New York - Day 5

Our day started in downtown Manhattan at Battery Park with a pretty decent view of the Statue of Liberty. I’ve been out there and seen that statue dozens of times, seeing her standing there with lifting her lamp next to the Golden Door, welcoming people from all over the world into America. Somehow, it felt a bit different this time given our world and what’s going on.  I was glad we went out there and talked about who she is and what she represents standing there in the harbor.

~ Click Here To See All The Photos From The Trip ~ 

After that, we walked up and took some funny, goofy pictures with the Wall Street bull before heading over to the corner of Wall and Broad Streets - right out in front of the New York Stock Exchange and Federal Hall.  

I love standing at that intersection and telling the story of George Washington being inaugurated at Federal Hall in 1789; of the Sons of Liberty and the Stamp Act Congress meeting there in 1765 and first uttering the phrase "No Taxation Without Representation"; and of the infamous Wall Street bombing of 1920 that set off the 'Red Scare" of the decade that resembles our own immigration hysteria today.   The students obliged me and were kind and attentive in their listening. I gave them all very high marks and appreciated that 😀

We then walked over to Trinity Church and the graveyard outside - where Alexander Hamilton, the Scheyler sisters, Hercules Mulligan, and some of the other characters from the musical 'Hamilton' are buried.  

We then went over to the Ground Zero site and took in the memorials of the North and South towers, the 'Survivor tree", and the sanctuary that is and belongs to that area. Hard to believe that the students wouldn’t be born for another six or seven years after 9/11. For us adults, that day still is still very vivid, and very fresh in our memories.  

 We then hopped on the subway into Brooklyn and had lunch on Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights. After lunch, we walked along the Promenade for some of the most spectacular views of lower Manhattan that exist. Plenty of great picture taking for sure. 

We then braved the cold and strolled across the Brooklyn Bridge. For all the grumbling and complaining about having to "walk all the way over the bridge", I think the students actually enjoyed it.

Tonight we’re going to a Broadway show ("Maybe Happy Ending") and then we'll have some free time in Times Square. Tomorrow we’re going to go through Rockefeller Center and Central Park among other things.