California Dreaming

My Man had to squeeze in a few days of consultations in LA before we headed home for Christmas, so the kids and I made the tough sacrifice of going along so he wouldn't be lonely.

When he was off enjoying training, traffic, and meetings, we were stuck back at the hotel just playing in the pool, soaking up sunshine, and reading. I tell you, it's a tough life.

The hotel also gave us a code to a vending machine with unlimited candy bars--we didn't tell the kids it was unlimited, we told them two a day. Still! Also, the breakfast buffet was unreal. We hadn't yet had the buffet at the Conrad in Bangkok, so we were feeling pretty spoiled.

We didn't have a car, but we enjoyed walking a couple miles to grab dinner at an authentic Mexican place. Yum. On the way home, we accidentally stumbled upon Candy Cane Lane! 

It was great. The whole street closes down and each display is even better than the one before it. There are electric trains, more lights and ornaments than you can even imagine, Christmas music, and one house even had Elf playing on the big screen at "Santa's Theater." With all the craziness of packing and moving, Christmas has been a bit on the back burner, so it was a fun way to get into the Christmas spirit.

We also snuck in a trip to Venice Beach. We got dropped off a bit early (at our insistence) because we were so excited to get to the beach.

At the dunes before the boardwalk, we met a local Venice Beach mom and her baby who had brought a sled to slide down the dunes.

They were generous enough to share and the kids absolutely loved sand sledding! Darling Daughter was even more enamored by their cute puppy. In fact, they would have loved to stay there the rest of the night.

But I really wanted to take them to the Venice Beach boardwalk (something I remembered from growing up in southern Cal) so finally we convinced them to leave. The Venice Beach local convinced us to leave the beach for a while, though, to walk through the canals the town is named for.

It was great. Although the water was pretty low, there were lots of cool bridges and lots of houses were decorated for Christmas.

There was a kissing bridge that My Man and I took advantage of :-)

Finally, we got back to the beach, just as the sun was starting to set.

It was so beautiful. There was a great park and we played and enjoyed the perfect evening and gorgeous sunset.

By the time we left, it was starting to get dark and most of the vendors were packing up and leaving. We did get to see a few musicians still performing and a few glass pendant vendors (My Man snuck-bought a couple to give me for Christmas).

We had planned to walk down to the Santa Monica pier to eat dinner and ride the Ferris wheel, but we hadn't anticipated so much time playing at the beach and park. When an ambitious bicycle rickshaw driver offered to peddle our whole family the 2 miles or so down the pier, we jumped on the opportunity. He turned on Christmas music and we enjoyed the lazy (for us, not him!) ride down the mostly dark boardwalk.

By the time we got down to the pier, though, the Ferris Wheel and carnival had closed (apparently it closes early if there aren't enough people around). Funny Guy was very disappointed, but for the rest of us, the evening had been almost perfect. We finished by having more Mexican food out at the end of the pier under the stars with the sound of the waves crashing all around us.

It was enchanting, one of those evenings you just have to grab hold of in your memory to cherish forever.

Taking a Bite Out of the Big Apple, Part 2

Saturday we had another leisurely morning, then packed up and said good-bye to West New York, New Jersey, probably forever (this made Funny Guy very sad, because we had just discovered a very fun-looking park near our apartment and he wanted us to promise we'd come back to play there). We headed straight for Central Park (probably the top of my list for things I wanted to explore in New York).

It was awesome. First we headed for Belvedere Castle.  The views from the top were beautiful and the castle itself was great. Now who says the United States doesn't have any castles?! (OK, maybe the fact that we thought this was so cool is proof that we don't . . . )

Darling Daughter was so excited to get to the top that she ditched the rest of us when we paused for a picture.

We were all looking around for her when we finally spied her waving happily from above. So we headed up to join her but when we got to the top, she was no where to be seen.

After snapping another picture without her, we saw her mischievously waving from below where we had just been.

Finally we met up and got one complete family picture.

After the castle, we wandered around the park, stopping occasionally to climb rocks,

explore the lakes and ponds,

and enjoy eating candied nuts and watching street performers.

Finally we found our way to Heckscher Playground where we enjoyed a picnic lunch and Funny Guy and Darling Daughter found new energy to play ferociously until it was time to leave. Next on our agenda was The Ride, a unique bus tour where one side of the bus is full windows and the seats are stadium seats sideways looking out the windows. 

As the comedic emcees tell about the city, there are several cool street performers (dancers, musicians, singers, etc.). It's obviously staged, but it was still fun. There was one where we were stopped at a light where a guy was playing jazz on a saxophone and not getting any attention. Then he switched to a Christmas song and a guy walking past started singing along. He had an amazing voice (and amazingly a microphone hooked into our bus's stereo system!) and the performance was awesome. It turned into another one of my highs for the trip.

After The Ride, we headed to Times Square. Two of Funny Guy's friends had recently been to NYC and had told him about two places he just HAD to visit: Toys R Us (with an actual Ferris wheel and huge automated T-Rex inside!) and M&M World. We hit Toys R Us first. It was pure insanity. More toys and people and levels than should be allowed in a store! The T-Rex was awesome though. When we were finally ready to leave, there were so many people on the sidewalk outside that it took a few minutes to push through the doors.  Then we found ourselves in a gigantic people jam (top left of the collage).

I thought I'd seen as many people as it was possible to see in one place when we were in Korea. I was wrong. New York City has more! It took almost half an hour to go one block. When we finally got to Times Square, where it opens a bit, My Man angelically offered to take the kids on to M&M World and let me stay and people watch (and eat since I hadn't eaten lunch earlier). Have I mentioned yet that he is my hero?  It was awesome. Times Square is a very interesting place and I enjoyed the time immensely. (And for all my LDS friends and family, notice anything in the main picture above?)

Our train home wasn't scheduled to leave until after 11pm, so next we headed to a restaurant famous for its gluten-free hamburger buns and chicken tenders where we warmed up and ate slowly, thawing and reveling in the food (it was a very good burger place called "Schnippers"--Funny Guy said, "We really need to find out if they have this restaurant in OUR country!"). I guess I was too busy eating and enjoying the delicious warmth and comfort of sitting down, because I didn't think to grab a picture. The sweet potato fries with maple sauce were SO good. Mmmmm . . .

Still, we had several hours before our train left and it was dark and cold. On our bus tour, we'd learned about a famous old vaudeville theater that had been transformed into a movie theater. To make the renovation work, they actually lifted the old theater off its original foundation and moved it down the street half a block to where it sits today as the AMC Empire.


(Picture compliments of cinematreasures.org)

We decided to go watch The Penguins of Madagascar. It wasn't Broadway, but the history of the building almost made up for it. The interior was a wonderful mishmash of old and modern. And the fact that our theater was in the very top of the building (several very tall escalator rides up) made it even cooler. And it was warm. And we got to sit in nice, cushy, reclining chairs without any more walking. And did I mention, it was warm.

(Picture compliments of cinematreasures.org)

After the show, we headed back to Penn Station where we said good-bye to the big city. It wasn't a long trip, but we definitely fit a lot in and had a great time. Funny Guy was asleep the moment he got to the waiting room chairs and slept all the way home.

The rest of us caught little catnaps along the way but were pretty tired when we finally fell into bed after 3am the next morning to dream about bright lights and billboards and skyscrapers.

PS  Here's a little public service announcement. When I first started researching our trip, I about had a heart attack at the price of hotels in Manhattan! I figured I'd have to sell an organ or kid to make this trip happen. Then I heard about airbnb, a company that connects people who have a place to rent with tourists looking for a good place to stay. We rented a comfortable 2 bedroom apartment for less than $150 a night 2 minutes from a bus stop that got us to Manhattan in less than 15 minutes. The views were incredible (see above), the neighborhood was nice, we had wifi, a full stocked kitchen (we only ate out once a day during our trip), and Fios with a million channels, not to mention a bed for everyone in our family of 5. It takes a little research, but I highly recommend checking it out for your next vacation. We definitely will! (Use this referral link and you'll get $25 off your first booking!)

Taking a Bite Out of the Big Apple, Part 1

Thanksgiving isn't really Thanksgiving when extended family is far away and most of our new friends have already moved along to new adventures, so we didn't feel too bad about throwing tradition out the window this year and packing our bags for a short adventure, finally crossing New York City off our bucket list. We slept in Thursday morning, had a big pumpkin pancake and bacon brunch, then set off. 

Union Station in DC was festive with a big Christmas tree and lots of travelers heading out to meet up with family for the weekend.

The kids were excited for their first real train ride, and in just over 3 hours (time flies when you're listening to a great book!), we were disembarking in Penn Station, New York City. We had to hurry a little to make it to the Rockefeller Center (about a mile) in time for our 4:15 appointment to head up to the Top of the Rock observation decks to see the city from up high. The place was packed, but the views were worth it. We even survived Darling Daughter's attempts to push us off the edge.

Pictures really don't do this experience justice. When we first got to the top, it was just before sunset. We could see Central Park, the Empire State Building, and so many more architectural feats. From 70 stories up, the views were immense. We thought it was awesome when we first got up there, but then the sun went down and the lights came on.

I could have just looked and looked and looked, but it was cold and everyone was getting tired, so at last we decided to head "home" for the night. Home in NYC was actually just across the river in West New York, New Jersey, a short bus ride from downtown Manhattan. We navigated the Port Authority bus terminal with some help from a wonderful elderly man who was himself heading home from Thanksgiving dinner with his son. When we got off at our stop, we were mesmerized by another enchanting view of New York City across the river.

After a deliciously lazy morning, the next day we set out for a full day of sightseeing. First on the list was a stop at the 9/11 Memorial and One World Trade Center. Frankly, I didn't expect to be as moved as I was. The memorial is haunting, two huge holes in the ground made into fountains representing the bases of the twin towers. The water flows down the edges and into the hole creating a terribly blatant symbol for the history of the site.

Emotion hit me hard as I stared into the nothing that used to be so much and thought of all the sadness and loss and hate and change that has come into our world since and because of that day.

It felt like such an enormous waste, such a deep and aching regret. I thought our pictures from the memorial were so telling, with our kids smiling and oblivious while My Man and I could not muster even an attempt at smiles.

The new One World Trade Center is absolutely beautiful and stands in sharp contrast to the memorial, a shining beacon of hope and promise for a future when our world can be more at peace.

As we were heading up the block to stop in at a fast food place for lunch, I spied an ad for gluten-free pizza at a crowded pizzeria. Everyone knows you just have to eat pizza in New York City, so we stopped in. At the end of our trip, when we were reviewing our highs and lows for the whole thing, Funny Guy still remembered the name of this place (though it escapes me now) and said it was his favorite part of the whole trip.

I indulged in a regular piece of pizza myself so all our celiacs could enjoy the GF pizza, and I had to try very hard not to moan and sigh and carry on about how incredibly, wonderfully, perfectly delicious it was (didn't want to rub it in--as good as theirs was, I'm sure it didn't come close to my piece of perfection). I can now attest, New York City pizza is actually the best I've ever had.

After lunch, we walked over to the financial district to see the famous Charging Bull statue, the New York Stock Exchange, Trinity Church, Wall Street, and Federal Hall where George Washington had the first U.S. Presidential inauguration ceremony. 

Near the statue of George Washington, there was a group protesting the recent Ferguson verdict, shouting "The people, united, can never be defeated!" It was completely orderly and well organized and frankly made me proud to be American: in one of the places where it all began, people still have a voice and even though our country isn't perfect, we are trying.

From there we walked up to Chinatown, stopping part way to let Funny Guy play at a cool city park we passed. Originally, I'd had "Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge" on the morning's agenda, but no one really seemed very interested so I canceled it and opted for the leisurely morning instead. But as we were walking up to Chinatown, we walked right past the Brooklyn Bridge. Darling Daughter wanted to walk across and I still did too, but the boys weren't interested, so we decided to split up.

As we started walking up the bridge, the sun came out and it warmed a bit and the skyline sparkled. It was beautiful. I absolutely loved every minute of that special walk with Darling Daughter and it turned out to be one of my "highs" of the whole trip!

Unfortunately, when we split up, I accidentally kept the Chinatown walking tour guide I'd printed out. Whether it was because of that or because most of the cool stuff was closed for the winter, the boys were not impressed with what they did see of Chinatown and by the time we met back up with them about an hour later, they were more than ready to leave. So, we didn't really end up seeing Chinatown (maybe after three years in Korea, it's just not as cool anyway?), but as we were walking to meet up with the boys, we did get to see the Supreme Court building. And while they were waiting for us, Funny Guy got to play at the park, so at least he was happy--in fact he was so happy, he wanted to stay there the rest of the day and was desperately unhappy when it was time to leave.

Each time we headed to a new place in Manhattan, we debated whether to walk or take the metro or grab a taxi. The distances were just far enough to be a long walk (especially at a seriously slow six-year-old's pace) but not quite long enough to justify the expense and hassle of the metro. We opted for a taxi, but then there never seemed to be any available when/where we needed them. We ended up walking a lot. The kids were really good sports. By the time we walked from Chinatown back down to the southern tip of Manhattan to catch the Staton Island ferry, however, Funny Guy thought he was dying. Seriously. Darling Daughter was right there with him. Honestly, we were all pretty tired. But we got there just in time to catch the next ferry so we walked right on and found good seats below deck (the outer decks were closed for the season).

The ferry was great! We went right past Lady Liberty and drank in fantastic views of the NYC skyline. It was incredible imagining what that sight would have meant for tired immigrants who had spent weeks at sea, so filled with hope at the new opportunities they'd find here. Funny Guy and I had just read a book about how the statue was made and he had fun recounting the story to My Man. Amazingly, no one in the United States really wanted the gift, but France was insistent and finally talked us into finding a place for it and building the pedestal. Funny Guy's favorite part was the fact that the statue wasn't ready for our centennial celebration as originally intended, so France just sent over the torch, which was displayed for years before the rest of the statue was finally finished.

On the return trip, the sun had just set, and as we were heading back into port, the view of the city skyline at dusk took my breath away and I almost thought it was a better view than the pricey observation deck at Top of the Rock! Sorry, no pictures. The ferry windows were dirty and with the low light, nothing turned out. Take my word for it though, it was break-taking!

Just a bit more walking took us to our water taxi station and we boarded a new ferry to take us back to Jersey (it made me laugh when this was the second highlight of Funny Guy's trip, second after the pizza). That night we pigged out on icecream and watched movies in our apartment, taking a well-deserved break from sight-seeing. We only had one day left in NYC, but we had lots left to see. More about that in Part 2!

PS  Here's a little public service announcement. When I first started researching our trip, I about had a heart attack at the price of hotels in Manhattan! I figured I'd have to sell an organ or kid to make this trip happen. Then I heard about airbnb, a company that connects people who have a place to rent with tourists looking for a good place to stay. We rented a comfortable 2 bedroom apartment for less than $150 a night 2 minutes from a bus stop that got us to Manhattan in less than 15 minutes. The views were incredible (see above), the neighborhood was nice, we had wifi, a full stocked kitchen (we only ate out once a day during our trip), and Fios with a million channels, not to mention a bed for everyone in our family of 5. It takes a little research, but I highly recommend checking it out for your next vacation. We definitely will! (Use this referral link and you'll get $25 off your first booking!)