June 23, 2012
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| Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace NHS |
First thing in the morning, we hopped on the subway and headed out to the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site. The park service offers a tour at the site and of course, we took it. The tour was very good! It lasted about an hour and was very informational. Roosevelt lived in the home until the age of 14. The house was demolished in 1916 only to be reconstructed in 1919. The home contains five period rooms, which is furnished with a lot of original artifacts. Allow 1.5 hours if you take the tour and look at the other displays.
Near the Roosevelt Birthplace is the FlatIron Building. Its architectural styles include: Beaux-Arts, Renaissance, and Neo-Renaissance. It was completed in 1902 and was once one of the tallest buildings in the city.
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| View from Governors Island NM |
We headed back to the apartment, grabbing lunch at a Whole Foods store, before our afternoon adventure to Governors Island National Monument. The Governors Island ferry is near the ferry for the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island. The ferry ride was free! There are a couple of guided tour options at the site – we were able to do the National Monument tour, which lasted 45-60 minutes. The Roof to Castle Williams tour fills up fast is has a limited number of people allowed. The island also has a different schedule for the weekend and weekdays, and is only open at the end of May through the end of September. There are two forts on the island – Fort Jay and Castle Williams. Both forts were constructed between 1796 and 1811, as a part of the First and Second American System of Fortification. There is not really too much to see here, but the island provides an excellent view of the NYC skyline. Half the park belongs to the park service and the other half is owned by a trust, which plans to develop the island into a park area. The park was very busy and the ferry line can get long. Allow 1-2 hours to check out the island.
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| Brooklyn Bridge |
After jumping on the ferry and arriving back in Manhattan we walked over the Brooklyn Bridge. The Brooklyn Bridge (1883) is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the US. The bridge was very busy with pedestrian traffic. Once we got to the other side – Brooklyn - we had pizza at Grimaldi’s. They serve coal brick-oven pizza, where a large runs you about $15. Be prepared to wait outside in order to get a table, we got in after about 20 minutes. After pizza, we headed to the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory. Ice cream was $4 for a single scoop – warning a single scoop is very large! Be sure to check out the pier area surrounding the ice cream place for some great photographs.
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