5/15/13. Since my semester ended this week, Catherine and I decided to fit in a national park trip before our big vacation next week. We decided to visit some sites in Manhattan so that we could also visit John and Brad who were working in the city. This month is the Eats Festival in Washington Square Park and that gave us an anchor to plan around for lunch.
We headed off to NY on the express train to Newark from Princeton Junction, then took the Path to the World Trade Center. We walked over to our first stop at Federal Hall which is on Wall Street. We played tourist and took some photos out front - which is hard for us to do in Manhattan because we're so used to trying to NOT look like tourists. The National Park Service website tell us that, "Here on Wall Street, George Washington took the oath of office as our first President, and this site was home to the first Congress, Supreme Court, and Executive Branch offices. The current structure, a Customs House, later served as part of the US Sub-Treasury. Now, the building serves as a museum and memorial to our first President and the beginnings of the United States of America."
When we went inside we were pleasantly surprised at the classic beauty of the building. Although small, the proportions, carvings, and overall symmetry are lovely. We spent some time looking at the exhibits around the building, including an early printing press and the bank vaults from when the building was converted to a federal reserve bank.
At 10 am the ranger came and asked us if we were interested in the tour and we said yes. Well, we couldn't really call his presentation a tour. He stood between two models of earlier versions of Federal Hall and explained in great detail the early history of NYC, the early government, George Washington, and other minute details about the early site. After a half an hour he ended his talk. He certainly knew a great deal about the history of the building before the inauguration of Washington. The rest of the information we got through the displays. There was also a lower floor that had a bank vault and interesting columns supporting the building.
When we were ready to leave the tine bookstore was still not open, so we asked the Ranger to get us the Passport stamp which he did gladly. We stamped our books, then headed out for a walking tour of the Wall Street area. We were meeting John at noon and we still had about an hour to go. We walked around, paying most attention to the architecture of the buildings downtown. It was so chilly though (especially for mid May!) that we stopped at TJ Max and bought an extra sweater.
We met John and headed up to Washington Square Park where Brad joined us for lunch. We had fabulous food! It was especially nice to find so many different vegetarian options that were so creative and delicious. It was great to be in the city!
Next, John, Catherine, and I walked the few blocks to Theodore Roosevelt's Birthplace....to be continued.
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