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!)