Sat July 3 & Sun July 4: The Big Apple with Kids

 In which we relish being carnivores...

Still wiped out from yesterday, we started slowly, with the kids coming to the boat late morning for brunch (with leftover scones from tea!). There may also have been staggered napping, with only 1-2 people awake at any given moment...

 The big plan for the day was a steak dinner at Gallagher’s.  Rick’s mom had offered a birthday present of dinner and suggested the old fashioned steakhouse where she and Rick’s dad had dined years before. We took the subway back over to Manhattan in the afternoon for a stroll up past Rockefeller Center and the Nintendo store (the line was so long we couldn’t even get close to the store).  We arrived at the restaurant just in time for our reservation. 

Obligatory picture in front of the meat aging room (see the steaks in the background)

You think they are studying the menu - but they are really geeking out together about video games!

Gallagher’s has been a NY institution since 1927, and many of the career waiters may have been working there since the place opened.  They were all charming and excellent at their job. Like having your twinkly grandpa advise you on what to order.  Once the #2 waiter found out Rick spoke Spanish, we were treated like family.

Three of us split a 'steak' which was actually basically 1/2 of a cow rib with 48oz of meat.  It came with a correspondingly large price tag.  Rick's mom was a bit surprised at the 2021 Gallagher's prices!

 

 

Afterwards we strolled through Time Square, with 90,000 of our closest friends.  I distinctly remember saying, recently, that I would never again be in a crowded place, like before the pandemic. Huh...

 The next day, the 4th, dawned hot and humid.  It was time for some serious sunbathing/napping.  We met up in the morning for amazing leftover steak (and egg) breakfast, and realized right away that digesting was going to take some serious time and effort.

Somewhere in there I found time to sneak away to get an ice cream birthday cake, so we could celebrate Rick's bday.  I know I arranged fireworks for him tonight, but the cake would be even better!  (Torico's in Jersey City - you must go there if you are nearby and need ice cream)

I don't know what to say about this - William found the magnifying mirror in his hotel room endlessly fascinating.  I just can't imagine what it must look like inside his head - although the state of his room may give me some idea.

Our friends on Legacy were also in the marina, so we borrowed their two e-bikes so we could all take a ride along the waterfront of the Liberty Park, with a great view of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. All four of us took turns experimenting with the fun of an e-bike, which we had never tried.

At dusk we had no trouble finding fireworks to watch...There were, in fact, so many different firework displays going on it was hard to decide which on to watch. 

Jersey City fireworks - with Macy's NYC fireworks going on in the background.

Macy's - usually shot from the Brooklyn Bridge, this year they were set off from 4 barges in the East River.  I'm glad we weren't coming down the river then - Rick would have had a nervy-b.

There we also 3-4 firework displays going on behind us - somewhere in....?  West Jersey City???

Happy 4th of July to all!