Always Rainy in New York but FUN!

*None of these blogs are finalized. I donʻt have a ton of pics from others for this day as we are getting back later so Iʻll add more with more kids later. I was only with a handful of kids today at some of these places.*

*Iʻm also at the stage of being really tired and Iʻm sure there are some mistakes. My bad, Iʻll clean em up when Iʻm awake. Thanks Kumu Kalamaʻs class for editing me!"

We have totally lucked out with weather so far this trip. Our bus driver, Anthony had a magic button that could make rain stop. Well, we said goodbye to Anthony yesterday and we couldnʻt stop the rain today. And by couldnʻt stop the rain it poured big time! I swear it rains almost every first day of New York every trip, with the exception the 2023 trip, and the next day is nice. Well, 1+1=2 and it is supposed to be super nice tomorrow! 

This morning we got to meet Kualapuʻuʻs favorite New York guide, Robert Westfield! Like Aaron, Robert has been doing Kualapuʻu New York tours since 2013. Heʻs visited Molokai multiple times and has become part of our Kualapuʻu family. Always one of my favorite parts of the trip is seeing him again. 

We left our hotel to a drizzle and went down into the subway. We took the subway to the southern tip of Manhattan to board a boat to see Lady Liberty herself, the Statue of Liberty. The drizzle turned more into a steady rain at this point. Did we all sit below on the boat or go to the top. TOP it is! Neat views of Manhattan as it was pretty fogged in. At no point could we see the top of One World Trade. 

See, nobody left behind!

We got off on Liberty Island and headed straight to the statue. We lucked out and for the second time ever we got to go up to the pedestal. Lots of times people say "sheʻs smaller than I thought it would be." But when you go to the pedestal you realize how tall she is. 305 feet tall she is. After some nice views we headed down. 

As we got to the bottom the steady rain turned into a downpour! People made business decisions. Some went to the museum, some went to the gift shop. Some even went to the museum and the front of the statue to chance the rain for photos from the front! What an adventure. 

Robert loves doing Starburst Questions trivia style

We boarded the boat again to head back to Manhattan. Only a few brave souls chose to sit on the top on the way back.

As you can see, canʻt see One World Trade too well as Aaliyah points out

We took a stroll north to Trinity Church. Got to see the grave of Mr. Ten Dollar bill himself and star of Broadway, Mr. Alexander Hamilton, his wife and a child. We continued to go north to lunch. 

After lunch it was time for the 9/11 museum and memorial. After a quick talk we entered the museum. Quite a somber place. Not a lot of talking. It was very crowded but still, seemed like only whispers. Kids talked with a docent and asked great question and the docent was very receptive to their questions. I think she would have liked to talk even more but we have time limits and we had to get inside. 

The museum goes in stages and talks about and shows artifacts from different locations. It starts with Tower 1 then Tower 2. It also has a Pentagon and Flight 93 section. There are rooms with sorta a movie with detailed timelines and locations but with what recordings have them saying. Some very moving. 

We were all at different paces and ended up at the memorial at different times. Still a very foggy day and couldnʻt see the top of One World Trade, which we are to go up tomorrow. Different groups walked around and observed the memorial. The memorial has the names of all the victims of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. It also includes the victims of the 1993 bombing at the World Trade Center. The names are not in alphabetical order but placed in a way that the victims are near the people they were with at the time. 

Some children recognized many of the names of people we saw in videos that we studied for 9/11 like Betty Ong, a flight attendant on United flight 11 the first plane to hit. Kevin Cosgrove who you can hear his phone call to 911 that ends suddenly as the building collapsed on him. Todd Beamer one of the heroes of flight 93 that helped take back the plane so it didnʻt hit the Capitiol Building in Washington, DC, Welles Crowther who in the South Tower kept going up to assist people down and not surviving the collapse. Kids wiped the water off their names along with many victims whoʻs birthday it was. Birthdays are designated with a white rose on their name that day. 

*I was only with three kids at this point so Iʻll add more of other kids when I get them from the chaperones.*

After the 9/11 Memorial we took the subway back north to our hotel to change clothes, put on dry socks, and head to dinner at Ellenʻs Stardust Diner and Broadway!

Ellenʻs Stardust Diner is a fun place to eat as people that work in the Broadway business serve food but sing the entire time. Some songs from Broadway shows, some pop songs. Good fun. Not the best food but the entertainment was great!

Back to Times Square for a quick photo opportunity and the Aladdin on Broadway. We had seats in the first and second row of the balcony. They were fun to sit in. The show was absolutely amazing. Broadway shows can be a funny thing for our kids and chaperones. Depending on the show it can have people on the edge of their seat and fully engaged. Or out like a light. Almost everybody was able to stay awake the whole time. 

We ended the night with some brief shopping in Times Square on our way back to the hotel. Had a quick bite of pizza to end the night, thanks to Aaron who delivered a giant pizza for those that were up. 

Well, the weather is supposed to go back to nice weather. Anthony mustʻve got the message we needed better weather. Hope so as it is Central Park day! Again, Iʻll add more pics of more kids as I get them.