Welcome to New York

The Connors are heading to the Big Apple! This will be a vacation like none we've ever taken as a family.  Rodney and I traveled to NYC 20 years ago and he's been back a time or two for work, but it's been a long time since either of us have been there and the kids have never seen a city like it.  I tried to prepare them ahead of time, but sometimes you just have to experience something to understand it.  It's good to try new things, right?

Today started early at 3am and we made it to the gate just in time to board our 6am flight. We did all carry-ons this trip, which worked out pretty well.

The kids and I sat together on the plane while Rodney took a cheaper ticket with a last minute seat assignment. He ended up in an aisle seat on an exit row so it worked out pretty good for him. The flight was uneventful and we got to see the sunrise from above the clouds!

When we landed at LaGuardia, Caleb spotted Trump’s plane out the window. Our airport driver had mentioned he was going to be in New York this week.

We got a Lyft to our hotel and we spotted some views of the NYC skyline on the way. We are staying at a hotel in downtown Brooklyn where my 2nd cousin Mallory is the Director of Guest Services. Mallory hooked us up with a sweet deal and TWO rooms!!! Unfortunately, Mallory was not feeling well today so we didn’t get to see her, but the amazing staff at the hotel took great care of us. Even though Mallory wasn’t here, you can tell everybody loves her (of course)! We dropped our bags in one of our rooms and decided to head over to Manhattan by subway.

We chose a route that didn’t require transfers and everything went smoothly. The kids’ first subway ride was a success!  We came out at the corner of Bryant Park and walked to Joe’s Pizza on Broadway. Rodney’s partner Mike is a native New Yorker and former NYPD and he told us that Joe’s is his favorite pizza in the city. There was a line to order and nowhere to sit so we grabbed our slices and walked back to the park. This short pizza excursion gave a nice glimpse of just how “extra” NYC is. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day and the park was packed, but we managed to find some chairs to sit and enjoy our pizza. Caleb said it was the best pepperoni pizza he’s ever had!

We still had some time to kill before our tour so we decided to check out the NY Public Library, but first we used some fancy bathrooms. I had read that Bryant Park had some nice public restrooms and the secret is out because the line was long. The toilets had automatic seat covers. I’ve never seen these before and now I think all toilets should have them! I’m not in the habit of taking pictures inside bathrooms, but this one was impressive.

We headed into the library (where nice restrooms were plentiful and not crowded 🤷‍♀️). This library is more of a research library and museum and, although it holds many books, none of them ever leave the building. To check out a book, you have to go to a branch library.

Caleb found a phone booth! The phones don’t work, but we can pretend.

They had a special collection called “Treasures” that contained the original Winnie the Pooh stuffed animals that A.A. Milne gave to his son Christopher Robin.

We’ve already been awake for 12 hours by this point so we grabbed some overpriced coffee at the gift shop and sat down.

Up next was a private Midtown walking tour through Real NY Tours.  My cousin Erin recommended this tour company and it was a great way to kick off our trip and introduce the kids to the city with someone who can give a proper introduction. We met our awesome guide, Gardiner, at the clock in the center of Grand Central Terminal. He showed us around the station, including the whispering gallery.

We also went back to the NY Public Library, then on to Times Square, Rockefeller Center, and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Caleb loved Times Square!  He said it was on his bucket list to see it and he was in awe. SO. MANY. SCREENS. A teenage boy's dream!

Gardiner has lived in New York City all his life and is an actor, teacher, and tour guide who also enjoys biking and hunting. He shared tons of interesting info about the city and showed us all the highlights of Midtown. We ended our 3 hour tour with a walk through Central Park.

We said our good byes and headed to our dinner reservation at Jacob’s Pickles. We went all the way to NYC to eat Southern comfort food on our first day. 🤷‍♀️ It did not disappoint these Southerners!  When you’ve been up since 3am, flown 1500 miles, walked 7.5 miles, and only eaten airplane snacks and a slice of pizza, you deserve some fried pickles, meatloaf, and chicken and pancakes. It was delicious!  It’s possible we might have thought anything was delicious at this point, but I’m certain it really was great.

As soon we had finished stuffing ourselves, we went back to the hotel and right to sleep. We’ve got another big day tomorrow!