NYC - day 2 - 9/11 Memorial, Statue of Liberty, Central Park

Our second day in NYC started with breakfast in our room followed by a subway ride to the 9/11 Memorial.

subway ride

The memorial is two large fountains where the water falls inward into a large square chasm. Along the side are the names of all of the 9/11 victims. After we observed the fountains, we went to the 9/11 Memorial Museum. The guy selling tickets gave us a huge discount just because which was very nice.

9/11 Memorial Fountain

a flower is placed on the names of each victim on their birthday

9/11 Memorial Museum

pep talk on the museum decorum

this is the wall (underground) from one of the original twin towers

the maps in the museum showed both where you were in relation to current structures and in relation to where the original buildings stood

the blue tiles are artists depiction or what they believed the sky looked like on 9/11

This museum is very well done and has a good variety of images, artifacts, and videos. It also does a great job of laying out the timeline of the day and providing a variety of perspectives and quotes. The museum is very quiet with very little conversations happening, which was a little tricky with a toddler. We spent about an hour there but would have spent longer if it was just adults. At the end, there is a hallway lined with photos of each victim as well as audio of a family member reading each victim's name.

Both the memorial and museum sit beneath the now towering One World Trade Center Building.

After our time at the memorial, we walked to Battery Park to catch our boat to Liberty Island. We ate our lunch at the park before going through security (we went through A LOT of security lines in NYC) and boarding the boat. The ride provided great views of the city as well as the Statue of Liberty as we approached it.

Although it was the warmest day of our trip, Liberty Island was pretty windy and cool. We walked around the base of the statue and then climbed up to the top of the pedestal. We had pedestal tickets, but they also sell a limited amount of crown tickets allowing you to climb to the statue's crown, however you have to be an older child or adult to climb those stairs.

We took the boat to Ellis Island but didn't get off since we were all tired. We then made it back to Manhattan and took a long subway ride back to our hotel.

After a rest and dinner in the room, we walked a few blocks to Central Park. It was a beautiful evening and the park was teaming with people from all walks of life. We found a neat playground and spent awhile playing there before heading home for bed.

historic Plaza hotel in the background