It was our last day for sight seeing in New York before starting our road trip and we knew we had to make the most of it. Oh man oh man was it an interesting day.
We started off by catching the Subway to Times Square and walking to the Intrepid sea air & space museum. Make no mistake, it is not close so we stopped at the The Cake Boss cafe along the way for some coffee. It was exciting and overrated at the same time. Exciting because it’s Buddy’s shop but overrated because the baked goods are ridiculously overpriced (R100 for a pastry and R50 for a cupcake). For that kind of money I expected a mouth shattering experience but alas it tasted like any old fancy-ish cupcake to me. Maybe I am not the biggest food connoisseur that I thought I was but I really didn’t think it was the best cake ever!
Visiting the Intrepid sea air & space museum
Oh my goodness was this a life altering visit or what? Firstly I have to mention that this was one of the attractions you could visit with the New York Pass and once again you can skip the lines and hit the fast track line. Exploring the ship, the aircraft and the Hubble Exhibit was something I have always wanted to do. These things fascinate us both and we throughly enjoyed it. There was so much to see and experience that you could literally just spend hours there. My highlight was definitely the Space Shuttle Pavilion which showcases the space shuttle Enterprise, the prototype NASA orbiter that paved the way for the space shuttle program.
The aircrafts on board the Intrepid is incredible and will leave you in complete awe. From the Avenger torpedo bomber, a stalwart from Intrepid’s World War II service, to the A-12 Blackbird, the formidable spy plane from the Cold War, the collection reflects some of the greatest achievements in military aviation. If I had more time I would literally detail our entire visit, step by step, it was that exciting!
As we left the Intrepid it began snowing. Very light snow started falling but it was still snow. I secretly hoped it would increase. My fingers were crossed throughout the rest of the day!
Next stop, The American Museum of Natural History
Our next stop was The American Museum of Natural History which is also included in the New York Pass. But before we got there we created some history for ourselves.
We were catching the Subway to the museum and Jacques made it onto the train just before the doors closed and I missed it. I wasn’t too fussed and I indicated to him that I would catch the next one and meet him there. So, I caught the next one only to discover that the subway line we were waiting for was going in the completely wrong direction. And off course my phone has no signal at this point. So basically after three subway rides and finally getting some signal, we found each other.
So, let’s get back to the museum. Because we only had 2 hours to spend there, we had to race through. There are 4 floors and each floor has about 10 sections of things to see. It really was one of the most greatest things to experience. I enjoyed the fossils and the meteorites the most! The museum is packed with so many artifacts and apparently only 2% of what they own is on display. If you’re a big fan of the movie Night in the Museum, you will fall in love with this place.
Central Park
Exiting the museum was another highlight of my day. It was snowing! I could uncross my fingers at this stage! We took a long walk through Central Park to get to 5th Avenue. The park was completely covered in snow. It was beyond beautiful and I simply could not contain myself.
iLove Apple
The next stop was the famous Apple Store. The store is actually underground with a huge glass building with the Apple logo above the ground. We didnt purchase anything (much to my despair) but walked around for ages and just took it all in. Walking into the New York Apple store as an avid Apple fan is like heaven!
We then caught the Subway back to Parc Hotel where we were staying and physically and mentally prepared for the long journey that awaited us. New York is amazing. I just cannot get enough of it. I felt that way about Thailand a few years ago but this city just provides another kind of high all together. iLove NYC!
50 Hours in a car 