NYC: The Top 3 (Part 3)

We still have a lot of ground (and sea!) to cover in this post, so let's jump in. The third item on our Top 3 list for this trip was to ride the Staten Island Ferry and get a view of the New York icon itself: the Statue of Liberty!  And what makes this excursion different than the others on our list was that it is absolutely free.  You just make your way down to the tip of Manhattan (in our last post you learned that we rode the subway to the lower side), go to the ferry terminal  and catch the next one.

During the day they run frequently, so the wait is not long at all. Plus, you get two chances to ride--and therefore to see Lady Liberty--coming and going.  Just exit the ferry and make a quick turnabout to go back through the entrance line for a quick round trip if your plans aren't taking you to Staten Island for a while.

Petunia was duly inspired by seeing the statue, as we had done some pre-trip preparation by talking about it and even checking a couple books out at our local library.  She knew a few of the facts that went into its planning and construction and that gave her a sense of the history when she got to actually see it!

When we got back, we said goodbye to our second day while paying our respects at Ground Zero and visiting The Sphere - Eternal Flame.  The wreckage of this piece of art was recovered in the days after 9/11 and was lit with it's flame as a memorial to the victims of that tragic day.

The next morning, in our last few hours, we managed to squeeze in quite a bit more fun.  Right across from our hotel (and I'll be coming back to that as promised in an earlier post) we had spotted the FDNY Fire Zone  and our little heroine had been asking to go all weekend.

In addition to talking to a very nice fireman and the fun seen above, we also got to go into a room where fire and smoke safety training takes place with very realistic simulations. It was an interesting and unexpected stop!

We had just a little bit more time before we had to check out and head to the airport.

{Ok, let me tell you about the "secret" deal I found in New York!  I always am looking for deals and definitely thought I would meet my match in the search for a hotel deal in NYC.  But I didn't! I managed to find a charming, extremely reasonable, well-located, clean and safe hotel: The 3 West Club.  If you're headed to the Big Apple, book there and go ahead and send me $10 for the tip, which is only a fraction of what you're going to save per night.}

So with our last few hours we wandered into Central Park!  I just love this Park. I've been several times now and don't feel like I've hardly seen a fraction of it. More to explore all the time.  Since we did not have time to go far, we let ourselves be entertained by the performers we ran into.  These aren't experiences you can have just anywhere!

Well, that was a wrap on our first family visit to NYC!  I know it was successful because we ALL couldn't wait to go back.  NYC, The Second Family Quick Trip happened about two years later. One of these days, I'll share all about it!

NYC: The Top 3 (Part 2)

You are never too old to enjoy a trip to this iconic toy store! Even without buying a single thing, a walk through this multi-story establishment offers lots of eye candy! As you've read, this was not in our Top 3, but it was close enough to our path for the day and definitely merited a detour! You may be surprised, but we resisted the urge to make this our souvenir:

I know. Truly our self-control is off the charts.  Well, except that Petunia is not the only one who did this:

After much frolicking, it was time to make it to cross off the next one of our must-do list: view NYC from the top of a skyscraper!  A lot of people choose to do this from the Empire State Building, as had we in the past. For this trip, though, we chose to go to the observation deck at the top of Rockefeller Center, known as Top of The Rock.

I have a love/hate relationship with heights now.  I absolutely love the views, but these places where you are not absolutely locked inside safely peering out through 3 inches of glass do creep me out just a little.

What if I fall?  What if I jump?

Anyway, my issues aside, this experience is remarkable. We spent quite a while up there, taking in the different views from all sides, marveling at the beautiful mystery that is Manhattan.

All this adventure really builds up an appetite.  But I promise I could never in my life be hungry enough to eat what I got served at lunch that day from the famous Carnegie Deli.

While we were on the grand tour of all things touristy we could possibly do, we thought it would be a great idea to have lunch here. It wasn't.  Really, just take our word for it--there's LOTS of amazing places to eat in New York City. So for the love of corned beef, learn from our mistake and skip this one.

It's too much food and it's too expensive and if you think you can get around both of those by ordering one sandwich and sharing...well, you can't. Or, you can, but you have to pay a fee to do that.  So, it's not on our list to repeat.

There's still plenty more to do and see on this day. Time to make our way to the 3rd of our Top 3 list.  To get all the way downtown, we decide to fulfill another one of Petunia's wishes--a ride on the subway!

In the next post, I'll wrap up our Top 3 list and, alas, wrap up this quick but full trip to New York City!

NYC: The Top 3 (Part 1)

In my last post, I revealed one of my strategies for success while traveling: The Top 3.  The idea is that we make a list of our top three priorities to see or do (on a day, during a weekend, whatever fits) and do our very best to make sure those things get accomplished.  We often get to see or do much more, but knowing we carved out time, money and energy for our highest priorities makes the other things feel like bonus points!

After checking in to our hidden gem of a hotel (yes, "secrets" still exist in New York City and yes, I will tell you more about our hotel in a future post!) we had enough time to walk around and soak up a bit of the Big Apple atmosphere, grab a bite to eat, and go back and change before heading out to the first of our Top 3: the Broadway play, Mary Poppins.

I highly recommend the experience of going to a live show in New York if possible.  There are currently 40 Broadway theaters and even more Off-Broadway theaters, which describes venues in the same area that seat less than 499 people and are often smaller in scale of production.  With all that variety, there is bound to be a show that fits the taste and appropriateness level of all but the very youngest travelers. As long as your children are old enough to be entertained themselves and not disturb other theater-goers, look for a family show!

Finding Discount Tickets

There are several different ways to look for discounts to shows.  If you have some time in your schedule and are flexible, there are the TKTS booths in the city which sell day-of tickets to shows up to 50% off!

Other websites, such as Broadway Box, which offer good discounts to all but the most popular shows.

Finally, there are unique ways to get discounts to certain shows that may not be available to everyone (or not known to everyone.)  We got a discount on our Mary Poppins tickets, a Disney show, because of a promotional code in a Disney e-mail newsletter to which I'm subscribed.  With a little flexibility and looking, a show can usually be found at a reasonable price.

We all had a wonderful time and really enjoyed the show.  Even though Petunia saw it at the age of 6, two years later she still brings up things she remembers. Knowing the whole experience had such an impact on her young self is so dear to me.

Unfortunately, our late lunch/early dinner did not keep our bellies full through the late evening entertainment. We had a great idea to get New York pizza and have it back at the hotel. I will just say that an unplanned detour of many, many city blocks (really, don't ask) got us back to our hotel room with slightly grumpy attitudes, very sore feet, and cold pizza.  Just being transparent that we have lots to learn on the journey of traveling well!

Next post we will keep checking off the Top 3 with a very big day in New York City!

New York City the whole family can enjoy

New York City is a wonderful destination for families! Don't believe the myth that the Big Apple is no place for young kids (or equally untrue: if you choose the sites that are fun for kids, the adults would not really enjoy the city.) Attractions abound that entertain, educate, thrill and inspire all ages!

A couple years ago, Mark and I made the decision to add a couple days in New York City to a vacation we were taking to Maine to visit family.  We did not want to take too much time away from our loved ones and yet, as I am sure you are getting the idea, it is a priority for us to introduce Petunia to new places where she will get a fuller sense of the wild world.

Plans were made and airline tickets bought, granting us just about 2 days in the City.  What can you do in New York in less than 48 hours?  A lot.

I had to employ a strategy that I often use on travel days with much success. To end the day feeling we have accomplished what is most important to us without feelings of exhaustion and frustration, I regularly turn to my Top 3.

The Top 3 refers to the 3 places to see or things to do that I really want to make sure we get to almost no matter what. Okay, it's important to stay flexible, even about the Top 3, so that if plans have to change, your day does not feel like a disappointment.  For Petunia's first trip to NYC (and our first trip in years) here were my Top 3: seeing the city from atop a skyscraper for a bird's eye view of Manhattan, riding the Staten Island ferry and getting a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty, and attending a Broadway play.

Did I know we could do more even in a short amount of time? Yes, I was pretty sure we could. But here's the deal:  Everything else was gravy.  We had some idea of other things we could see, but with no set agenda.  If we had to leave our little weekend excursion having accomplished only those three things for whatever reason, well...that's a pretty good introduction to New York City even still.

But we saw and did so much more.

In upcoming posts, I will share more details, tips, favorites and "secret" gems we uncovered in the city.  For now, if you're wondering what play we saw on Broadway, here ya go.