Security

Flying in to New York on the weekend of the 10th anniversary of September 11th gave me the unique opportunity to witness security like I have never seen.  I believe it was the safest place to be.

When I arrived at the Newark Airport, I had an hour before my parents came, so I took my time making my way down to baggage claim to meet them.  Bought a snack.  Checked out the restrooms.  By the time I went to the escalators, I was alone in the stairwell.  And the escalators were broken.  So, I got to carry my big bag down the stairs.  And two uniformed men, sporting gigantic guns and bayonets, watched my every move.  I am not sure if they were waiting to make sure I was safe or waiting to split the contents of my luggage once I tumbled down the stairs to my demise.  Luckily, there were no mishaps.

I soon learned they were two of many, many uniformed officers and security guards.  The place was crawling with them, along with foreign speaking travelers.  I am quite sure I was the only American in the terminal until my parents showed up.  Already I felt a long way from home.  And when we had to pay $120 for a cab ride to my friend Lindsay's home, I knew I wasn't in Kansas anymore.  Or Indiana, for that matter.

We arrived in Brooklyn, greeted by a gracious hostess who offered divine raspberry lemonade after she helped us hoist our bags up her three flights of stairs.  (On a side-note--why do they call those apartment buildings "walk-ups" when clearly it is more of a "hike-up"?  I can't imagine doing it with newborns, toddlers, groceries, laundry etc.  Whew!)  When her husband got home from work, they took us to an authentic New York pizza place where we folded our slices in half to eat them so people might think we were locals. 

The next morning, my dad walked with Blake and little Garrett to visit the Bagel Boy store around the corner, where they were served by a brisk and efficient baker, reminiscent of this Seinfeld character.  "No soup for you!"  Very funny.  Luckily they knew just what we all wanted. :)

We enjoyed a leisurely morning walk through their neighborhood and along the promenade.  They have some amazing homes in their neighborhood.  Amazing architecture, a few with marble rain gutters, and one house that we thought looked like Snow White's cottage.  (Minus the trash cans and car, of course.)  (The real Snow White, not my Snow White.)

We liked the views of Manhattan and the Verrazano Bridge, and Garrett and Caleb loved the sticks and seeing the ships.  Apparently , Garrett is very obsessed lately with going on a cruise ship.  I wish security were not so tight so I could have taken him on our cruise ship for a minute to show him the pools and food, of which he seems to be particularly keen on trying out. 

Get used to this bag...I think it is in the next 600 pictures. :)

Staten Island and the Verrazano Bridge in the background

Manhattan in the background

Is that not the cutest face?

It was then time to head to our ship.  We hired a car service for $34 to take us into Manhattan and to the dock.  We crossed over the Brooklyn Bridge and sat in traffic for a very long time.  They were checking all cars coming into Manhattan.  Our driver was great, especially if you closed your eyes and pretended you were on a roller coaster or something.  There were too many close calls for my liking, but it doesn't seem to bother anyone else that the cars pass each other with inches to spare. If that. Yikes.  But, we got there safely and in plenty of time to spend in the long security lines. 

Mom and Dad sporting their team colors heading to check in.