A Transit strike, a seven year old with the flu, a delayed flight on a puddle jumper that we had to walk onto the tarmak to board. (In an Alex Trebek voice) ';What are ways to make a shaky start to you vacation?';
I was so nervous that all of my months of planning were in vain, but once in the air everything started coming together. We finally left Louisville and arrived at La Guardia 1 1/2 hours later eager to see the city. We stepped into a yellow cab with no wait and began our whirlwind ride into Oz. I noticed a picture of Muhammad affixed to the dashboard of the cab and although I am a Christian, I figured at this point we can use all the help we can get! The ride cost $40 with toll and tip. We arrived in one piece at the Marriott Marquis hotel. The hotel was perfect, we never waited even one full minute for an elevator and the system was simple. We were on the 11th floor so this may have helped, the higher up I assume the longer the wait. Our room was surprisingly large with two double beds and because we were situated at the side of the building we had a partial view of times square. The view was perfectly adequate for me considering how little time we spent in the room, I wouldn%26#39;t pay the extra $$ for the full view. I%26#39;ll submit a full review on TA later on the hotel. By now it was about 4pm so we headed to Johns Pizza for an early dinner/late lunch. One large plain pizza and four soft drinks cost only $22 plus tip! And the brick oven pizza was delicious. After ';linner'; we stopped at Toys R Us which was a mad house so it was hard to really look around, we decided to come back another time so we headed up to the Hershey Store. My 10 year old daughter is on a no sugar kick so she was delighted with her sugar free chocolate find. We stood in a looooong line to pay for her candy and also the $5 to put a message on the store marquis out front. It read, ';Kayleigh and Alexa love NYC!'; We hurried across the street for a photo of their names in lights. They loved it. We then walked to the American Girl place and made a modest purchase which is difficult in this particular store! Next, we happened upon the tree in Rockefeller Center which was huge and beautiful with the rink full of skaters below. Here we also saw the costumed characters such as Chicken little and Elmo but I had seen on the news that they are actually just panhandlers? Well off again to St Patricks which was breathtaking inside and out although it was dark so you couldn%26#39;t really see the stained glass very well. I wish we would have seen it during the day in all it%26#39;s glory. We then headed to FAO Schwartz where the children loved the life sized stuffed animals (especially the $15,000 elephant) and my husband took a photo of the ';Big'; piano where the employees were putting on a fab show. Then we dragged ourselves past Tiffany%26#39;s and to Central Park where we took a carriage ride through the park. We didn%26#39;t see much, especially at night, but we did see the ice skaters and the kids felt like princesses. We somehow walked back to the hotel and crashed. Hows that for day one??
Dec 24th subway fares were on special for $1 so we took the train to ground zero. It was quiet and somber but I%26#39;m glad we did it. Most people were respectful but there were some morons smiling like they were taking every day family photos. I will assume they just don%26#39;t know any better. We then walked to Battery Park and then over to the Staten Island Ferry for the free ride past the Statue of Liberty. The view was great and made for some great photos. We hopped on the subway back to Macy%26#39;s which was too crowded to move so left almost immediately. BTW, the subway was very easy for us newbies, the maps are very self expanatory. Anyway, we then walked over to Bryant Park and picked up a few items from the Holiday Market. The kids then wanted to ice skate which was free except the $7.50pp skate rental. It was the children%26#39;s first time but they took right to the ice and had a blast. I, however, turned 30 this year so I%26#39;ll blame that for my quick exhaustion but needless to say we didn%26#39;t stay very long! We saw the outside of the library next door and then walked back to Ollies Noodles for dinner. It was very good but I asked the waiter if it was family style and he said no so we ordered an entree each and had way too much food. Back to the hotel again with aching feet!
Dec 25th we walked to Grand Central for the laser show which was a complete joke, but the building was beautiful and we had brunch at Junior%26#39;s topped off with a famous slice of cheesecake...Yum. After re-entering times square we were approached by about the millionth vendor asking if we wanted a purse or watch. I broke down and bought a $20 bag (he asked $25) I know it%26#39;s controversial on this forum but if you do want one of these bags don%26#39;t think you have to go into some locked room with a stranger to get one. I could never have done that with my children with me. Maybe the quality is better in the ';back rooms'; but I live in Kentucky so I doubt anyone will notice or care that mine is not genuine. Okay, so now it started to rain so we bought a $5 umbrella and a $2.99 t-shirt in a souveneer shop and headed back to the hotel. We cleaned up, had a quick bite and headed to Hilton Theatre for a 6pm performance of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. It was a wonderful show, the sets were magnificent. Both the children and I loved it and hubby didn%26#39;t fall asleep so I guess that%26#39;s good. Back to the hotel again for some rest. Along the way we were suckered into getting a drawing of my 7 year old for $5. Well afterwards the artist shows you that it will smear with the slightest touch so you must buy the frame for an extra $20! She ended up giving us both the frame and picture for $20, what a bargain huh? Oh well lesson learned $5 is never $5 in times square : )
Dec 26th woke up to some stubborn drizzling rain but left early anyway and went across the street to Good Morning America. We were on tv for about a second.. woo hoo, we%26#39;re famous! Charlie Gibson was very friendly and made an extra effort to shake eveyone%26#39;s hand and say hello even when the cameras were long gone. The kid%26#39;s felt really special at their 2 seconds in the limelight : ) We then stopped at a couple of the shops that were too crowded to enjoy before and bought some last minute items. Crowne Limo picked us up at the hotel at 12:30pm for our 2:50pm flight. They were early in fact and arrived in a navy blue 6 passenger limo that I reserved for $39 plus tip thanks to this forum (you just have to mention you saw the ad in the travel magazine to get this rate) The driver took us over the Queens bridge so there was no toll and we got different scenery than when we arrived. So $50 for this leisurely ride versus $40 for the cab ride, I%26#39;ll gladly pay the extra $10 next time.
In summary we all had a great time. The weather was unseasonably warm which was great with all the walking we did. We only took the subway twice, to get to and from downtown. We never even had to take a cab besides from the airport. Everything was so convenient to the hotel. Next time the kids want to return in the Spring or Summer months to see more of Central park, Coney Island, some of your wonderful museums. That being said, we accomplished so much in our 4 day 3 night trip and fell in love with the city. If I ever win the lottery, look out, I%26#39;m coming to stay!
Thanks everyone on this forum for your wonderful advice, I%26#39;ll take you over my guidebooks anyday... well at least in conjunction with my books ; )
trip report... Christmas with the kids
You really did get to see quite a lot for such a quick trip.
Have fun planning your next trip... spring and summer are great.
trip report... Christmas with the kids
Sounds wonderful, and great for people planning a trip with kids...glad it all worked out.
Bravo. Happy New Year!
Wow you got to see a lot! Fun to read, thanks for sharing :)
Wow you got to see a lot! Fun to read, thanks for sharing :)
Now that sounds like a fun trip!
Congratulations on a wonderful, safe and fun trip! Fun repotr! You really got a great sampling of the glitz and buzz of NYC. Happy New Year!
great wear
