A Visit To Grand Central Terminal

On one of our mornings while in Manhattan with Kenzie and Lukey, we went to breakfast across the street from Grand Central Terminal at a place called Pershing Square.  This is perhaps our favorite breakfast spot and, as usual, we had an exceptional breakfast on this morning too.  Even Lukey and Kenzie were impressed with both the food and the service and that is saying something since we were there for perhaps the most informal meal of the day, breakfast. 

After breakfast, we walked across 42nd Street and into Grand Central Terminal so I could show the kids one of my favorite train stations.  The kids enjoy visiting train stations so this was a good place for a short tour.  

In the photo below, we are walking across 42nd Street to one of the entrances to Grand Central Terminal.  This is probably my favorite entrance because it leads directly into Vanderbilt Hall and then directly into the center of the Main Concourse.  

Below, we are heading toward Vanderbilt Hall so this would be the main vestibule to the terminal.

Vanderbilt Hall was filled with what seemed like some temporary businesses so we found that a bit odd.  I think there was a winery on one end and a few other smaller businesses on the other...  maybe a Christmas decoration/gifts vendor?  The way these businesses were set up didn't seem to fit in with the rest of Grand Central Terminal so this bummed us out.  It was like they put some sort of open-air market from outside with tarp-like canopies into this indoor space.  They seemed like they were squeezed in there as a last minute afterthought which is very unlike everything else in the terminal.  The way these businesses were set up simply did not fit into the environment, in my opinion.

Then continuing straight ahead through Vanderbilt Hall, we entered into the Main Concourse.  The famous self-winding brass clock over the information booth (center of image) has been said to be "priceless".  The four clock faces are made of opaline glass.  Inside this information booth is a brass spiral staircase hidden from view that connects with the information booth on the lower floor.  We later went downstairs so I could show the kids the information booth on that lower level.

Below, we can see Gee, Kenzie and Lukey in the foreground of the Main Concourse...

We brought Lukey and Kenzie to the Whispering Gallery which has always been a well-known area but which was made even more famous in the remake of the movie "Arthur".  I think Kenzie thought I was making up another story when I told her to go into one of the corners.  She was very reluctant to go.  I explained that if Lukey was in one corner and she was in the opposite corner, they could whisper to each other and still clearly hear each other over all the commotion in Grand Central.  She really did not want to go into the corner though...  Gee had to actually pull her into the corner hold her there while Lukey whispered to them from the opposite corner.  Maybe she has spent too many time-outs in a corner?

They eventually whispered to each other for about a minute before I pulled them away from their corners so other people could do the same.  Once again...  just like whenever I stop to take photos of a good scene, people now wanted to do the same themselves...

Over our heads in this passageway are a couple of the ten large chandeliers hanging in Grand Central Terminal.  There are five of these large bronze melon-shaped chandeliers each weighing 800 lbs.  They can be lowered to the floor for maintenance.  There are five others that are cone-shaped...

We walked around downstairs on the dining concourse and I showed them a couple of the tracks in this station.  There are a total of 67 tracks on two levels although I think the newest eight tracks used by the Long Island Railroad are not included in that number and are at a far deeper level.  The Long Island Railroad has its own concourse called the Madison Concourse (it is under Madison Avenue).  

Grand Central Terminal is the world's largest train station by number of platforms and area (49 acres).  The Long Island Railroad's area stretches for about six blocks and has been excavated out beyond 150 feet below ground...

We visited the Grand Central Market which is behind one end of the Main Concourse.  Lukey spent some time at a fresh fish counter marveling at all the fresh fish and seafood that had just been caught and was now all neatly laying out for sale.  

Then Li-Lac's Chocolates caught their eye so they purchased some chocolate... 

I would have liked to have walked the very long Madison Concourse since it is brand new but we didn't think we had the time.  We had to keep moving so we could make our reservation at the Museum of Natural History.  It turns out that we never did make it to the museum on time and consequently lost our reservation so we really could have spent some extra time at Grand Central Terminal rather than rushing around for nothing.  

I think Lukey and Kenzie enjoyed exploring this one-of-a-kind train station (actually, a terminal since all train tracks come to an end here).  There is so much to see in this station and it is so expansive that you could easily spend most of a day there exploring everything.  We also could have spent a lot of money in the Grand Central Market.  There was so much good food there that, even having just finished eating breakfast, it was making my mouth water!

Afterward, we walked back to the hotel so the girls could drop off their ice skates.