Long Island

We got an early start on Monday morning so while waiting for the William Floyd Estate to open we drove out to the Fire Island Wilderness Visitor Center. Also in the same area is the TWA Flight 800 Memorial. 

TWA Memorial

Just down the road is the William Floyd Estate. I had no idea who William Floyd was but I learned he was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. We did the self guided grounds tour around the various outbuildings and out to the family cemetery. 

 

 

The house is unique in that it is a preservation; basically the family walked out and handed the keys over to the National Park Service.

 

I was disappointed because we didn’t have time for a tour but the ranger decided to sneak us in and give us a quick 20 minute tour (rather than the normal hour tour). It was a beautiful house to see and I’m so thankful for the very helpful park ranger! 

However that meant we were delayed getting to our ferry so I sped over to Sayville with minutes to spare and had Ma buy ferry tickets while I parked the car.

The ferry is a 20 minute ride to Sailor’s Haven which is home to a boardwalk trail through an area known as the Sunken Forest as well as a visitor center, general store, and a public marina. Although it was Memorial Day and sunny, it was still pretty breezy so there wasn’t a lot of people at all. After lunch we lay on the beach. I could not get warm so I huddled in my beach towel. Meanwhile there are people in bathing suits laying out! 

Sunbathing

We hiked the Sunken Forest trail which was really nice. Fire Island only recently reopened due to the effects of Hurricane Sandy and evidence of her remnants is piled up on the beach.   

Wash-ups from Sandy

There are several different islands you can access on the seashore and Sailor’s Haven was a nice stop to relax for a few hours. 

Sunken Forest

After arriving back on the mainland we drove to Robert Moses State Park which is home to the Fire Island Lighthouse. 

Lighthouse

We then headed north across Long Island to Sagamore Hill. It was the home of the 26th President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt from 1885 until his death in 1919. Although we were there after it closed we still walked the grounds and it was gorgeous although the house itself was covered in scaffolding. It was a nice way to round out the trip because we started at Theodore Roosevelt’s birthplace and ended where he died. 

 

Now I can say I’ve been to all the National Park sites in New York and I’m glad I was able to share those sites with Ma Burns. I am now more than halfway to my goal of seeing all the units of the National Park Service!

Sunny Sunday

Chrysler Building

Sunday morning we awoke to sunny skies and again headed back into midtown. We departed at Grand Central Station and it was beautiful! It’s so funny how you get out and it’s a regular dirty old subway but then you go up into Grand Central and its gorgeous.

Grand Central Ceiling

Grand Central Clock

We walked up to St. Patrick’s Cathedral to take in a Mass. I was disappointed because the entire outside of the Cathedral is covered in scaffolding and most of the inside is pretty much a construction site. The alter is pretty much untouched though so it was still a nice service.

After Mass we headed over to see the Intrepid aircraft carrier. It was absolutely massive! We didn’t go on it because it was expensive but it was still neat to check out. 

 

We headed up to Columbus Circle to enter into Central Park. We grabbed lunch at the Ballfields Café (which was expensive and not very good) and then wandered through the park. Ma was very happy to have grass under her feet again. We saw the Dairy, Strawberry Fields, the Bethesda Fountain and the Belevedere Castle. Every time I’ve been in Central Park I’ve never been to the same place twice so I liked seeing what else it has to offer, especially the Castle which had great views of the city. 

Strawberry Fields

Belvedere Castle

Skyline

Then it was time to head to Harlem and step into the Hamilton Grange National Memorial. We arrived just in time for a tour. The Grange was the only home ever owned by Hamilton and it remained in his family for 30 years after his death. The two-story frame Federal style house was completed in 1802, just two years before Hamilton's death resulting from his duel with Aaron Burr on July 11, 1804. What I found interesting was that the house had actually been moved twice, most recently in 2009. The current park location was judged a more appropriate setting for display that would permit restoration of features lost in the 1889 move. The new location also kept the house in the neighborhood and on land that was within the boundary of Hamilton's original 32-acre estate. The tour honestly wasn’t that great (poor guide and company) but I always love to check out a historical home.

Hamilton Grange

Next up was the General Grant National Memorial which is massive! I really didn’t know what to expect but it was gorgeous. Apparently it is the largest mausoleum in North America. The only thing it includes are the tombs of General Grant and his wife. Approximately 90,000 people from around the world donated over $600,000 towards the construction of Grant's Tomb. This was the largest public fundraising effort ever at that time (end of 19^th century).

Grant's Tomb

Grant and his wife

We’d had our fill of the city at that point so we popped back over to LaGuardia where I picked up a rental car to take us out to Long Island. First through we had to go north to stop at Saint Paul's Church National Historic Site. It wasn’t open but you could at least check out the grounds. We then made the trek out to Long Island where we crashed after another long day of walking (and driving!)

St. Paul's Church

Gray Day in NYC: Part 2

After grabbing the bull by the horns, we hurried on down to catch the free ferry to Governors Island. Since it was an island the wind was whipping pretty hard. Due to the poor weather the place was pretty empty though which was nice. 

Governor's Island

Defensive works were raised on the island in 1776 by Continental Army troops during the American Revolutionary War, and fired upon British ships before they were taken. From 1783 to 1966, the island was a United States Army post. From 1966 to 1996 the island served as a major United States Coast Guard installation. We took refuge in Castle Williams where we got a guided tour. 

Casemate

The best part was a trip up to the roof where there is an amazing view of the Manhattan skyline. You can also see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island (currently closed because of Hurricane Sandy). Fort Jay is also on the island and it was kind of odd because it was in the traditional shape of a fort but the interior was filled with fancy houses. In the 1930’s, the WPA did a complete renovation of the barracks for family housing.

Fort Jay homes

We were pretty wind burned at this point so we hopped back on the ferry to seek refuge among the skyscrapers. We walked by Wall Street, Federal Hall and the New York Stock Exchange. 

NYSE

Our last National Park Site of the day was the Lower East Side Tenement Museum.

Tenement from the outside

It started raining pretty hard so as we arrived we noticed a group of people heading inside so we followed. Then a guide started talking and we realized that we had inadvertently joined a tour. We listened to the spiel but as he headed into the tenements he asked for our tickets and we had to confess so he kicked us out.

We were pretty tired, hungry, cold and wet at this point so we sought refuge in a pizza place where we had some delicious NYC style pizza.  Our last stop of the day was at FAO Schwartz because Ma wanted to see the big piano. It costs money to stomp around on it and is filled with children so we just checked out the Barbie section and left. 

Barbie

Big piano

As we were about to step back on the subway I noticed Dylan’s Candy Bar so I popped in, in search of sour candy and I hit the jackpot! I love Warheads and I got a few different varieties as well as the appropriately named “Toxic Waste”. We collapsed in exhaustion at our hotel after walking nearly 30,000 steps in one day!