Category: Travel

We started our day with breakfast at Tahni’s apartment and then took the subway to a stop close to Central Park. Tahni said we had to make a stop at a little coffee shop for a Chai Latte. Those things had some sort of magical ingredient because it was the best I have ever tried. Wow!

We couldn’t have asked for better weather for our day at Central Park. There were a lot of people around, but it wasn’t terribly crowded. Dani was really excited about all the dogs she saw and all the horse drawn carriages. I can see how you could easily spend hours and hours there reading and enjoying the live music.

After strolling around Central Park taking in the sights and listening to the street performers we headed off to look for Luke’s Lobster. It turns out it was in the basement of The Plaza in a fancy shmancy food court. Just about the time we figured that out Dani noticed a hot dog cart on the corner. She was pointing to it saying, “Eat, eat.” I told her no and that we were going to a restaurant and she flipped out and was reaching back for it as long as she could see it out the side of her stroller. We headed downstairs and grabbed some lobster rolls and found a table. The lobster rolls were fantastic and after one bite Dani was trying to grab the entire roll out of my hand. Tahni bought us all some macaroons from an amazing place near the lobster place and we headed out for our next stop.

We walked over to see Rockefeller Center and it was cool to see something I have seen on TV and in movies so many times, BUT I was shocked at how small the ice rink and statue actually were. I told Tahni it was like the first time I saw the Alamo. There were firefighers in the rink spraying down new water to freeze and lots of people were watching the activity. I could hear languages from all over the world. It matched all the flags that encircle the rink. We walked around there and then back to the closest subway station to get us home. We needed to get Dani down for a nap because we had a big (and late) night planned.

Over the summer I got a call from American Airlines to notify me that my frequent flyer miles were about to expire. They gave me three choices: let them expire, pay $100 to keep them another 18 months or use them to fly somewhere like NY. I asked the girl if I could really get to NY because there are so many restrictions. She told me to just check the routes and see. I mentioned to Mike that I should take one of the girls to go see my sister Tahni who had been living in the city for almost 2 years now. I checked with her to find a weekend when she wasn’t too booked out with her photography business and I redeemed my miles. We decided that I should take Dani since she was “all mommy all the time” still and the two big girls can keep each other entertained.

We woke up super early on a Wednesday morning to catch our 7 am flight. I knew I would be a dream if Dani slept so I packed snacks, coloring books and a DVD player to keep her busy on the flight. After an adventure getting through security that involved 5 TSA agents and tears from Dani we were ready to board. I think it was the metal in her hip and femur and once it was over they gave her a “Junior TSA” sticker that looked like a badge and that calmed her down. We arrived in NY and Tahni was ready for us at the airport. I had found a car seat, pack n play and high chair on craigslist so she had it all in the car. Once I had the car seat installed and Dani buckled in we headed for Brooklyn. Dani feel asleep for about 10 minutes and I knew there was no way she would take a real nap, so I told Tahni we should just get a move on.  The main thing I will say about this day is that we packed it in and Dani was amazing.

After dropping our luggage off at Tahni’s we started walking to the subway station so we could have pizza at Grimaldi’s. As we were walking I started to feel so exhausted that Tahni had to push the stroller. When we arrived at Grimaldi’s I perked up because of the delicious smell and how entertained I was with the New Yorkers who were working there. We split a tasty pizza and I am pretty sure that Dani ate twice as much as I did. After lunch we walked over to the pier and looked around so I could take some photos. The weather was wonderful!

We watched out for wild cyclists on the Brooklyn bridge as I stopped to take photos along the way. We had a funny incident with a dude who didn’t know he was wearing a bag that said, “I Want Candy” and who ended up being really embarrassed when he found out. Then there was a man with a giant snake offering to let people hold the snake and take a photo. We got to the end of the bridge and there were some dudes setting up to do a street performer show. We watched for a while and Dani continued to sleep as we made our way into Manhattan. We walked up 5th avenue and I enjoyed taking in all the sights of so many movies and TV shows that I have seen. We came across this cute little area called City Hall Park that Tahni had never seen before. It was in the middle of all the hustle and bustle and quite a few people were just relaxing on park benches.

At the end of our walk we arrived out our goal which was the 9/11 memorial. I had never been to NYC before, but I did fly into Newark in August of 2011 just a few weeks before and have a photo of the twin towers from the window. We didn’t go into the museum part because I knew Dani wouldn’t make it through all the stopping to read and those sorts of things, but I will be back in the future I am sure. We walked all around and took some photos, but it’s totally overwhelming. I know it’s been said a million times before, but it’s hard to believe there could have been so much hate directed at our country that people would sacrifice themselves to kill people they don’t even know.

After seeing the 9/11 memorial we worked our way back to the Subway station and headed back to Tahni’s apartment. Dani had been such a trooper that we decided to order take out for dinner so she would hopefully get a good nights sleep. Tahni suggested we ordered Shrimp n Grits with cornbread from a place called Peaches. It was amazing! Melt in your mouth amazing southern style food. We visited for a while after that over a cup of tea and then it was time for me to sleep. It was a wonderful first day in the city with Tahni.

Mike got a bunch of photos from our last evening at the beach. I tried to narrow it down to my favorites (hard to do), but you can click on the photo above to see the whole album.

 

We woke up on Wednesday the 10th, had breakfast and while the girls watched TV we finished getting everything packed up so we could head home. We took a leisurely pace because I wasn’t feeling so great and around the time we were getting close to Houston I realized I had left my wedding rings and a necklace in the nightstand!!!! I felt so stupid, but Mike was kind (as always) and said, “Let’s make it an adventure.” He suggested that we grab the jewelry, have lunch on the water and then get back on the road home. So we turned around and did that. We had lunch at Jimmy’s on the Pier and it was wonderful. The girls practically inhaled the fried pickles and the size of the entrees was huge. I was glad that the girls split a burger and then Dani and I split a big salad. It was nice and cool with the breeze blowing and the sound of the ocean to relax us. So my mistake worked out just fine, whew!

The girls did great on the drive as they always do. Once we got home the girls had a good time winding down and playing with the toys they had “missed” while at the beach. Then it was time for bed – especially for me.