NYC

It was a Sunday evening and I had just sighed a breath of relief at the prospect of having absolutely NO PLANS (no play dates, no work schedules, no appointments and no visits) on the calendar for the next 7 days. I was looking forward to seeing where the days would take us - the lake? camping? maybe a movie in Rifle? or lazy days at home? - and to enjoying our last real week of summer vacation.

Who knew that the days would take us on a spontaneous, 3-day trip to New York City?!

It was as simple as Hamp suggesting we go.

And I knew this would be the best time to do it.

Besides, I had ALWAYS wanted to take my boys to NYC.

I had dreams of them seeing the skyscrapers, taking a taxi-cab, playing in Central Park and seeing a Broadway Show. I wanted them to experience the mass of humanity that NYC offers - the electricity that 1.6 million people living on an historic and iconic island presents. I wanted them to have a frame of reference for every movie scene and image with a Manhattan skyline or subway station or brownstone or archetypal building.... for them to say, "I've been there" or "I recognize that".

So when Hamp said we should go to New York, I said OK!

(I think he was a little shocked! But I told him not to get used to that answer...)

We flew into the city at night and the boys couldn't wait to catch their first glimpse...

... and what better way to start off the trip than a taxi-cab ride into Times Square to get to our hotel!

So what does 3 days in NYC look like for us?

Well, the first thing we did was ride the subway. Sam loved it, Hamp not so much.

We spent the morning exploring downtown - Wall Street, World Trade Center, 9/11 memorial, and Battery Park. Then we took the Circle Line Cruise to see the Statue of Liberty and were rewarded with great views of Manhattan, Brooklyn, New Jersey and the famous bridges that connect them all:

 

Later that day we explored mid-town, including Rockefeller Plaza (with it's great shopping... aka Lego Store!) and the view from Rockefeller Center!

 

 

Day two began with a bike tour through Central Park, then lunch in the park, then an afternoon boat ride in the park, and then more time playing in the park.
Still... we barely scratched the surface:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Broadway show: check!!!

 

Day three was open for exploration and catching all the other spots we missed the first two days! So we moved from City Park downtown, to Washington Square Park, to Madison Square Park, to Central Park (again!) and when it rained, we explored the Metropolitan Museum and Grand Central Station.

 

 

 

While we took in plenty of the main, iconic tourist attractions I was most excited about some of the small moments that we experienced in NYC: a local man asking us about our trip and sharing with us his favorite places to go; Hamp hailing a cab for us; Sam being the subway expert and even using his own Metro Card; getting pizza and hotdogs and kebabs from the cart on the street corner; playing a game of ping pong against a local construction worker while the World Trade Center hovered above us; the sights and sounds (and smells, unfortunately) of a million people from as many different walks of life all moving through the streets and subways and buildings at the same time - and my boys beginning to understand what humanity means.

And taking the 7 train into Queens at night to see the skyline one last time before catching our flight home: