NYC Day 4
Day 4! Our last full-day in New York City!
We started the day by going to the Museum of Natural History. I went to a Natural History Museum when I was in Boston and it was cool- but it was mostly plants and animals and rocks. The New York one was better! (Sorry Boston :/). Why? Because it had people history. That's what I'm all about. Especially social-cultural history. Love that stuff. Which is probably a good thing because the youths need to have an enthusiastic teacher. They've got to love history too. I'm makin' it happen.
We started the day by going to the Museum of Natural History. I went to a Natural History Museum when I was in Boston and it was cool- but it was mostly plants and animals and rocks. The New York one was better! (Sorry Boston :/). Why? Because it had people history. That's what I'm all about. Especially social-cultural history. Love that stuff. Which is probably a good thing because the youths need to have an enthusiastic teacher. They've got to love history too. I'm makin' it happen.
Maren, Haley, and I split up a little because we have different museum-styles. I spent extra time in the human exhibits and they went ahead to see the other natural exhibits. I mean animals are cool and all- but I have a hard time getting excited about birds. No offense you bird lovers :). The dinosaur exhibits on the fourth floor were pretty cool though. Obvioulsy I had a few pictures of myself taken with the pterosaurs.... because of my name. (Tara, my name is Tara)
|
|
I have gotten better at the pictures I take in museums. I try to only take pictures of exhibits that awe and inspire me more than the others. I did not have that kind of restraint when I visited the British museum back in 2011.
We watched a 3D 40 minute video of Henry Bates exploring the Amazon. It was a dramatic reproduction *not the real Henry Bates just an actor* but I really liked the way they presented the story and how he studied butterflies to help prove Darwin's theory of the evolution of species. Cool stuff. Learning's legit.
Another reason this museum is awesome is Teddy Roosevelt. My fave president.
Day 4 was the day we planned to take a break from our Italian/burger spree and we went to a place called Totto Ramen in the Hell's Kitchen area. Man it was tasty. Woman it was tasty (doesn't have the same ring huh?). Serendipitous moment- as we sat down I realized they were playing AFRICA by TOTO and that TOTTOs was the name of the restaurant! Get iT? I thought they did that on purpose but it seems it was a very happy mistake. Their playlist was fantastic. Sting, Hall & Oates, Phil Collins etc. Classy. I like that kind of stuff. Call me old fashioned. Actually I take it as a compliment to be called old fashioned. I give all music a chance but there are definitely certain songs that are more my jam.
After Totto Ramen we went back to the museum to finish some of the exhibits we missed. They started closing exhibits around 5 and setting up cots in the Hall of African Mammals. Apparently they were having a night at the museum for people to stay over and explore an empty musuem! How cool is that! It's usually done for the kids but the janitor we spoke to said they were doing this one for adults. I kinda wish we would've got in on that business. Though our hotel's bed has been much more comfortable than those cots.
After the museum we went home and napped because we had planned a night out on the Brooklyn Bridge!
We actually didn't do the Brooklyn Bridge, we did the Brooklyn Heights Promenade and it was MAGICAL. Let me paint a flowery picture for you. The sun is setting. Twilight. You are walking down the enchanting streets of Brooklyn towards the waterfront. The weather is nice. The air is cool but not chilly. The streets are lit by black old-fashioned street lamps. Hardly anybody is outside. It's pretty quiet compared to downtown NYC. You don't hear honking in the distance. You don't hear much at all.
You emerge from a block of brick apartment buildings to find you have stumbled upon the perfect view of the New York skyline. The Statue of Liberty is in the distance surrounded by soft purple light. And NOBODY is around! (maybe the best part :) I didn't realize how nice the quiet would feel. This is a must-do activity when you visit NYC my friends. We walked along the boardwalk, took pictures with the skyline, and just sat for a couple of minutes.
If I'm being honest (and I usually am :) I would've spent more time there, had I been alone. We explored the area a little bit. There was this really fancy restaurant (River Cafe?) that had a front garden covered in orangy-lights. It was beautiful.
You emerge from a block of brick apartment buildings to find you have stumbled upon the perfect view of the New York skyline. The Statue of Liberty is in the distance surrounded by soft purple light. And NOBODY is around! (maybe the best part :) I didn't realize how nice the quiet would feel. This is a must-do activity when you visit NYC my friends. We walked along the boardwalk, took pictures with the skyline, and just sat for a couple of minutes.
If I'm being honest (and I usually am :) I would've spent more time there, had I been alone. We explored the area a little bit. There was this really fancy restaurant (River Cafe?) that had a front garden covered in orangy-lights. It was beautiful.
We had talked about going to a bakery for dinner- but as I suspected most were closed by the time we got around to it (9pm) so we did Shake Shack again. I was joking that this trip we don't do anything just once (Times Square, Broadway plays, burgers, Italian, Ferry etc) After the Shake Shack we decided to do another trip on the Staten Island ferry because it's fun. And free. I'm a fan of Brooklyn. I tried my best Spot Conlon accent- I even 'objected on the grounds of Brooklyn' a couple of times.
It's hard for me to go on a trip and not reference movies and musicals. Perhaps I annoyed my travel buddies :)
It's hard for me to go on a trip and not reference movies and musicals. Perhaps I annoyed my travel buddies :)
That was the end to Day 4. One. More. Day (one day moooooreeeee)