After not leaving Michigan in a year and a half, we got up the courage to plan a road trip to NYC. I declared that it was a birthday trip, in honor of my upcoming 45th. That gave us an excuse and motivation. Also, of course, it is always the right time to go to NYC. We packed up the car, the boys loaded up on road trip reading material, and we were off. [Photos contributed by me, Ryan, and Burke.]
With Covid, they just have not had the opportunity to swim very much. So it was very exciting to swim at a hotel (Buffalo, NY) for the first time in a long time.
Cute local spot in Buffalo.
Burritos make Ryan happy!
We stopped in Cooperstown, NY to visit the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Evan with the San Diego Chicken mascot.
Ryan with the Phillie Phanatic mascot.
The the Latin American exhibit -
Cabrera's jersey and Mariano Rivera's shoes!
Braves of today
Tigers of today
Derek Jeter is a new inductee!
The hall with all the inductee's plaques.
Plaques, such as this...
Hank Aaron's story really caught my attention.
Cooperstown, NY
Dinner in Cooperstown at some German-themed spot.
We stayed in Cooperstown overnight at a non-Mariott on Otsego Lake.
The next day we rolled into NYC over the George Washington bridge.
I took this picture of the Freedom Tower through our moon roof while driving on the West Side Highway on our way to Brooklyn. The cloud reflections!! Wow!
our Airbnb in Brooklyn
We had [good!] Thai in our Brooklyn neighborhood with Robyn, a friend of mine from teaching at P.S. 261.
An actual ice cream truck!
[We don't have them in Michigan.]
Me & Robyn
It was wonderful to catch up with her.
She's 25 now!!
Then we headed off to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).
A fave of Becky
A fave of Burke
Appreciating and observing
Jackson Pollock and Evan
A fave of Ryan
Claude Monet and Evan
Andy Warhol
Dinner at Serendipity 3 - a must and a fave!!
Ready to eat!
Evan discovers Shirley Temples.
They sang happy birthday to me, I got this huge birthday cake sundae, and a box of swag! Made turning 45 so much better, super fun and delicious!
The infamous Forbidden Broadway Sundae
The sundaes were no match for the four of us!
Serendipity's decor is notable!
When we got on the subway to head home, it was not raining!
But it sure was raining when we got home. We were absolutely soaked after walking from the subway back to our Airbnb. Yikes!
Headed off for another day of NYC adventure!
First stop, lunch at Balthazar in Soho.
steak frites
crème brûlée and chocolate mousse
Then we headed down to Coney Island!
Enjoying the bay that leads out to the Atlantic
drying off
checking out the pier views
We rode the Wonder Wheel!
Evan was not a huge fan of the swinging car.
Ryan didn't mind.
view from the Wonder Wheel
We survived!
They had fun with bumper cars - a first for Ryan and Evan.
Evan wanted to take a stab at a feat of strength. He did pretty well. Hung in there for a long time.
Of course, they wanted to play games...
...with an eye on the prizes.
Nathan's for dinner on the boardwalk.
The end to a memorable Coney Island day.
We always love NYC bagels!
Never saw a rainbow bagel before.
On our last full day, we stopped by Trinity Church. I'd never been in the church or the cemetery. Sadly, it was closed for construction. We were able to spot Alexander Hamilton's grave from outside the gates, so that was cool.
We wandered around this area on foot for a little bit, planning to make our way to the WTC. We Wall Street Bull, which reminded me that the statue of the Fearless Girl was nearby. Click on the links to learn more about the origins and symbolism of the statues to understand why we prioritized capturing the Fearless Girl. Definitely more our family's vibe...
Also, our family's vibe? Technology. We spotted an Amazon Go store, and had to try it. It was so surreal and awesome to just scan and walk in/out without any cashier interaction. Way of the future!
We spent some time at the World Trade Center Reflecting Pools.
The boys decided to make a donation with their own money.
[Coincidentally, I am posting this on 9/11/21. 💜]
This is the Oculus. It's the transportation hub for lower Manhattan. The hub WAS under the WTC, but this was built as a hub post-9/11.
inside the Oculus
Pros
The High Line
This is a park built on a historic elevated freight line in Manhattan.
Little Island
This unique, man-made park pier opened this year. It was built, not without controversy, to revitalize an otherwise derelict pier in the Meatpacking District. Of course, I wanted to check it out. On the way to Little Island, Evan almost stepped on a dead rat. Yikes! This is about the time that the heat of the day started to get to us. We took a rest, rehydrate break here as we took in the Hudson River views.
Trying to stick to shady sides of the street, we walked to the L train seeking respite for our feet and from the heat. We spent the rest of our day in the Union Square area.
Visiting this massive bookstore was a Ryan request.
None of us walked away empty handed.
We made a pit stop at Rosa Mexicano.
Their pomegranate margaritas and chips / guacamole are an absolute fave!
This window display amused me. I was also impressed with all the mobile covid testing sites all over the city. It was nice to be in a city where residents largely appeared to take pandemic mitigation seriously.
Burke captured this cool shot of the Empire State Building from the Flatiron area. Next visit we'll have to take the boys to this iconic building.
The boys requested a stop at this Lego store, and did not walk away empty handed. They immediately assembled their Legos when we got home. Evan decided on the Fawkes the Phoenix from Harry Potter. Ryan chose the International Space Station. Both builds are impressive and amazing.
There was this fun feature, where you stand on a spot, and place your hand on this plate, and the mini-fig that represents you would pop up on the big screen. Burke, Ryan, and I were happy with our results. Evan took a million attempts and just kept getting really strange mini-figs. It was a little bit hilarious.
At my request, we stopped by the Harry Potter Store. This place was an experience. Of course, there was tons of cool merchandise, but also props from the movie, and different fun displays. It was just lovely to be surrounded by happy Harry Potter fans. Here are the boys enjoying [non-alcoholic] butter beer.
Finally, it was time to head back to our apartment. This was the start of the last subway ride on this amazing trip.
Had some pizza for dinner. Nothing like NYC pizza.
in the process of packing up the car
heading out of the city😢
This was an amazing way to begin to reengage with travel. We all stayed safe, healthy and made fun memories. Our boys continue to impress us with their patient travel skills. We were sad to leave, and our collective love for NYC still is very strong, all these years later. It was a wonderful way to end our summer. I'm so grateful.
