you can only see chain link fence.
But on the bus tour, we went by this Tiles for America fence with thousands of beautiful tiles memorializing those who were lost on September 11th. When we return to NYC, we’ll have to visit the completed World Trade Center memorial. Hopefully our nation will continue to heal.
Wisconsin to NYC Roadtrip Series:
Roadtrip Tips
Gettysburg
Tiles for America
Lancaster County
Philadelphia, PA
