East Cost Extravaganza - Part 3 - New York City - July 7-12, 2022

 *****2022 East Coast Trip*****

     ***** Part 3 ****

New York City.  What a whirlwind 5 days.  There is so much to do in NYC...we barely scratched the surface but were BUSY!   It was the first time in NYC for both me and my girls.  Did we love it?  Some parts... we did a lot of “tourist” things and while that felt like a necessity for a first trip, when traveling I love being part of “real life” when we are places. This trip was not that.  Did we have fun?  Definitely! Would we go back? Also yes,  but I would love to stay in the west village next time.  We stayed in midtown and it was super convenient for what we were doing.

Tuesday - July 7th

We took the train from DC to NYC.  It was a nice two hour break.  

When we got to NYC we took a taxi to our condo, checked in

then had a quick lunch and headed out for some sightseeing.  First stop was Times Square.

then we took the subway to the Empire State Building to the observation deck.

Dinner was dumplings then we went back to the condo.  Elin started feeling sick while at the Empire State Building.  I thought it was exhaustion and hunger but by the time we got back to the condo she had a fever.  

Friday - July 8th

We had tickets for the Statute of Liberty on Friday morning with Olivia (who lives in NY for school). Elin was definitely not well and not going anywhere so Ani and I met Olivia while James stayed at the condo with Elin.

Did you know it’s a National Park?  We had to complete the junior ranger program to get a badge and because Elin wasn’t with us we had Olivia do it for her.

We also went to Ellis Island

Then back on the ferry which had an amazing view of the city

Anikka and I had a fun morning with Olivia.  After a little rest, Elin was feeling better but not ready to venture out so James and I traded places and Anikka went out with him for the evening. They had a great time at Rockefeller Center.

Saturday - July 9

We had scheduled an appointment at the American Girl store (for the doll salon) on Friday but canceled since Elin didn’t feel well.  Luckily we were able to reschedule for Saturday morning.  The girls were beyond excited.  

This is THE day they had been waiting for all of our trip.  They had both saved money for months to be able to spend it in NY at the AG store.  They were not disappointed.  It’s a 2 level store with every single last thing AG makes.  We spent 2 hours there getting hair done for the dolls, doll ear piercing and picking out their purchases.

We also went to the LEGO store around the corner.  Ani and James had gone the night before but wanted to show Elin and let her make a custom designed mini figure.  It was quite a remarkable store. The stuff they make out of LEGO’s was impressive.

Then we stopped by FAO Schwartz to see the floor piano.   James and I were excited... the kids were unimpressed and didn’t want to play it. I guess you need to be an 80’s kid and a fan of the movie Big to understand the nostalgia.

Back to the condo for a little break before heading out for dinner and a Broadway show. We took the kids to Ellen’s Stardust Diner where the waiters sing to you while you eat and encourage the guests to sing along.  It’s an iconic NY tourist destination.  It was super loud but fun with confetti cannons after one of the songs.  The kids were slightly baffled by the craziness of it all but still had fun.

After dinner we went to see Wicked.  First show on Broadway in NY for all of us.  Everyone loved it.  Probably my favorite thing we did in NY. 

It was a late night and we couldn’t find a taxi so we ended up walking back to our condo (about 20 min) through Times Square which was super crazy busy at 11 pm on a Saturday.  I tried to take a picture but it was massive amounts of people and I tried to pay close attention to keeping track of my kids instead of getting a good picture.

Sunday - July 10

For breakfast, I walked about 10 min to get us THE best bagels for breakfast. I stood in line for an hour to get them.  They are cooked fresh in the store and they were amazing.

We didn’t leave the condo until almost noon but we had an “easier” day planned.  First, we went to the Intrepid Air and Space Museum

 then a bus and a subway ride to Central Park where we spent the afternoon

We even went an a 45 min carriage ride which was a great way to see the whole park and relax.

We had an amazing Thai dinner that night in the upper west side then went back to the condo for sunset on the rooftop deck (33rd floor).

Monday - July 11th

Last day of our trip.  

One last museum... 9/11 Memorial and Museum.  Solemn and sad but good for our kids to learn.  

Pizza lunch,

 a walk through the oculus (it looks like a dove with the new World Trade Center building behind it)

and St. John’s Cathedral across the street where first responders could rest at ground zero.

Then we took the subway to the West Village to see a family neighborhood.  It was so peaceful that Anikka remarked on how quiet it seemed after the noise of Manhattan.  

I preferred this area to midtown where we stayed.  We looked in cute shops and had gelato.

 one last sunset from the rooftop,

then we packed up and went to bed before our 3 am wake up for a 6 am flight,

and that was a wrap on our epic east coast extravaganza.

We taught our kids all about public transportation in NYC from taxis,

to busses,

to the subway.  They were not real fans of the subway.  It was dirty, hot, busy and sometimes smelly. But it got us where we needed to go.  

We also walked an average of 6 miles a day in NY.  We totaled up our walking for the two week trip and it was around 55 miles total.  Just writing this makes me tired.  

BUT we really had a great 2 week vacation. We saw some amazing, historic places.  We went to 5 museums.  We even went to 4 national parks.  And best of all we visited family.

Maija