Independence Day!

It was a different kind of 4th of July to spend in the city. We knew we wanted to have a bit more of a slower day since it would be a late night. Zoe had the day off for the holiday, so we all headed to Chelsea. This is a great neighborhood, with some neat houses...

 and some huge pre-war apartment buildings...

 We went the The High Line, which is a linear park that was built on an old elevated section of the New York Central Railroad.

 There were great art sculptures along the walkway, and some cool modern apartment buildings, mixed in with the older buildings.

 It was such a clever use of space, and a peaceful area of town to walk. They did a great job with the plants and trees, and seats along the 1 1/2 mile park.

 The kids stopped along the way to toss pennies onto this metal beam of the parking towers...

We made our way down the High Line and into Chelsea Market. We went in and out of the shops and food stores.

 

I loved this spice market!

 After Chelsea, we headed back Uptown. We stopped for a quick bite to eat, and the boys challenged me to an arm wrestle.

We made it back to Mimi's hotel so that the kids could swim for a while. They wouldn't let more than 4 of us up there at a time, so Mimi sat and watched the kids, and I spent some time in her room planning out the rest of our days together.

My dad arrived early in the evening. Everyone was happy to see Gramps! We had a good dinner at a local pub, and then headed out to stake our spot for the fireworks. We had heard that the area along the Hudson river gets packed, and becomes a huge block party (similar to Times Square on New Years Eve), so we wanted to get there early.

 It was a long 2 1/2 hour wait, and the the boys got very bored and thirsty. Poor Mimi was exhausted too, and her feet got really swollen by the end of the night. But, we had a nice view of the sunset, and the Macy's 4th of July Fireworks Show was incredible!

 It was great to be so close...and the show was almost 30 minutes long.

We enjoyed our evening, we only wish Joe had been with us!

 Once it was over, we had to move with the crowd back to the streets. I was actually surprised at how quickly this group moved out! Unfortunately, there were no cabs to be had, so we walked all the way back. I'd say it was all worth it, and such a fun experience to see the New York City fireworks!