First we passed through the seven levels of the candy cane forest, through the sea of swirly-twirly gum drops and then walked through the Lincoln tunnel. Actually, we walked through Jersey City to the PATH station, boarded the train and got out at One World Trade Center. But Lucas liked the other way better and could not quit saying it. In fact, “Elf” quotes came up a lot. It never occurred to me that that movie was the basis for the boys’ perception of New York City.
“Elf” was quoted when going through a revolving door, specifically about going around and around until throwing up and then starting again. Then in relation to taking flyers from people and saying “thank you” (which we all did until we realized what we were doing). And again when riding up escalators (“I’m going to Elf it up this escalator.”) or in reference to taxis (“The yellow ones don’t stop.”). Brooklyn 99 and Seinfeld were also quoted extensively.
Once in the Big Apple we ascended One World Trade Center Observatory and got a truly birds-eye view of the entire city. This was Luke’s suggested stop, however it took quite a while for him to warm up to the idea of being over 100 floors in the air and he had to be coaxed, and a little bit forced, to the windows to look out over the city.
Next, we solemnly walked around the 9/11 memorial pools and answered the boys’ questions about that day and the site. The spot instantly transported me back to 2001 and how the world as I had always known it suddenly paused. And then continued in slow motion, changing dramatically with each new frame.
From the memorial we took the subway to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. But first the boys had their first taste of street food and I think I thoroughly confused the man when I ordered just a hot dog, sans bun and condiments, but it worked out.
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| Street Food in front of The MET |
If anyone is curious about the collection at the MET, Lucas recorded most of the exhibits as he wildly swung his phone around and up and down, much as I imagined his actual eyes and brain were taking everything in. Highlights for the Munschs included anything related to armory, ancient civilizations, and impressionist artists.
There were multiple times during the stroll around the museum that a Munsch declared he could “no longer walk.” This led to us being back to the camper by super time. But not before we swiped all the boys through the subway stiles and ran out of money on our metro card, leaving them to chill for a solid five minutes before Jason could refill the card and swipe us through. They were not amused.
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| Unhappy Munsch Boys |
To cap off the extraordinary day, Jason agreed to take Marcus to the Liberty Park playground again. However, they chose to use the cartoon map from the campground and Jason allowed Marcus to be the navigator. Apparently, neither of those choices were correct and they narrowly avoided being hit by a light rail train.
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| Said Cartoon Map |
Thankfully, Lucas, Samus, and I avoided near death by sleeping like dead horses from shortly after supper until the next morning when we started all over again.
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| Riding the Subway |
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