I had a good night's sleep - as did everyone! All that walking makes you tired.
This is the view out of our window
The builders start at about 8am which doesn't is bad I think though it is the most complained about part of the hotel.
We had the usual breakfast - waffles and bagels!
We managed to leave at about 9.15am and headed out via subway to Times Square - the nearest station to our destination.
First stop was the Cake Boss bakery. Not much of a queue. Despite it not being that long since breakfast both kids managed a cupcake.
F (who is s big fan of the Cake Boss) thought they were ok but her frosting is better!
O hoovered his down - as 15 year old boys do!
Next stop was the Intrepid - an aircraft carrier that had been decommissioned in 1974 and can now be found on the Hudson River.
As with most of these attractions there was an airport type security screening.
Once on board, we headed straight into the ship.
We first of all watched the film about the ship. We felt that this could have been a lot more detailed - it seemed to focus more on justifying the USA's military actions than actually telling us about the ship and living on it.
The ship is very impressive - we enjoyed exploring all the corridors off the main areas that housed the backbone of an operational ship. It was amazing how little room they had to work in and the complexity of all the systems.
On the top deck there were lots of examples of the different military planes used by the US Air Force over the years. For plane geeks this was fascinating.
There was also an option to visit one of the Space Shuttles but as we had been to KSC last year we decided to skip this.
There is also a BA concorde but as we see one every day we didn't bother! The kids also remembered going on one at the Aircraft Museum in Seattle. It did look tiny compared to the ship!
It was now lunch time. I had done my usual research and had come up with West Gotham Market - what a find.
J had a veggie burrito with guacamole. He said it was delicious.
The kids both had veggie burgers in steamed buns (and fries! ). Again - a big thumbs up.
I had a spicy shrimp taco. It was lovely.
Everything was freshly cooked in the various stalls. Total cost (including 2 fountain drinks and 2 ice creams) was about $70. Totally worth it.
We then had a fair trek to the Top of the Rock where we had timed tickets for 3.35pm.
As everyone was tired and we were early we got ourselves a Starbucks and spent a good 45 minutes resting our weary limbs.
Getting up to the top was a quicker experience than the ESB - I guess having timed tickets means they know how many people there will be!
The time had been picked so as to see the sunset. In reality, it could have been 20 minutes later.
As the sun was starting to go down.
It had been warm today - 15C so although we needed our coats it wasn't bitterly cold.
As the sun got lower!
And lower!
And the Central Park side - which isn't as spectacular and, of course, the sun was setting on the other side!
We headed back - thankfully we missed the queues going down! We got the photos as my dad had asked for a family photo and we weren't going a good job of getting one!
J picked up a soup as he was still full after his lunch. The rest of us shared a large cheese pizza that we had delivered. It was surprising nice - just a shame they forgot the garlic knots!
I think it will be an early night as everyone us tired!
Todays numbers:
20,417 steps (about 15.5 km)
Subway rides: 2