New York City Christmas

Will is 13 years old now.  Bonnie was surprised by her trip when she turned 13.  The other children know us well enough to know that we would never do that for one child and not for the others.   The other kids miss out on the surprise, but they get to decide where they want to go.  Will decided on New York City and has never wavered.   The only thing I decided for him was the dates.  I wanted to see NYC at Christmastime.   Will decided on all the things that were important to him – shopping at the World Nintendo store, going to the Statute of Liberty, and going ice skating.

Day 1 – Friday, December 5th

Our flight left at 6:30 in the morning.  The trip to the airport and through security was smooth.  Will got a window seat, and the sky was clear.  He was more excited than nervous.  Coming into LaGaurdia, we had a great view of the city.  We spotted the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, and Central Park among many other things.  We took a taxi to our apartment.  We had booked the apartment on VRBO several months ago.  It was in the Hell’s Kitchen area of Midtown West.  Since the area was more residential than commercial, I was concerned about security after dark.  Our first stop after storing our luggage in the apartment hallway was to a drug store that sold pepper spray.  You can’t carry it on the plane, and you can only buy it at authorized dealers in the city after filling out a security form.  I had to do a lot of online research, but it turns out that a mom & pop drugstore right around the corner from our apartment sold it.  It turns out that we felt very safe, even after dark, but I had it anyway.   After that stop, we ate a late breakfast at Ellen’s Stardust Café.  It is a diner on the corner of 51^st and Broadway that employs Broadway hopefuls, and they take turns singing while they work.  It was lots of fun.  I have never paid $55 for breakfast before, but I guess the entertainment is built into the cost.

After breakfast, we went to Rockefeller Center.  It was SO CROWDED.  People were shoulder to shoulder, walking in all directions.  It felt like swimming upstream.  No one was getting anywhere.  We watched the ice skaters for a bit and went to the Nintendo Store.  Will had fun shopping and playing on the many display games available.  After that, we bought tickets for the Top of the Rock.  It was another crowded atmosphere, but this time we were herded around like cattle.  The views from the top were breathtaking.  When Bonnie and I went, visibility was poor, but this time, you could see forever in all directions. 

By the time we finished the tour, it was 4:00, so we went to the apartment to take our luggage in and rest for a while.  After a couple of hours, we headed back out.  We got coffee and hot chocolate from Starbuck’s and sat on the red stairs in Times Square.  I was struck by how different life is in the selfie generation.  Twenty years ago, a trip to the city might have involved one camera per group of people with quick poses in front of each landmark.  Now people stop right where they are, even in a very crowded area, and take selfies constantly.  In a group of 5 people, each person has a phone taking photos at the same time.   That is part of the reason foot traffic is so congested.  People are taking photos of themselves, of other people, and stopping to evaluate the photos they just took.  I’m sure it is evident by my many photos that I am part of that, but it also seems so sad to me in a way.  Instead of enjoying moments, people are recording them, just to document for themselves and their followers that they were there.  They don’t linger, they just click and move on.  I am a people watcher, so I could have sat on those steps for hours, but Will was bored and ready to go after five minutes.  We moved on to the Disney Store, but the crowd was too thick to be able to look at anything.  We went in a few souvenir stores, too.  Finally Will got hungry, so we headed back toward home to eat at Uncle Mario’s Brick Oven Pizza.  Will had a cheese calzone, and I got a personal pizza.  Delicious.  We had told me earlier in the day that we should have more conversations, so at dinner I asked him lots of open-ended questions, but he kept giving me one-word answers!  I had to explain to him how “conversations” work.  It turns out that his cheese calzone was too cheesy, so he had to chew too much, and that gave him a headache.  Apparently it is a side effect of braces.  We made it back to the apartment and watched several episodes of Property Brothers before going to bed.  

Leaving Hartsfield-Jackson

I have an almost identical photo of Bonnie at LaGuardia.

At the Top of the Rock. That is Central Park in the background.

Our little apartment was awesome.  SO much better than a hotel room, and cheaper!

Times Square - I remember posting a photo of Bonnie like this on Facebook with the caption "enjoying the chaos". Will's face tells a different story.

I enjoyed it though.

The best part - back home chillin' with my boy.

Day 2 – Sunday, December 6th:

Bonnie and I made an event out of going to mass at Saint Patrick’s.  I had looked up their mass schedule, but I also happened to notice that there was a Catholic church just a few doors down from us.  I gave Will the option about what he wanted to do, and he said that he preferred not to go to mass at all.  Okie dokie.  I was a bit conflicted about whether or not to make him go, but in the end I decided not to.  Matt and I really enjoy going to mass when we are traveling, but Will doesn’t like going to “strange churches”, so I didn’t press the issue.  We ate leftover pizza for breakfast, and then headed out to begin our day of adventure.  The plan was to be at Battery Park to board the ferry to the Statue of Liberty at noon.  I checked the tickets several times; they definitely said noon.  We stopped at Bryant Park and watched some ice skaters.  Bryant Park in where we planned on ice skating because I thought it would be less crowded than Central Park or Rockefeller Center.  Bryant Park has a Winter Village set up with lots of shops and food vendors, and we enjoyed browsing for a while.  After that, we walked to Grand Central Station.  I had hoped to have time to do the self-guided audio tour, but time was flying by, so we bought a Metro card and got on the subway headed downtown.  We made it to Battery Park by 11:30 and went to the ticket booth.  He man handed the tickets back to me and said “these tickets are for tomorrow”.  He didn’t say “dumbass” at the end, but his eyes said it loud and clear.  I checked the time several times, but the date not so much.  Will was very forgiving.  At least we went a day early instead of a day late. 

We took that opportunity to explore lower Manhattan.  We walked to the South Street Seaport and up toward the Brooklyn Bridge.  Will had expressed interest in biking over the Brooklyn Bridge, but once we got close to it, he changed his mind.  He had not realized how massive it was.  It was midafternoon by that point, and Will was ready to rest.   We got some more Starbuck’s and took the subway back uptown to the apartment.

After an hour or two, he was ready to head out again.  We went back to Bryant Park with the intention of ice staking.  We got there to discover a long line with a wait time of approximately three hours!  I offered to stand in line while he got a pretzel and a drink, but he decided that nothing was worth a 3-hour wait.  In retrospect, I should have made reservations at Rockefeller Center.  Yes, it is crowded and expensive, but at least you show up at the time of your reservation and get to skate.  We did some more shopping in the Winter Village.  Then we headed to Fifth Avenue and shopped some more.  We stopped in at Johnny Rocket’s and ate burgers.  That was Will’s choice.  I like to eat at local places instead of chains, but there are LOTS of places Will has never eaten before, and that is one of them.  My food was delicious.  After dinner, we went to Dylan’s candy Bar.  It was all Will had dreamed it would be.  We bought edible souvenirs for the siblings.  Working our way back home, we stopped at the Apple Store.  It was awesome.  The entrance is a giant glass cube with the Apple logo on it.  You go down a glass elevator or down a spiral glass staircase to get into the store.  It was just about as crowded as the Disney Store, but still a really cool experience.   Next, Will stopped the Microsoft Store.  I was just about shopped out, and I’m not a techie, but I ended up being so glad we stopped.  Upstairs, they had a huge MineCraft section, and Will is just a tad MineCraft obsessed.  He met some like-minded people and played some PlayStation MineCraft on a giant screen.  I ate Jelly Belly jelly beans and checked in with my sweetie back home.  It was nice to let Will enjoy himself in each place we went without feeling pressured to move on.  It was his trip, and I wanted to let him enjoy it as much as possible.  When he had had his fill, we headed back to Rockefeller Center to hit the Nintendo Store one more time.  No such luck.  It was Sunday night, and they closed at 9:00.  We got there about 9:05.  We watched some street artists doing their thing, and we sat for a caricature, which in my opinion turned out terribly, but Will thought it was pure awesomeness.  Then we headed back home.  We watched more HGTV and talked about what a great time we were having in the city.

A Manhattan smoothie for breakfast while walking to the subway.

Bryant Park

at the 42st Street station about to take the train downtown

Enjoying the Financial District and South Street Seaport on a deserted Sunday afternoon.

Eureka!  Dylan's Candy Bar!  We found heaven.

Playing MineCraft on the big screen while Mama chills.

Who bought this kid Toxic Waste?

Look, we did it!  We took a selfie in front of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.  My mom is happy.

We walked all the way home carrying that picture pointed out like that.

 

Day 3 – Monday, December 7th

 Monday was out final day.  We woke up, got showered and ready, ate leftovers for breakfast, and cleaned and packed.  Right at 10:00, we locked up the apartment and stored our luggage.  We leisurely headed toward the subway and made our way back to Battery Park.  I stopped for coffee, and Will decided to try some falafels.  We sat on a bench by the water, and Will fed the pigeons.  Pigeons like falafels, and so do squirrels.  Around 12:00 we went through security and boarded the ferry for Lady Liberty.  We got coffee and hot chocolate and did the self-guided audio tour.  I am completely disgusted with our country’s leadership and generally have a bleak outlook for our country’s future, but the Statue of Liberty experience stirred my patriotism.  Standing below the shining torch of the giant statue made me proud to be an American.  Honestly, it was a feeling I haven’t felt in several years.  It was nice.  After even more security, we started the journey to the crown.  It was much like climbing steps in a lighthouse… steep, narrow, and seemingly endless.  The view from the top was awesome, and the rangers were informative and friendly.  After about ten minutes, we began the journey back down.   We then boarded the ferry again and went to Ellis Island.  I have always wanted to go to Ellis Island.  When Bonnie and I went to NYC, we had tickets to the Statue of Liberty, but Ellis Island was closed because of damage from Superstorm Sandy.  Then the Statue of Liberty trip got cancelled due to the government shutdown.  (See above comment about disgust with our country’s leadership.)  Ellis Island is now reopened.  All of the exhibits aren’t open yet, but most of them are.  If I ever go back to NYC, I would like to spend an entire day at Ellis Island.  It is fascinating.  It makes me curious about my ancestry.  We stayed at Ellis Island almost until closing time, which just happened to be the time we had to leave anyway.  We boarded the ferry back and were treated to a magnificent sunset behind the Statute of Liberty.  We took the subway back uptown, grabbed our luggage from the apartment, and hailed a taxi to the airport.  We made it to the airport and through security without a hitch and sat at the gate waiting for the plane.  It was delayed 20 minutes.  LaGuardia is a cute little airport.  They have iPads at tables to occupy you while you wait.  You can play games, check weather and traffic, and also order food and drinks.  I had promised Will a smoothie, so I ordered it and they delivered it to the table.  The plane arrived and we had a nice, clear flight back to ATL.  We took the shuttle back to the van, stopped and got food from Wendy’s in Austell, and made it home around 1:00 am.  Matt was waiting up for us.  Will slept late on Tuesday morning and enjoyed giving everyone their souvenirs and telling them all about his adventures in the Big Apple.  

on the ferry

This is one of the two non-selfie photos taken of us together.  It was too bright to look at the camera, but it is good documentation that Will is officially taller than me.

In the crown of the Statue of Liberty. The wavy lines are her hair.  The windows are the jewels in her crown.  Will never let go of the overhead bars.  He wasn't going down unless Lady Liberty's whole head went down.  :-)

Ellis Island Great Hall.  The photo doesn't even come close to doing it justice.   In the audio our, the point was made that the only buildings this grand in Europe were for royalty, but America built this grand structure to welcome the poor immigrants to their new home.

What a treat to turn around on the ferry and see this!

I love this kid so much.

Heading home.  Will had a great time, but he was ready to come home.

I feel so blessed to have been able to take this trip with my child.  I enjoyed spending one-on-one time with him and getting to know him better, and hopefully it is an experience he will never forget.