It was time to head out of NYC. The skies were ominous and the forecast was wet, but we wanted to drive down to lower Manhatten and see Ground Zero and the Statue of Liberty. We drove past the Empire State Building again where Kevin got a good shot (and I almost nailed a taxi cab squeezing into my lane).
By the time we drove through Greenwich Village and SoHo, it was raining pretty steady and Camden had fallen asleep. So she and I stayed in the car while the boys got out and went to the tip of Manhatten to view the Statue and Ellis Island.
Driving past the spot where the Towers had been was sobering. It's such a huge hole...and the buildings around it are still undergoing quite a bit of construction/rehab. In the park nearby was a sculpture that had been between the towers before they fell. It's now a monument, with an eternal flame, because while it sustained substantial damage (you can see holes where pieces of the towers hit it), it was not crushed or destroyed - a metaphor for the whole experience our nation went through.
The afternoon was spent driving along the shore toward Atlantic City. We stopped for lunch at a little pizza place in Tom's River (which was authentic East Coast-Italian...but not very good - bummer!). We arrived safely in Atlantic City just as the rain let up. We expected to be staying on the boardwalk, so it took a few cruises along the strip of casinos to realize our hotel was actually about 4 blocks away from it. At first we were disappointed, but actually ended up enjoying the view from our 11th floor room...and the ease in jumping on the expressway to go to better beaches/boardwalk towns.
We headed to Ocean City, NJ for the evening. It's one of my favorite shore spots. Very clean and family oriented, with the best boardwalk activities. We strolled up and down, checking out the stores and sampling fudge, until the rain started to fall again. Of course, we left the umbrella in the hotel room! As we made our way back to the car to find a spot for a seafood dinner, I had to have some fresh, hot Johnson's Carmel Corn! We grabbed a small bucket and ate a few handfuls before the rain was going to ruin it.
I knew of a great little upscale seafood shack (with the best key lime pie I've ever had) and luckily was able to find it. Unfortunately, every table was filled, it was pouring rain, and Camden was crying from hunger. So we forewent Spadafora's for the only other seafood restaurant I had been to before. It was Saturday night and we were going to celebrate Father's Day with a lobster dinner for Kevin. All-in-all, it was an okay lobster (only the second one he'd ever had), but we'd wished we had waited a few minutes at the other place. Live and learn. I had duck tacos and a really good salad, so I was happy!
By the time we had finished, it had stopped raining, so we decided we wanted to go back to the boardwalk for the rest of the evening. We found a fun miniature golf place with lots of interesting holes and obstacles. It also had lots of stairs, so it was the first time we attempted to use the Kelty as a backpack. It was wonderful! Camden and I were able to walk along and cheer them on, but my hands were free and she could look around. I'm glad I didn't have to do it for an entire day in NYC, but it was perfect for this outing.
We ended the evening with an Original Kohr Bros. Frozen Custard treat. Austin's a plain vanilla guy, but Kevin and I shared a Reese peanut butter & chocolate twist. YUMMY!
The fog/rain had lifted a little and the view of the casinos from the room was fantastic. Another outstanding day!
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