Jess in the City: Family Field Trip to Governor's Island

We have been doing a lot of weekday field trips this summer with friends which have been awesome, but it was nice to plan a weekend trip when Jon could join us. So, we got together with a few other family friends and field-tripped it down to Governor's Island.

We've been wanting to go to Governor's Island ever since it re-opened and we finally made it down there! G.I. is a small island (172 acres to be exact!) off the southern tip of Manhattan. It is a former military base and U.S. Coast Guard housing but was recently sold to the state of NY and has been kept up by the Parks Dept. It's only open on the weekends in the summer and there's a free ferry that transports people to and from Manhattan to the island. It's a great little day trip and a great way to "escape" the city without going too far and without having to rent a car!

The boys loved the ferry ride and the views from the island were amazing! The city skyline and the Statue of Liberty were favorites. It just seemed like we were having a normal Saturday afternoon family picnic, but then we would look up and see the city skyline and remember that we were on a tiny island in NYC!

Governor's Island is a cool place to visit because it usually offers lots of free activities and there are so many wide, open spaces that the kids can explore. There are no cars on the island and it didn't seem crowded at all which is such a nice change of pace from the city. We hit up the free mini golf, had a nice picnic, played some soccer, and then did a free craft at the Children's Art Museum that's located there. It's also a great place to bike because there are no cars or streetlights! Maybe we'll try that next summer!!

It was a really lovely day. I highly recommend visiting next summer!

waiting for the ferry

meeting up with Gabey's BFF, Violet

checking out the view...

ferry ride!

We were pretty much the first ones to arrive at mini golf, and it was awesome because the kids could take their time and wander around to whatever hole they wanted. Best mini golf experience for the under 5 set!