Today was Chloe's 20th Birthday! We had hidden her birthday cards in our cases along with some small gifts. I think she was quite surprised to have so many to open on the day.
For breakfast we ate some muffins that we had picked up on our way back last night before heading out into the sunshine. The forecast for today was for hot sunny weather! It wa certainly noticeably warmer as we left the hotel than it had been.
Sarah was proving a master at navigation and she led us through Times Square and towards MoMA. I had asked Chloe whilst planning our trip what things she would like to do, and particularly if there was anything specific she'd like to do on her Birthday. She is currently studying photography at Uni and she found there was a Photography exhibition at MoMA that she fancied seeing. Sarah and I aren't bothered about Art Museums so we left Grandma and Chloe to visit the museum and arranged to meet them nearby a couple of hours later.
Sarah and I returned to Times Square for a wander around the shops. Time went really quickly and we were soon heading back to MoMA as arranged
We found some seats to sit and people watch and were soon reunited. We sat and had some drinks and Chloe got a Nutella Crepe from one of the street carts.
It was by now quite hot, and we headed for our next stop, Top of the Rock. I had assumed this would be similar to other attractions but here you show your Explorer Pass and they issue you with a return time. They offered us 1 hr later but after having a quick think we decided that 2 hrs would be better and would allow us time to get some lunch.
Another of Chloe's suggestions had been to eat at the Ellen's Stardust Diner. I had read that lunch times were quieter but unfortunately there was quite a long queue outside the door and round the corner! Given they were queuing in the sunshine (it was now around 80 degrees C) we didn't really feel like waiting. A quick look on google maps showed us that there was an Applebees nearby. This was very quiet and we ended up with a couple of main courses to share.
We walked back to TOTR but being a little early we walked round the Rockerfeller Centre, watching some skaters on the ice rink, then walked over to Tiffany's as this was another Chloe request!! We found some seats just outside Tiffanys and it was lovely to sit in the warm sunshine and just relax for a while.
Back to the Rockerfeller Observatory entrance and we were quickly shown in and assigned one of the many lifts. The views were again stunning, with a beautiful view over Central Park. It was a real contrast from last nights visit to Empire State with absolutely no wind, and scorching sunshine. We wandered around looking at all the different views for about 15/20 minutes.
There was a bit of a queue for the lifts down but we were soon down and after a quick look through the gift shop we were back out onto the sunny NY streets.
We decided to head back to the Hotel for a rest and refresh before our evening boat cruise.
We walked back through Times Square, stopping at the Hershey shop. Sarah and I had popped in earlier but didnt want to carry chocolate around with us in the sunshine, so stopped to buy our goodies to take straight back to the hotel.
Back at the hotel, we had a video chat with family at home via Whatsapp.
We walked to Pier 83 for the Circle Line Harbour Lights Cruise. It was still very warm. The traffic was horrendous. Dont know if there had been an accident somewhere or whether this was normal Friday evening traffic trying to leave Manhattan but OMG is was awful, just as well we had decided to walk and not get a taxi!! There were police on most junctions and traffic was at a standstill!
We found our way easily to Pier 83, about an hr before the boat trip was scheduled, and joined the queue to exchange our passes. There was a $10 surcharge to pay per person. We were then directed to bag search and then onto the boat. The upper open deck was quickly filling up but we found a couple of pairs of seats nearby and settled down with some drinks (which were a bit expensive). The sun was just starting to set as we reversed from the dock.
The guide on board was very good, funny and informative and it was a very pleasant couple of hours down the Hudson River, past the SoL and Ellis Island, then under the Brooklyn, Manhatten and Washington bridges before turning back for the return journey. It was nice to start of in almost daylight and to return in the dark with the twinkling manhattan skyline. Stunning! It was a great trip, a little breezy and cold after the heat of today but only because we were on the river, could have done with a few more layers.
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| Empire State as the sun was setting |
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| sunset over New Jersey and the Hudson River |
We walked back through part of Hell's Kitchen and picked up some pizza slices to take back to the hotel with us. Cup of tea and pizza eaten and we were ready for bed!! This trip is pretty exhausting, we did discuss how lovely it would be to be heading to a Florida Villa to let our tired bodies recouperate. Ah well, another time!!
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