Camp Goodwin

The boys were on Spring Break, and for us that means field trip time! We certainly have faves for visits around the city, but we also love to enjoy new adventures and experience new parts of the city. In a city this large and diverse, there are endless opportunities, and there is no reason not to take full advantage of this to expose the boys to cultural diversity, the arts and sciences, and really just the world's largest playground! On the docket for this week was: 

Lower East Side (LES)

Flat Iron District

Sunset Park (Brooklyn)

Chelsea/World Financial Center

LES:

I have to admit this is an area I have only visited 1-2 times in the near-decade that I have lived in NY. It is kind of hard to get to by subway, but it is rich in history. It is home to the famous Katz Delicatessen, if you have ever heard of that, and lots of other Jewish history, as well as a mix of Chinese influence and history and other "new-comers" trying to make it in America. 

On our way:

First up was a visit to the Bleeker subway station (the boys love to explore new stations, and stations they have never been through before):

Next, we headed to Sarah Roosevelt Park, which is only one block wide but about 7 blocks long. At the Southern end, where we started, is the Brooklyn Bridge exit and Canal street, and a heavy Chinese influence and population. There is also a great view of One World Trade: 

As we made our way North we played along the park playgrounds and other amenities. At the end of the park we happened upon a park where local artists paint on the walls and fencing. It was a nice surprise:

One part of our plan which did not come to fruition was a song bird park where locals bring their song birds, put them in cages, and let them sing (Hua Mei Bird Garden). How cool is that? Sadly, no one was out on this day. So I took a few pics of the park/cage hangers:

Next up was a trampoline gym that a friend turned us on to. For 20 bucks the boys had a nearly private trampoline and gym session for 2 hours. I'm pretty sure this was the boys' favorite part of the day, even though it had nothing to do with the LES other than that it was held in a charter school gym in the area :)

We also had a chance to ride the "J" train:

Finally, in order to re-charge after gym, we went to a doughnut shop in the area called Doughnut Plant. They cater a bit more to the adult palate, but the boys still found suitable options:

As it turns out, this day was also my birthday and the boys sweetly asked if I was getting any presents. I explained that at this age we don't really get presents and that is ok, and they were sad about that so they asked to take me to a store to buy me a necklace (G) and some earrings (J). Such sweet boys I have. I took them to H&M where cheap but cute jewelry abounds ... I have to say they made nice selections without guidance from me.

To wrap up the day, we had dinner at Hudson Cafe by Hudson Beach, a really lovely outdoor cafe. And then we ended with dessert at Lalo Cafe. Happy Birthday to me!

This picture is horrible, but it's mainly because the sunset is very bright, yet beautiful!

Flat Iron District:

Today's main attraction was the Lego Store, the very best place to blow one's allowance! Gabriel always spends nearly every dime he has saved up when we make one of these trips, while Judah is always conservative in his spending. The boys shopped for about an hour (yes, an hour) before settling on their choices, then we spent some time in the building area. To start off the day I told the boys they could wear whatever they wanted, which they took quite literally:

And no field trip is complete without this stop on the way to the subway :)

We hit up Lenny's (locals, you know this place) for lunch, and next up (after a frantic bathroom trip to a local library, thank you google maps!) was Madison Square Park, home of the original Shake Shack. The flat iron building is also at the southern end of the park (the famous one that looks like a triangle):

We played in the park and on the playground for a long while, then rewarded ourselves with a Shake Shack concrete, yum!

On the way home, we ventured past the Empire State building and took a quick spin around:

We headed home to start working on building their new Lego purchases. 

Sunset Park/Brooklyn:

It's a bit more rare for us to make it out of Manhattan simply because the subway rides are pretty long and the boys tend to get wiggly (read: out of control). But I packed well for entertainment (books), packed a picnic lunch and we hit the D train for an hour ride to Brooklyn. We switched off reading Judah's book (Curious George compilation) and Gabriel's (chapter book) and made it peacefully to Sunset Park. 

On our way:

The first stop was Greenwood Cemetery, a historic 19th century cemetery with hundreds of thousands of graves, statues and mausoleums, including "permanent residents" (weird term, right?) such as Civil War generals, baseball legends, politicians, artists, entertainers and inventors. It sounds creepy, but it really is a beautiful and peaceful place. 

The boys and I (well me, really) got off one stop too late because I didn't realize there was only one entrance (duh) so we walked half of the perimeter (nearly 500 acres worth) before getting in. The boys were good sports about it. In fact, there was one moment that came from that long walk that I am now particularly fond of. Totally unbidden, Gabriel said "Mom, Brooklyn is quiet" (yes) "and Brooklyn has less people than Manhattan" (yes, what else do you notice?) "there are less buildings and more grass" (yep).

The boys ran around the cemetery, exploring all of the statues and mausoleums ("caves"), and were respectful of the area. Mostly. As only an analogy a New Yorker would come up with, Judah commented that the people in the Mausoleums were living (living?) in the penthouse of the cemetery (because they were above ground). Gotta love how kids think!  

Look closely, yes that says "Gabe Gabriel" ... G got a kick out of that

Next, we headed for Sunset Park, which is the highest point in Brooklyn and boasts peerless views of Manhattan. We found a spot high on the hill and spread out our picnic. It was a chilly day and up on the hill, it felt cold, so the boys ended up curling up inside the blanket and eating underneath it, ha!

We ran around Sunset Park after lunch and then headed to our next destination, Bush Terminal. This is an industrial area named after the original developer that has been experiencing a re-birth, including a water front park area. It was a longer walk than I anticipated (I forget that things are sometimes more spread out in BK) but we finally made it. The views were great, and the boys ran around blowing daffodils ... and throwing their jackets in the air to watch the wind catch them, which is cute except when Gabriel's got carried over a fence to a restricted wildlife area! I was really angry that he did that, not my best mom moment, so I made him climb over the fence to retrieve it. Later he told me I looked like I had steam coming out of my ears. I probably did. 

Our last stop was ill-fated, a new warehouse-turned-dining hall that is well-curated with local food vendors from cupcakes to Thai food. Unfortunately, we arrived at 3:30p and the shops close up at 3p. Grr. Oh well, we headed back for the long ride home. All in all a great day!

Chelsea/World Financial Center:

First off, this day was originally supposed to start off with a trip to the Children's Museum of the Arts in Chelsea, right near the West Village. Without going into detail, we had a tough morning including a sitter mix up that resulted in being very late to meet our friends for lunch before heading out, so we scrapped the museum. It still turned out to be a very full day, however. 

Lunch at the boys' fave diner:

The requisite stop, this time on Donald...

Goofing on the train

Then we hit the train to see the new World Financial Transportation Hub. This is the new station where the WTC buildings were, and also the area of the WTC/911 memorial and the new Oculus. The train station was so cool, the pictures don't really do it justice:

We also ventured through Brookfield Place, where an art exhibit was on display (GIANT glowing rabbits), and also played along the promenade, and visited the Irish Hunger Memorial:

Lastly, on the way home, we stopped off in the village for snow cream (it's like shaved ice cream, an Asian-inspired dessert). We had never had this type of ice cream before and I have to say it was WAY better than any of the frozen yogurt shops that abound in NYC (16 Handles, Yogurtland, etc):

Another great day to close out our week, and even better that we got to spend this day with Gabriel's best bud. We enjoyed the week so much, that it was hard to get back into the school routine on Monday! I love this city and I love exploring it with my boys :)