The 4th of July is here. There is no better place to see fireworks than New York City. My granddaughter with one of her friends and I headed to the Big Apple for the celebration.
We left early Thursday morning by train, of course. We arrived at Moynihan Train Hall in Penn Station around 9pm. Heading to the Ear Inn, a historic bar and grill in NYC, where we met my son for a dinner of their homemade chicken pot pie. Delicious! After a relaxing meal we headed to his apartment where we were staying for the weekend.
Brunch was at Clark’s in Brooklyn Heights the next morning. Our favorite breakfast spot. My son and I discovered Clark’s eighteen years ago. Once done we moseyed down to the Promenade on the banks of the East River. One of my favorite views is the Brooklyn Bridge. A short distance out a Naval Carrier was docked. It was a beautiful day to be by the water, although hot, the sky was a clear blue as far as one could see.
Staying in Brooklyn we headed to Industry City a 35 acre waterfront complex in Sunset Park. The complex houses design studios, 35+ restaurants, retail shops, and NYC’s largest Japanese food hall. The girls were excited to go into some of the more unique shops, especially the Japanese grocery store.
After a couple of hours the girls wanted to book shopping so we all headed to Barnes & Nobles in Park Slope. Satisfied with their finds at the book store it was getting late. Arriving back at the apartment my son ordered a pizza from his favorite Brooklyn pizza spot. NYC pizza is the best!!!
It’s the day of the 4th. We’re up early, at least for teenage girls. The first event for the day was heading to Battery Park on the southern tip of Manhattan along the Hudson River. We filed in among the crowd and were lucky enough to find an empty space along the fence. We were there to watch the International Naval Parade of Ships. We saw about a dozen international ships sail past at the same time military aircraft of all kinds flew overhead. This was all very impressive. I was impressed that these 2 sixteen year old’s recognized so many flags from other countries on the ships. After about an hour and a half the extreme heat had us moving on.
Off again heading to Copellia’s a Cuban/American diner in Greenwich Village. A wonderful lunch it was nice to relax and cool off before heading out to our next adventure.
At 1pm we had tickets to The Mind Of A Serial Killer: The Experience in New York. This was an immersive exhibit that explores the crimes of notorious serial killers. What an exhibit!!! It covered 20 of the most unique and interesting killers of the past. This exhibit goes in depth on both the investigation and the criminal. You’re wondering why we chose this exhibit. My granddaughter is interested in forensics. We spent two hours at the exhibit. It was well worth it.
Since we were just 2 blocks from Barnes & Nobles and Forbidden Planet Comic Bookstore located at Union Square we walked over for the girls to do some more shopping. Once they were done it was back to the apartment and a nap to cool off.
At 830pm we headed 6 stories up to the roof. There we were able to see fireworks from 16 different areas around the city. The big show was to our west, set off from barges on the Hudson River. With the displays going off in all directions it was impossible to see them all. By dark it had cooled off. The July 4th show was AMAZING!
The next afternoon we hopped on the train for an overnight ride back home. The 4th of July a weekend of Books, Boats, and Lots of Booms!
Sunny River Writings 
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