December Trip – NYC and CT

*Fair warning — this is a long post with a lot of photos!*

In early December, Keller was asked to travel for work up to Stamford, CT for training for four days.  They gave about two weeks’ notice — basically as soon as we got home from our Thanksgiving trip to DFW.  Instead of traveling up there by himself, we decided to make a trip out of it!  We have never been to New York City before and it was just down the road from where he’d be.  Oma graciously offered to keep Caden for us during the trip, for which we were incredibly grateful.  There is no way we would have brought a one year old on this weekend trip.  We banked on Kamy being the little energizer bunny and great listener that she is and hoped that she’d be up for a whirlwind!

Because it was such late notice, we were not nearly as organized as we typically are for a trip.  Everything worked out in the end, but we know a few more things about traveling in that area now that we didn’t know before.  For instance, La Guardia airport is not really tied into the mass transit system and it is much easier to fly into JFK.  Oh well.  =P

Keller had to be in Connecticut Monday through Wednesday, with a planned travel day on either side.  We opted to fly into New York on Friday so we could explore NYC all weekend.  We got a great hotel rate at the Marriott in Stamford (where he would be staying for work) and decided to stay there all week instead of changing hotels and trying to find one (at a decent price) in NYC.  There is a train that runs from Grand Central Station in Manhattan right to Stamford, and the hotel shuttle was available to pick us up, so staying in CT made a lot of sense.

Kamy did great on the flight out — we were up early early at 4:30am on Friday morning to catch our 7am flight out of DFW.  A delayed connection in Charlotte, North Carolina slowed things down a little, but we made it to the hotel in CT without too much trouble.  The rest of the afternoon was spent resting in the hotel while Daddy worked.  We ordered in chinese food and had it delivered.  We ate our dinner in the hallway outside of our hotel room so we would have more room to spread out.  Kamy made us laugh at the end of dinner when she said “May I be excused from the floor please?”  Sweet girl — I swear she picks up on everything!

Saturday was a monster day — we had so much planned and we spent all day going and going and going.  We started out by taking the 8:30am train to Manhattan and ate breakfast on the way.  The weather was definitely chilly, with a side of drizzle, but it could have been worse.  It was December in New York after all.

Our first stop was the Staten Island ferry, from Battery Park in south Manhattan to Staten Island, New Jersey.  We could see quite a bit of damage from Hurricane Sandy, especially in the park.  Unfortunately the weather was not very cooperative most of the day, and we couldn’t really see either the Statue of Liberty or the Manhattan skyline from the ferry (which is why we were on it in the first place).  Kamy wasn’t quite as interested in the ferry as we were hoping she might be either.  We had time to run around and catch the same return ferry, so it ended up being a relatively short detour.

New York looks a little different than Texas — there’s a permanence about the architecture, don’t you think?  For instance, this was an exit from the subway at Battery Park …

Next we hiked up to the Financial District and to Ground Zero at the World Trade Center.  We hadn’t gotten reservations to see the 9/11 memorial and were disappointed that we couldn’t see anything from the street.  The line to see the memorial was a mile long though, so it was probably a good thing we weren’t planning on doing it.  We also walked by the NYSE building and the Federal Building where George Washington was inaugurated.

We were planning on going to lunch at an Italian restaurant on the east side of Manhattan, but poor planning on our part failed to make sure they were actually open.  =(  Several blocks were closed because of damage from Sandy, so we had to scrap those lunch plans.  We ended up going to Hell’s Kitchen to the west of Times Square and ate at another Italian place.  Then we headed north up to Lincoln Center.  Lincoln Center is a really neat series of buildings housing the Opera, Symphony, and Ballet.  Keller’s particularly fond on the art deco style, so we were glad to stop by since it was on the way.  We also dropped by two historical churches and stepped inside for a few minutes — Trinity Church and Saint Paul the Apostle.  They were both stunning.

Next up was Central Park.  After walking around and exploring the south part of the park, we went to the Central Park Carousel.  Unfortunately, they weren’t open that day because it was drizzly and foggy.  I was so disappointed — we had told Kamy she could ride the carousel all morning.  I had actually called to confirm that they’d be open that day, but the weather changed the answer.  =(

We were able to go down and see Wollman Rink next — which was open.  Talk about an iconic view of NY!  Kamy asked if she could go skating.  In passing I said she was too little but maybe she could learn to ice skate when she was five.  (Incidentally, a week and a half later she brought that comment up to Min and said “I can go ice skating when I am five.”  My child misses nothing, so you’d better be careful what you promise her!)

From Central Park we aimed for a visit to FAO Schwartz.  I knew it would be busy, but goodnight, the crowds were ridiculous!  The line just to enter the store wrapped around the block … so another Kamy landmark was scrapped.  Keller and I were learning that we couldn’t promise the poor child anything, for fear we couldn’t follow through.

On the way towards dinner, we walked past 5th Avenue, Rockefeller Center, and Times Square.  There are about a bajillion people in NYC!  Crossing the street was insane.  Keller and I commented that there were more people crossing the intersection at a given time than in all of Lone Star.  It was utter chaos.  Kamy did a lot of riding on Keller’s shoulders or being carried in my arms all day, I don’t know how we would have kept up with her otherwise.

The tree at Rockefeller Center was beautiful and was simply covered in lights.  It was large too, though not quite as big as my mind imagined it from all the stories and movies.  It was neat to see something so iconic and classic New York at Christmas.

For dinner we found a great pizza restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen called Don Antonio.  Reading online, they had the best pizza in NYC according to the newspaper, so we figured it would be worth a try.  The specialty is the montanara starita.  They flash fry the pizza dough before finishing it in the oven with homemade mozzarella, tomato sauce, and basil.  The dough was a little sweet and reminded us of a funnel cake.  It was fabulous!  At the end of dinner we wished we had just ordered three of the specials and called it a day.  If you are ever up in NYC, we highly recommend this pizza!

We ended up finding another carousel for Kamy in Bryant Park.  I think it was probably her favorite part of the whole day! We felt so bad that her attractions kept getting knocked out, so we were glad to find it for her.  She rode it twice and probably would have happily ridden it six or eight times if we had the time.

Last on the agenda for the day was an 8pm showing of Mary Poppins on Broadway.  We were hoping that the musical would hold Kamy’s attention, especially since she’s watched the movie with us a few times and knows several of the songs.  The New Amsterdam theater was absolutely beautiful.  It was built in the early 1900s and was incredibly ornate.  I didn’t get any good photos of the interior, but it was really neat to be in such a historic theater.  Poor Kamy made it about thirty minutes into the musical and then she fell asleep.  By then she had climbed onto my lap and was out like a light.  The music and performance didn’t bother her in the least and she slept all the way through the show.  She perked up a little bit for the walk to Grand Central Station and held the umbrella over us in the rain.  She fell asleep again on the train back to Connecticut.  It was almost 1am by the time we got back to our hotel room.  We were all bushed!

Kamy was such a trooper all day long … we wore her little battery all the way out.

Sunday was our last day to hit the high points of New York City.  We had promised her a trip to see Santa and we were determined to see it through!  Where better to see Santa than at Macy’s on 34th Street?!  We caught the early 7:45am train into NYC and made it to Macy’s just before 9am.  The line to see Santa was not short, but it wasn’t as long as I feared it might be.  It took us a little over an hour to make it to the front of the line.  Fortunately there were model trains and holiday displays all along the line, so it kept Kamy occupied and happy.

When we actually got to Santa, Kamy did great!  I wasn’t sure what she would think about sitting next to him and I was really hoping we wouldn’t get the classic screaming, crying Santa photo that seems to be a rite of passage for most kids.  Lol!  I sat next to Santa and had Kamy sit on my lap, so it wasn’t quite so strange.  Surprise surprise, they even let you take your own photos with Santa (though we didn’t manage to actually look at the camera).  We’d been practicing what Kamy was going to tell Santa she’d like for Christmas and her answer was “the moon and the stars and a pink dress and pink bows [for my hair].”  I love that without a tv those are the requests she has — not this toy or that new latest and greatest thing.

From Macy’s we walked up to Rockefeller Center again to see Top of the Rock, an observation deck on the 70th floor right next to Rockefeller Plaza.  Despite the dripping rain, we were actually able to see pretty clearly.  Seeing all those huge buildings and Central Park was quite impressive.

After Top of the Rock, Kamy was clearly done.  We pushed her so hard on Saturday that her listener and attention were very limited.  We decided to call it and head back to the hotel.  We stopped at Don Antonio for lunch (easy decision — it was tasty, we’d likely never have it again, and we knew where it was instead of trying to track down something new) and then took the train back from Grand Central Station.  We were all worn out and were glad to get back to our hotel room.  Keller and Kamy both took a three hour nap and I slept for nearly two!

For dinner we walked across the street and ate at Plan B Burger.  It was excellent!  Our waitress was wonderful and had great recommendations on what to eat.  She even managed to get Kamy the macaroni and cheese she wanted.  Keller and I split the Baja burger (super spicy with jalapenos, chipotle, and avacado) and the Italian Job (chicken burger with mozzarella, roasted red peppers, and pesto).  We finished off with a banana cake with salted caramel.  We were stuffed!  We can highly recommend this restaurant too, if you’re ever in the Stamford area.

Monday Keller had to do that whole work-thing, so Kamy and I spent the day together.  We took the hotel shuttle over to Cove Island Park and spent an hour walking around.  It was really foggy and chilly — what I would call typical New England weather and what Oma calls Holland weather.

After going back to the hotel, we went across the street to the mall.  We ate lunch at the food court there and then Kamy played in a toddler play area they had inside.  There were a bunch of other kids there and it was just perfect to let her climb around and have some freedom.  We visited Santa too, before heading back to the hotel for afternoon nap time.  I treated us to my favorite drink from Starbucks — a peppermint hot chocolate.  I ordered a size larger than I usually would and asked them for a small cup for Kamy.  The barrista was kind enough to split it for me and even gave Kamy her own whipped cream.  =)  Keller had evening plans with his coworkers at Dave and Buster’s, so Kamy and I had a quiet dinner at a small bistro called Cosi and then headed to bed for an early start Tuesday morning.

On Tuesday Kamy and I headed home.  Our flight left from La Guardia at 11:30am, so we caught the 7:45am train into Grand Central Station where we met a car service to take us to the airport.  We didn’t have any travel complications other than a slight delay in Charlotte (again), though it took a while to get our checked bags once we arrived in DFW.  We were glad to get back to Oma’s house that evening, both to rest and to see the boy!

Caden, bless his little heart, hardly even knew I was gone — which was just fine with me.  He was taking a bath when we got back to Oma’s house and when I walked in he looked at me, smiled, and kept right on playing.  “Oh hi” was about all I got from him.  =P  I wasn’t sure how he’d feel about me not being around for so long and I was hoping he wouldn’t be stressed about it.  He and Oma had a fabulous time together and were best friends all weekend.  Caden love love loves to be outside right now, which Oma is more than happy to accommodate.  She said they spent all day Friday and Saturday outside and wore him out walking up the driveway, talking to the horses, watching the goats, and just exploring outside.  Aside from waking up early, he slept well overnight too and took great naps.

Keller flew home on Thursday and we drove back home to Lone Star on Friday.  We were glad to be home, though we would only be home five days before coming back into DFW for Christmas.

Overall, we had a nice time.  We had never been to New York before and I’m not sure we would go on our own accord.  I wish the weather has cooperated a bit better.  We also overestimated what Kamy’s level of interest would be in the sights of New York, but she is only two and really did great.  This trip has piqued our interest though, so maybe Keller and I will take a longer trip at some point and see more of the museums and cultural things next time.

Once again, huge thanks to Oma and Opa for loving on the Caden-boy while we were gone — we couldn’t have done it without you and we are very grateful to know he was in wonderful hands and had a blast.  =)