I recently returned from a trip
with my four daughters, and I experienced many firsts on the journey. It was my
first “girls’ trip” with all my daughters by birth. My two daughters by
marriage were invited but were unable to go with us because one is fighting brain
cancer and the other preferred to spend her birthday with her husband in
Hawaii.
The trip was my first time to fly
from Alaska to the eastern coast of the United States. My #1 daughter and I
left Anchorage at 8:00 in the morning, made a quick change of planes in
Seattle, and arrived in New York City just after 10:30 at night. The first
flight was 3.5 hours to travel approximately 1440 miles, and the second was 5.5
hours to travel approximately 2440 miles. Because we arrived at night and did
not know the city at all, we took a cab to the Airbnb in Soho and arrived at
the third floor apartment about 11:30. Since we had not eaten dinner and had
only snacks on the airplanes, we were quite hungry and walked around the block
to a small grocery store to buy some food.
This trip was my first time to visit
New York City, so I wanted to see everything. On our first full day we visited
Ground Zero, the spot where the Twin Towers once stood. We saw the memorial
outside and toured the museum. It was a solemn reminder of the terrorist attacks
on 9/11, and I experienced many of the same emotions that I had on that
terrible day. We also visited the Statue of Liberty where we had tickets to the
pedestal. After climbing what seemed to me to be unending flights of stairs, I
was pleased to look out and see the rivers, ships, and cities. I was impressed
with the enormity of the statue as well as the creativity and skills that went
into making it. We also visited Ellis Island, which I found interesting.
However, none of my ancestors or my husband’s ancestors came through that
facility because all of them came to America in earlier years.
On our second day we walked through
Central Park and visited a couple of museums. We went to the Harry Potter
museum on its opening day and fought crowds. The people in charge let too many
people in at a time, so it was difficult to see everything. However, I found
the experience interesting. The Museum
of Natural History is huge! It covers a full city block – or more - and has at
least five floors. There is no way that we could see the entire museum in one
day, but we certainly tried. There were many interesting areas, but I found the
dinosaur exhibit the most fascinating. I particularly liked the giant moose,
which was much bigger than the moose in Alaska.
We started our third day quite late
because #2 and #3 daughters went for an eight mile run that morning. They
returned just as we started to watch the Saturday morning session of the
semi-annual general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. We waited anxiously to see what changes would be announced
in this conference, and we were not disappointed. President Russell M. Nelson
announced that our Sunday meetings would be changed from the current three-hour
block to a two-hour block. This change is being made in order for us to have
more time on Sunday for individual and family gospel study. When we finally
left the apartment, we walked about a mile to the Brooklyn Bridge. There we
rented bicycles to ride across the bridge and come back. It was a fun idea, but
it did not work out very well. There were hordes of pedestrians walking on the
bridge and crossing over into the bicycle lane. It was a nerve-wracking
experience for me, so I turned my bicycle in and walked back across the bridge.
We took the subway to Central Park in order to visit a castle, but it was
closed. Instead, we went to Shake Shack for shakes.
We started our fourth day late also
because we had to pack our bags before we could leave the apartment. We walked the
entire High Line, which is an elevated rail line that was once used to deliver
freight directly to businesses in the 1930s-1960s. The powers that be put the
railroad 30 feet up in the air because there were too many fatal accidents with
the freight lines at street level. When most of freight was delivered by truck,
the freight line was unused and allowed to return to nature. It is now a paved
walking area with wonderful places for resting as well as many plants and trees.
It is a beautiful place to get some exercise and to see the city. As we were
looking over the Hudson rail yard, we saw a big, fat rat scurrying across the
lot. It was about the size of a small cat, and I was happy to be 30 feet in the
air. We visited the Empire State Building and the New York City Library. I
found the library much more interesting with its beautifully painted ceilings
and woodwork. It is obvious that there was a lot of money put into the library.
The trip was my first time to watch plays
on Broadway. My #4 daughter instigated the trip because she wanted to see “Harry
Potter and the Cursed Child.” We watched Part 1 on Thursday evening and Part 2
on Friday evening. The magic in the Harry Potter plays was fascinating, but the
story itself left me wondering, “Who was the cursed child?” The title could fit
any number of people. We watched “My Fair Lady” in the Lincoln Center on
Saturday night. I loved this classic, but I did not care for the ending. I much
prefer the ending of the movie.
The trip was full of excitement and
exciting things to do for the first time. However, the best part of the trip
was being with my daughters and seeing how much they enjoy being together. I am
thrilled with the friendship that they share as well as their sisterhood! We
had such an enjoyable time that we are already discussing our next girls’ trip.
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