We'd been planning a trip to New York City for months, and we were so excited! MJ and I have loved visiting the city in the past, and we couldn't wait to show the kids around. We made so many plans: a Yankees game, a Broadway show, taking a ferry to the Statue of Liberty, walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, hiking along the High Line ... it was going to be a fantastic weekend.
Until we saw the forecast in the days leading up to our trip: rain all day Saturday and Sunday. So when we arrived on Friday afternoon, knowing it was probably our only chance to do something outside, the kids picked Central Park. It was great! They had a blast playing at Heckscher Playground and clambering all over the boulders.
We wrapped up the day at an Italian restaurant, and headed to the hotel. The kids were thrilled that our room was on the 30th floor, and we could see all the way down 3rd Avenue. There was a pillar near the windows with just enough room for the kids to squeeze through, which was a little nerve-wracking with floor-to-ceiling windows up so high!
Saturday morning we woke up and sure enough: rain. And I mean RAIN, not sprinkles! We could barely see anything out the windows. Regardless, we bundled up and took the subway down to the financial district to see Ground Zero. (Side note: the kids saw a rat in the subway and squealed, "It's so cute!!" much to the amusement of the other people on the platform.)
I'm not really sure the kids grasped the enormity of what the reflecting pools represented, but they were quiet and respectful in the rain as we looked at all the names carved into the walls.
Then we took the elevator up to the One World Trade Center Observatory. MJ stayed down below, assuming the heights would be too uncomfortable for him. He needn't have worried. When we arrived up at the Observatory, there was a dramatic "unveiling" of the view, where the walls in front of us separated to reveal ... absolute whiteness. It was actually kind of funny. We walked the full 360-degrees around the top, and admired all the pictures of the landmarks that were surely below us. But we couldn't see a thing. The kids enjoyed taking sarcastic pictures, and we still laugh about "that amazing view."
Fortunately there were photographers with green screens to show us what we would have seen:
When we got back down to ground level, MJ had received a notification that our Yankees game had been canceled. And we definitely couldn't walk the Brooklyn Bridge or the High Line, or even take the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. What a soggy disaster! We decided to switch plans to something indoors: the American Museum of Natural History. So we took a cab there, only to realize we weren't the only people with that idea ... the line stretched around the block. We weren't about to wait while it was pouring rain!
So we admitted defeat and went back to the hotel to watch football for a while. I purchased tickets for the museum the next morning. For dinner, we braved the weather again to go out for soup dumplings, a family favorite. On our way, we passed a restaurant that Little Man had to take a pic in front of:
Afterwards I took the kids to Times Square.
Sweet Pea and CC really wanted to go to the M&Ms store, so they could make their own custom M&Ms. It was a pretty cool process: you create your own designs on a computer, then pick whatever colors of M&Ms you want. You pour the M&Ms into a machine, which prints your custom designs on them. CC's M&Ms had microphones, "CC Rules," unicorns, and butterflies. Sweet Pea's had "Super Sweet Pea," "Cutie Amber," paw prints, and music notes.
We also went to a gift shop so the kids could pick out some little souvenirs. CC and Sweet Pea chose little change purses, and Little Man picked a pack of Yankees pencils.
On Sunday it continued to pour rain the entire day. I took the kids to the museum, and although the line was long, by some miracle we were singled out by the front door guard and ushered right in. I still don't know how that happened, but we were so grateful!
We wandered around the exhibits, enjoying the sights, but were disappointed that we didn't see any of our favorite characters from the Night at the Museum movies. On our way out I mentioned it to an employee, who assured me that all those characters were there, just hidden around the museum. He gave us a map to their locations, and we happily found Rexy, Dum Dum, Dexter, and all the tiny Native Americans who caused such chaos in the movie. Thank goodness for that employee! It made all the difference in our visit.
We got back to the hotel with some fresh slices of pizza for lunch and a new dry pair of jeans for MJ. We jumped in a cab and headed to the Gershwin Theater to see Wicked. Definitely the highlight of the weekend for CC and Sweet Pea (and probably me too). MJ and Little Man were good sports about it, and Little Man was very impressed with the stage and set: "It was amazing!"
Monday morning we got up early and went to Ellen's Stardust Diner. I'd never been there before, but as soon as I read about it, I knew we had to go. The servers at the diner are aspiring Broadway actors, and as they serve your food, they take turns singing solos, duets, and group numbers. It was loud, but so much fun! We recognized many songs from other Broadway shows or Disney movies. Our server even serenaded CC with a Harry Styles song, but despite his attempts, she would not sing along with him. It was pretty awesome (and my cinnamon-roll pancakes were epic). We decided that we definitely have to go back to Ellen's every time we're in New York!
Then we headed to the airport to return home. With the exception of Wicked, our weekend ended up being almost 100% different than we'd planned. Yes, we made lemonade out of our lemons, but to be honest ... the lemonade was still pretty sour. But we still made fun memories, and now we have even more reason to return to New York!
No comments:
Post a Comment