Day 14: 9/11 - Brooklyn Bridge & lots of excitement on the ferry

April 22, 2022

Today is our second-to-last day, tomorrow we will already be heading home. Time flies by so quickly...

We have tickets booked for 11 o'clock at the 9/11 Museum - and that was a good decision. When we arrive, the lines to the museum are endless. Unlike yesterday's museum, though, we quickly make our way to the entrance here and can enter the museum.

It's quite overwhelming to see all the pictures and videos from the day of the attack. Especially since I still remember exactly where I was on that day: I was in school when a student came to me and said that a plane had just flown into the "Empire State Building". Well, it wasn't quite the right skyscraper, but in the days before smartphones & co, you still had to rely on radio and TV until I knew that it wasn't the Empire, but the WTC.

We look at everything and leave the museum after almost 2 hours and visit the Memorial Pools in front of the museum.

Next, we go to Pier 11 ferry terminal where we want to buy a ticket for the ferry to Brooklyn. On the way, we stop at the supermarket to get drinks, sandwiches, and salad to go, which we want to eat later.

When we arrive at the ferry terminal, we buy ferry tickets and see that our ferry departs later. So, on a whim, we go over to the Staten Island Ferry (10 minutes walk) to take a free ride past the Statue of Liberty 😇

We even manage to get on the next ferry in time and secure a spot on the side with the Statue of Liberty. Wow, the ferry is packed and everyone wants to see the Statue of Liberty 😱

During the ride, we enjoy the sun and eat our sandwiches and salad (it's quite an art to eat the salad without it flying away 😆). We take our photos and chill in the sun for the rest of the short trip.

Unfortunately, we have to leave the ferry for the return trip and wait for the next ferry in the ferry terminal.

Half an hour later, we take the ferry back to New York and this time we sit on the "wrong" side. The side with the Statue of Liberty is packed again. We start off comfortably, also sitting on the side protected from the wind. Perfect. In between, we hear a few announcements, but as it goes, we don't pay "exact" attention. When the announcements become more frequent, we listen: the owner of a backpack is asked to pick it up - it seems to be lying around somewhere.

After the 5th or 6th - by now, emphatic announcement - suddenly the engines stop - in the middle of the river, right between New York and Jersey. Oh no..... we still want to go to Brooklyn!

Another announcement follows. The engines stop. The ownerless backpack must be picked up immediately, otherwise the ferry will not continue. Oh nooooooo!!!

Great, we just came from 9/11 and now we have to deal with the fact that theoretically something may be in the backpack that doesn't belong there. Great...

My stomach tightens, my son complains that he's scared. Well, when it comes to unattended luggage, the Americans don't joke! (At least not here on the ferry).

We drift on the river for 10 minutes, then another announcement comes. Since no one has picked up the backpack, all passengers are asked not to leave their seats. The ferry is not allowed to go to NY now, but is redirected to another ferry terminal (not Jersey either - but they don't tell us where). Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! Oh no!!!

Some passengers start to get restless, but panic doesn't break out (phew, that's the last thing we need). The ferry turns around and heads back to Jersey. Damn....

When we are half way back, the engines stop again. After another 10 minutes, another announcement comes: the backpack has been picked up, we are continuing to NY!
Hooray!!! I take the opportunity to use the bathroom here once again (finding public toilets in NY is impossible! It's a total disaster!!! Even at McDonald's, they refused to give us the restroom key, even though I was already in line to buy something and my son really had to go. Comment: "Guests only!" of course, I didn't buy anything in that #### store anymore. The same thing happened at Burger King!!! Unbelievable!! At Taco Bell, they were kind enough to open the restroom door for us EVEN WITHOUT a purchase (I still bought something to drink though). So, remember: wherever there is a public restroom - USE IT!!!

However, I could have done without the restroom experience on the Staten Island Ferry. Those were by far the grossest restrooms we've seen in the 2 weeks 🙈🤮

We arrive at the ferry terminal on the NY side with a delay and head straight back to Pier 11 to go to Brooklyn. The ferry is just arriving and unfortunately, we are too hasty, we jump on the ferry and then find out when we get off that we took the wrong ferry to the wrong stop 🙈 We went to the Brooklyn Bridge Park - from here we would have to walk quite a bit to get to the bridge and since we still want to walk OVER the bridge, we have to reluctantly buy overpriced tickets again and go further to "Dombo". Well, it happens...

When we arrive in Dombo, we want to have ice cream at the Ice Cream Factory. Pfffffffffff, there is a line that stretches all the way out onto the street, as if the ice cream were free. Okay, not an option. So we go to the alternative on the side of the ferry terminal, there is the ice cream parlor "Ample Hills Creamery" with expensive but very delicious ice cream flavors. We eat our ice cream in the park and then make our way to the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge at the corner of Prospect Street / Washington Street. The bridge is busy, but we find enough photo spots and walk leisurely to the other side and enjoy the view.

We take the subway to Lexington Ave station and walk a few meters to the tramway station where the Roosevelt Island Tram goes to Roosevelt Island. We still want to have that experience. The tram is very busy - masks are mandatory - we manage to get a spot by the window. It's nothing spectacular, but it's still fun. The ticket is included in our 7-day ticket. Perfect. The route is just under 1 km long, so the "crossing" over the East River to the island is short.

When we arrive on the other side, we take a few photos and then go straight back.

Afterwards, we take the subway to Queens, where we eat at our favorite diner one last time and end the vacation. Tomorrow we will head back home. Today turned out to be an exciting day after all 😛