New York

We love libraries. They are a great place to enjoy the AC or curl up with a book by the fireplace, it's great for kids, great to check out the magazine's you're too cheap to buy, great for renting movies and using internet when there's been a terrible storm and you lose power.

Libraries are also great for museum passes. That's right: our library has some sort of contract with some of NYC and Philly's museums that gets you in for free! All we had to do was "rent" the museum pass and buy our train tickets! For some of the museum passes, you can bring along up to 6 people for free!

The first one was the Museum of NYC and its history. The display was boring with a strange layout where you didn't know where to start and where to go next. The best part of this museum was the 25 minute video that told the story of NYC's life, from the very beginning to current day. SO INTERESTING! Did you know that the city used to be under the Dutch and was first called "New Amsterdam"? And all of its names (Bronx, Manhattan, Brooklyn, etc) were Dutch names first! Wow. I wanted to sit through the video a second time and take notes, but lunch was calling.

Our second museum was Intrepid. It's an aircraft carrier from WWII, Korean and Vietnam wars. It's huge! There were very cool-looking planes, helicopters and jets. We think Gus would like it and be able to tell us great personal information. Matt tells me his brother was really into these jets too. Maybe a trip to NYC in the future for everybody?! My favorite was the A-12 Blackbird, because it looks the coolest and travels 3 times the speed of sound.

For dinner, we finally made it to Five Guys Burger and Fries. Apparently, it's the best burger place around. We've been disappointed many times as we've driven around and around NJ to locate the one (of two) on our way to western NY. We never find it!! It must have closed down because even our GPS leads us astray. So we ordered and left happy without that yucky fast food greasy feeling. Everything was very fresh (you can see them making it) and the fries were delicious--very potato-y and thick, almost homemade.

Back at Grand Central Station at 9pm, the place was packed! It seemed as though everybody wanted our train, because as soon as the screen indicated which track to take, there was a mass exodus like I've never seen before. I now understand why and how people can die in stampedes. I clung to Matthew the best I could, but everybody was pushing and pushing their way through this doorway that lead to an escalator going down. When we finally got on, we had a little more wiggle room until the end. Halfway down, people started panicking and shifting up (if they could) because at the bottom of the escalator, people were piling up!! You see, you had to step off the escalator, and cram through a doorway at the bottom (like the doorway at the top). But people weren't moving fast enough at the bottom, or paying attention to those behind them, so sure enough the escalator started dumping us on top of others! I really thought I'd get hurt!! One guy just about fell, and no one could help bumping into each other and stepping on each other's feet, just to regain balance. This is what a stampede is.

What a perfect way to spend our last hurrah before orientation tomorrow.