Full Friday

Buddy and the rest of his conference went to the USS Intrepid Museum Friday morning. Bohdin, Nyla, and I took the ferry over that Bohdin had been eying all week. The ferry landing is right across from the hotel and we passed it every time we went to the bus stop. It was a short ride but both the kids enjoyed it tremendously. Luckily we did it at the end of the trip because Bohdin whined about going on it again the rest of the day. A whole week of that whining would have been too much.

The USS Intrepid was used during WWII through Vietnam. The carrier deck had several different aircraft on display, both helicopters and airplanes. Bohdin liked all of the airplanes with rocket launchers. Since most of them were warplanes we saw lots of weapon systems. We were also able to go inside the control tower part of the ship. The inside was pretty tight quarters and Bohdin didn't care for that very much. He enjoyed it but didn't want to stay too long. Nyla's favorite part was the puddles left over from the previous day's rain.

Prior to leaving I counted Bohdin's pennies and discovered he had enough for one mystery car. We walked to the ToysRUs and he was happy to buy it. We put a lot of pennies on the counter but it was good to be rid of them. We didn't linger there since we were all hungry. Buddy was getting ready to go back to the hotel so we did also.

 
 

That evening when Buddy was done we headed for the Staten Island ferry. The Lincoln tunnel into Manhattan gets backed up in the evening so we had to take the NJ PATH train instead. It was a little slow going since it was our first time and didn't know the procedure. We figured it out and made it to the WTC. Walking through the neighborhood to Battery Park was incredibly sad for me as I was imagining the events of 9-11. Eventualy we made it to a restaurant. We got some food and found a seat in the park overlooking the Statue of Liberty. Afterward we took the Staten Island ferry which passes near the Statue of Liberty. The Manhattan skyline looked really cool in the evening. The Statue of Liberty was not as well illuminated as we had imagined. It was a long night and I was glad to make it back to the hotel room.

 

The Statue of Liberty is barely visible above Bohdin's head.
 

Saturday morning we packed up and left for home. We planned a stop at the Playmobil store in Woodbridge. Just before we arrived I excitedly spotted a Wegmans. We were all starving so stopped and bought more than we could eat. We're supposed to get a Wegmans near here but I'm not sure they've even broken ground yet. After stuffing ourselves we went to the Playmobil store. Bohdin found dozens of things he wanted but settled on one. It was the concrete mixer. We stayed for a little while since he was so busy playing with the toys on display. Nyla was getting tired and I was getting bored so we headed out. The original plan was to stop in Philadelphia for gelato but both kids fell asleep and we didn't want to wake them up. Buddy has to go to Philadelphia next weekend so he can get some gelato then.

I forgot to mention that on our way into the city Friday night, we passed an ice cream truck. Bohdin said he wanted ice cream but then quickly changed his mind because he said he would rather get a mystery car instead. Lesson learned. He didn't have enough money for a mystery car or an ice cream cone that night anyway but I hope he remembers not to get distracted from his goal so easily again.