Wednesday, July 6, 2022

NYC Day 5 and Q&A

Friday morning we were up and at 'em for one last "first breakfast" in the lounge...


... and then a quick walk to the bagel shop and Central Park.



It was a GORGEOUS morning!


"waiting for bagels" ;) 


We hung out in the park for a little bit, snacked on some bagels and talked about how much fun we'd had.  It was sweet.


'til next time, delicious NYC bagel!



One of my FAVORITE parts of the city are the ridiculously pretty flowers that are EVERYWHERE!  Things that just don't thrive in our TX climate and lots of things that reminded me of my grandparents cottage from summers growing up.


After our bagel and park run we grabbed our bags and Pedro was waiting to take us to the airport!  He was seriously the NICEST driver ever and we so enjoyed getting to chat with him on the way to LGA.


TIP! If you have a kid who gets motion sick DON'T FORGET THEIR SEA BANDS/MEDS thinking "oh... we won't be on a long car trip so it'll be fine".  It will not be fine.  The stop and go city traffic will make them super queasy and make you dump out everything in your bag searching for something they can vomit into.  Nothing like rolling up to the terminal and having your kid LAY ON THE SIDEWALK to try and not puke.


Thankfully it didn't take G long to recover once we were in the airport and I'm sorry but there is NOTHING SWEETER than a little girl with a doll in tow.  NOTHING.


This was when she was SO EXCITED to get on the plane again... talking up how she wanted to be a flight attendant, etc.


After a couple of delays we took off on what ended up being a SUPER rough flight complete with a loss of altitude (the plane just dropped!) that sent flight attendants and everything not secured flying up to the ceiling.  We landed, got off the plane in ATL and walked pretty much directly onto our flight to Dallas which was a blessing (not too much time for the kids to think about what had just happened and about getting onto another plane).  That flight was also super rough - so much so that the flight attendants never actually left their seats.   We landed SAFELY (praise the LORD!) with only minor vomiting (UGH!) and one kid who swears they'll never fly again ;) 


Overall - the experience on Delta was as good as it could have been given the circumstances.  Everyone was super kind and wonderful with our kids and we got home safe so no complaints.  

Now on to the Q&A! 


They were at GREAT ages!  I think it would be harder if your kids needed a stroller and/or naps.  I definitely think you could do it BUT you'd need to adjust your expectations of how much you could do/see.  We left our hotel most days around 8 am and didn't get back until after 10 pm which would be a LONG day for younger kiddos.



The boys and I wore sneakers and Griffin wore Natives.  JUST DON'T WEAR NEW SHOES!!! ;)  I made that mistake on the first day and was DYING!  I'm not sure why walking in the city just takes it out of your feet but it totally does.


Masks were required in a few places (in some Ubers, The American Museum of Natural History and in Broadway theaters when you weren't eating/drinking) but other than that there were no vaccine or mask requirements anywhere else we went.  We were pleasantly surprised at how "normal" everything felt!



I planned it and the biggest help was apple maps ;) hahaha 
I used the map app on my phone to figure out exactly how far things were from each other and tried to schedule activities/restaurants/etc. that were close by each other to prevent a lot of backtracking and therefore maximize our time.  

I literally typed out an itinerary in google docs and printed a couple of hard copies before we left (NERD!) and while we definitely adjusted things as we went along it was nice to have somewhat of a plan.


I talked about our hotel in  THIS POST and can't recommend it enough!  It was a great amount of space for us and while we could have used a bigger bathroom we have zero complaints about the room.


I get it! I think the more you can familiarize yourself with the "lay of the land" beforehand the better.  I tried to plan things that were closer together on the same day which was helpful but really, the city is SUPER walkable.  We opted not to use the Subway this trip and instead used Uber when we needed to make a bigger trek and it really couldn't have been easier.  If you're planning on going to Broadway shows I'd try to pick a hotel that's within walking distance of the theaters though because Uber prices seriously tripled from like 6:00 p.m. until 11:00 p.m. 


Yes and yes!!!  There is so much to see and do and lots we didn't get to see.  I think we'd definitely stay in the same area but would love to have more time to explore and walk through the Upper West Side, go see the Stock Exchange, walk the Brooklyn Bridge, etc. 


AH! Such a hard decision but probably Aladdin.  It was just so dang entertaining!


Christmas time would be so much fun!  We all had different favorites...

Griffin - carriage ride in Central Park
Mason - Central Park Zoo
Luke - Empire State Building
Dave - Boat tour
Andrea - bagels ;) hahaha, kidding! I LOVED Central Park Zoo!


We did!  I think some of your comfort level will depend on your expectations and experiences but having been to NYC several times before and hearing about safety concerns and things like that beforehand I was bracing myself for it to feel different or less safe and it really didn't.


I hope they do!  I think they're at great ages and I'm hoping that this is a highlight for them and something they talk about for years to come!


We didn't take the ferry to Ellis Island this time since we did the harbor cruise tour instead.  If we'd had more time I would have loved to have taken them to Ellis Island but getting to cruise by it and see it in person was great for this trip




This is all we took for our whole family - four carryons . It helped that it was warm weather and not a super long trip but we really kept things minimal.  My boys each had a string backpack with their ipad and a book for the plan but other than that this was it!  



I feel like that's kind of relative ;) but if I had to answer I'd say yes... but it also depends on what you decide to do.  The City Pass definitely helped cut down on our tickets to things but everything is pretty pricey.  


We waited until the night before and then just sprung it on them!  Here's a video of their reactions that's pretty hilarious ;)



Can I say both?!?!  We went FULL SPEED for 4+ days which was kind of exhausting and I'm not sure we could have gone any longer at that pace ;) BUT there is still a lot we'd like to have seen.  I have a feeling that we could have stayed twice as long and still want to see more so we tried to think of this as a "first trip" and we'll see if we end up back there again!


It was WARM for sure but definitely not like Texas.  I will say that the humidity there is NEXT LEVEL and there were a couple of times that we were like, "there is NO WAY that it's only 75 degrees right now ;) 


We stayed in midtown which we really liked because it a close walk to Central Park and walkable to Times Square/Broadway as well.  Times Square isn't my favorite area (sorry!!!) so I liked being able to go and check it out but not having to walk through it every time we left our hotel, etc.


That's a REALLY great question ;) and honestly is kind of what spurred on this carpe diem sort of trip.  It's hit me pretty hard here lately that I'm about to have a high schooler and that time is not on our side so we were kind of like, "why not now" and just booked it and I'm SO GLAD WE DID!  I feel like Covid also threw a wrench in plans that we had as far as traveling with our kids "once they were a certain age" and so this seemed like a sweet spot to JUST GO!


AH! I'm hoping that the posts before this one gave enough details outside of sharing my entire nerdy google doc ;) There were A LOT of things that I would have LOVED to have done (walk around the Upper East Side, shop!, visit art museums, etc.) but we really tried to gear this trip around things our kids would love to do now.  They'll be adults soon enough and will LOVE to tag along on trips with us and do those more adult things then, right??? 

Well - there we go!  This OFFICIALLY marks the end of my NYC content and I hope y'all enjoyed reading about it and following along.  It really was a dream come true to get to take our kids there and experience what we did and I'm just so grateful!  

In true post-trip fashion we're already in discussions about where we'd like to go next so if you have a great family trip suggestion PLEASE let me know! We're looking into Edisto Island or Alaska for next summer but I'd LOVE to hear about your favorite family trips!

HAPPY Wednesday, friends!!!



7 comments :

  1. If you fly into LGA, you can buy a 7-day subway pass (includes bus as well) for $33 before you exit the airport. Then ride the Q70 bus to the first subway stop, then ride the subway to your hotel. We always stay at 35th St & 6th Ave area and ride the subway everywhere...all over Manhattan, Brooklyn, etc. We find that even though we are there for 4 days each time, it's much cheaper to buy that 7 day pass ...we never pay for Uber, taxi, etc. Then take the subway back to last subway stop ...then Q70 bus to LGA and fly home.

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  2. Such a sweet, fun trip! We love traveling to NYC with our kids - the problem is that now we have so many "family favorites" that its impossible to hit them all when we visit for a long weekend :)

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  3. Can you rec the sea bands that you use?

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  4. I am all about Google Doc trip planning. Although rather than printing hard copies, I just use the Google Doc app on my phone and make it available even when offline (as I tend to go to Airplane mode and wifi only when travelling outside of Canada).

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  5. I have so enjoyed these recaps. I have never thought that we'd enjoy New York, but I'm ready to go.

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  6. What sweet memories for your family! Thank you for recapping and sharing this. The reaction video is PRICELESS.

    I think your family would definitely enjoy Alaska next summer! So much wildlife and natural beauty to explore :)

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  7. For those nervous about navigating, the City Mapper app is a game changer. It will give you step by step directions down to which subway exit to the street to take. It's especially helpful for trips that involve biyh walking and public transportation!

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