Part 1:
New York City Vacation – The Overall Recap!
My husband and I love New York City. I have only been four times (two as a teen, two as an adult), but I love the hustle and bustle of the city, the shops, and of course the food. My husband received a summer study grant from his school that included a trip to The Big Apple. Of course I had to find a way to get in on that trip. Our 6 year old has taken an interest in his dad’s quest for eating every slice of pizza in the United States (okay, maybe the quest isn’t that broad – but it may as well be!), so we wanted to take him along to the pizza capital of the states too.
Having been to NYC before, I knew that my trip would be much more enjoyable for everyone if the 3 and 1 year olds stayed behind. I do New York at a pretty fast pace with LOTS of walking and lots of subway trips – which equates to lots of stairs. And not to mention, having more kids than adults in a busy city would just be a little bit stressful for me. Luckily, we have two sets of awesome grandparents, and they were willing and able to provide a stay-cation for the little guys while we were walking the city basically non-stop.
Our trip lasted 4 nights – we arrived late afternoon Thursday and stayed through lunch on Monday. Here’s a recap of everything from the trek there, to the food, to the accommodations, and the attractions. I think our son would qualify this as the “best week ever!” and here’s why.
The (Long) Trip There
There’s nowhere to go but up when you spend the bulk of the trip to your destination vomiting in an airplane vomit bag. My son and I were up at about 4 a.m. for our first flight (ugh, layovers), and we arrived at the airport with ample time to spare. It’s a good thing too, because when they say to leave wiggle room “just in case” the lines are long at security, that morning was exactly the case that they’re talking about. Leaving ample time at the airport has previously meant that I had ample time sitting and waiting to board a plane at the gate.
Unfortunately for my son, my previous experiences led me to believe that I did not need to consider breakfast until we got to the gate. About halfway through the longest security line ever, he started complaining about his stomach hurting and just being “so hungry.” I suspect he was also “so nervous” as he’s one of the most anxious kids I know, but in his mind – it was all about the hunger. About 5 people away from scanning our tickets after standing in the longest security line ever, he vomited for the first time that day.
Do you know what you do when your kid vomits in the security line? When you’ve been standing in said line for half of an hour and your plane leaves in another, you just keep movin’ in the queue. (Yes, I did let an official know that there was a … mess.) We ended up boarding the plane within minutes of arriving at our gate, and when we got to our seats I had just enough time to locate a vomit bag before vomit of the day #2 made it’s arrival.
I know this is already enough, so I’ll spare you the details surrounding vomits #3 and #4. After a safe return to the ground and an airport hamburger at our D.C. layover, my guy was back to normal and ready to rock.
Our Stay
In an effort to keep hotel costs down, we chose to stay in the Financial District. We found a great deal on a room there. For those of you unfamiliar with the layout of Manhattan, this is the area at the southern tip of the island. It’s about a 20-30 minute trip to Midtown/Times Square via subway. I was a bit wary about how this would affect our trip, but my need for savings won out!
There were some minor inconveniences to staying in the FiDi. For one, while there are plenty of places to eat there (I mean, the Wall Street bankers have to eat some time right?!) most of our pre-planned meals were in other areas. Another of my complaints was just that it was a big time-suck to get there and back out. I did not necessarily need to stop for a hotel break. But it is nice to be able to swing by to drop purchases off and get a short rest after a packed morning.
One of the good things about staying away from the action was that the crowds and night noise were minimal. I had no trouble falling (and staying) asleep – though that could’ve also been just sheer exhaustion. For my next trip, if I am going to be in the city for a short amount of time (think 3 or fewer days) I would want to be closer to the action. However, if you have a few extra days and time is a bit more flexible, the added travel time is worth the savings if you can get it.
The Fun
This was the longest trip I’ve ever taken to NYC. Which is a good thing of course! Our days were pretty packed, but I did not feel as rushed this time as I have in the past. (My last trip was a weekend jaunt for a Billy Joel concert at MSG. My whole family went, and it was a lot of fun. But it was literally NON-STOP!) This was our son’s first trip, so of course we had to hit up the major attractions. Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Central Park, Empire State. We hit them all. Seeing him experience it all for the first time was awesome. Our city in Texas has around 30,000 people, so life looks a lot different at home than in the city.
We spent some time in the American Museum of Natural History, and that was hands down his favorite part. He is currently on a “future paleontologist” wave, and there’s nothing that can compare to seeing the massive dinosaur fossils they’ve got. He also had an absolute blast in the ocean room.
The great thing about New York is that there is plenty to fill your day – fo’ free. We had a great balance of paid and free activities that kept us moving. I’ll share more about the specifics of our days in a future post!
We had initially planned to go up to the Top of the Rock for a view, but it kept getting pushed aside for other activities. In the end, I don’t think he even missed it. We also did not make it to the Grand Central terminal or the NY Public Library. As we told our son though – you’ve got to leave a reason to come back!
The Food
Pizza, pizza, and more pizza. As I mentioned earlier, my husband (and children) are pretty wild about pizza. And when in New York… We ate a whole bunch of pizza, but we went in with the plan to share slices (frequently) so that we could try more places. Some stops were cravings from our last trip. Some were on Kyle’s “to try” list, and some we just passed by and stopped in. Our tops for now are Joe’s and Prince Street. Two very different pies, but both delicious in their own right.
We also tried a few bakeries (including bagel shops), and I think my son was spoiled by his awesome breakfasts! Since coming home, he’s been eating a steady stream of bagels. I must say though, it is just not the same to buy them at Wal-Mart. What? That comes as a shock to you?
Which reminds me. Whenever you eat something really great, like New York bagels, do you ever feel sorry for people who go through their whole lives never experiencing that food? If the only bagels I ever ate were Wal-Mart bagels, I’m pretty sure that I could tolerate them but not *love* them. But man, do I love New York bagels.
Or if the only pizza you ever had was Domino’s. (Or wherever…) Would you really be able to say you’d tried pizza?? Don’t get me wrong. I can put back some Domino’s. But it’s not the same. Or, in my opinion, even close.
Or if the only apples I ever tried were red delicious. Bleh.
What’s your favorite food that is just not the same in the mainstream accessible version?
In any case, we also made sure we ate plenty of ice cream! (Duh.) FYI – I’m only eating butter pecan brittle from Ample Hills Creamery from now on. (If only that were true.)
I’ll give a roundup of eeeeeverything we ate soon!
The Highlights
As cheesy as it sounds, my highlight was just watching my son take in the city. He was enamored, and it was one of the best vacations I’ve ever had.
But since I know that’s kind of a cop-out, here’s some tangibles that were highlights for me. (Besides food, food, and more food.)
Exploring Central Park with no real plan. We had some time to kill, and had Bethesda Fountain as our goal when we left the American Museum of Natural History. (For the second time. We actually had to go back to the museum after the prized souvenir dinosaur that was picked out on our first trip fell out of my husband’s pocket during our Staten Island Ferry ride.) But instead of just sticking to our path, we decided to check out some detours. It ended up being awesome. We saw a great view of the lake, a guy sweating his guts out waiting to propose to his girlfriend, and a whole bunch of turtles.
The hydrangeas packing every flower bed. I love hydrangeas, and June is a perfect time to see them growing vigorously in New York. In Texas, the hydrangea in my flower bed is incredibly sad every afternoon. Though in the shade of my house all day, the summer heat here just sucks up all of its water. And hydrangeas are happy when they stay damp. I’m a bit of a flower nerd in my old (ish) age. Though my thumb is nowhere near as green as I’d like it to be. In any case, the beds there were beautiful.
Watching my oldest boy thoughtfully pick out a souvenir for his little brother. He first picked out a hunk-o-junk light up stegosaurus from the museum gift shop. My instinct was a resounding “NO!” But when I heard his reasoning, “It’s his favorite color blue, he loves dinosaurs, and the light inside will make a good night light for him,” I had to say yes. (That did not end up being the only souvenir we brought home, but was probably the one that was most loved. Among the other souvenirs was a free “pride” dog from Target. Team members were stationed to pass them out in Midtown after the Pride Parade. When he asked about the rainbow flag the dog was waving, big brother said, “He’s just really, really proud of himself.”)
Next Time
I don’t know when we’ll be back, though I’m sure it will be in the relatively near future. At the very least, we’ve promised our next boy a kindergarten graduation trip to NYC (look out, summer ’21!) The city is always changing while so much stays the same. We are looking forward to introducing another one of our boys to one of our favorite places, and getting to check off some ‘firsts’ for ourselves along the way too.