29 Hours in New York

We finally took the kids to NYC. It was fun.

We planned the visit on the backend of a trip to New Jersey, so our first adventure was driving into the city. Traffic was light on President's Day, and our packed car (Tita and Uncle Bernard joined us for the trip) made it into lower Manhattan by 10 a.m.

Our first stop was the 9/11 Memorial, the two giant rectangular, reflecting pools that now sit at Ground Zero. It was odd visiting it with the kids, all of whom were, obviously, born well after the events memorialized there. Andres has studied the attacks in school and knew a little bit about what happened. Celia didn't know much about it, so Natalia gave her the broad brushstrokes. We did not go into any detail for Lucia for fear of traumatizing her. (This is the same girl who doesn't want to go anywhere near the White House this summer because she is afraid Donald Trump will get her.)

We also met up with Natalia's Uncle Mingo, our tour guide for the day. He lives in Jersey City and was eager to show us all the sights and sounds of lower Manhattan. Mingo led us through the all-new Oculus for a coffee/bathroom break, and then it was time for the Freedom Tower, which rises just steps from where the old Twin Towers used to be.

Drinking hot chocolate and watching pigeons in NYC.

So this skyscraper is really, really tall. It is now the tallest building in New York, and according to my children, it is also the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. I'm not sure where they picked up this knowledge but it sounds about right.

We took an elevator all the way to the top, where there is an observation deck that looks out over the entire city, in all directions. It's pretty impressive. But being that high up in the air is also a bit disconcerting, because the floor beneath your feet seems to be moving. Natalia says she didn't notice anything...but I don't believe it. For the first 20 minutes we were up there I felt like we were swaying back and forth.

From the top of the Freedom Tower.

Celia and Andres enjoyed putting their faces to the windows and looking out at the great beyond. Celia examined all the rooftop gardens, basketball courts, and decks that NYC had to offer. Andres was interested in figuring out where Times Square was, so we tried to find that. (It was about 35 blocks north, its telltale video boards somewhat obscured by other buildings.) He was also strangely interested in finding Long Island. Why, I have no idea...maybe one of his favorite YouTubers lives there.

For her part, Lucia didn't seem to enjoy the view. She was cranky about something. Thankfully, we had rented a tablet that showed where different landmarks were along the horizon, so she just played with that for a bit, swiping her finger all around the screen. It was not the best use of technology. Or maybe it was.

We stayed for a while, visited the gift shop (sky-high prices, too), and then returned to street level where my legs finally stopped shaking. A pizza lunch followed, and then it was time to drive over to Times Square, park the car, and check into our hotel. We also said goodbye to Tita, Uncle Bernard, and Mingo, who all headed back home.

In front of the Freedom Tower with Uncle Mingo.

Along the Hudson River, with the Statue of Liberty in the (way) background.

It had been a long day already and, because we seldom travel, exploring the hotel room was as exciting for the kids as visiting the Freedom Tower had been. So we took a couple hours and just rested there. We watched the Olympics; we ate snacks. We also planned out what we wanted to do that night. A walk through Times Square and some shopping seemed fun.

When we headed out again, I was curious about the kids' reaction to Times Square. It was a total sensory overload for me, but they didn't seem too perplexed by it. Maybe all those hours in front of iPads had desensitized them to a continual barrage of video stimuli. Of all the sights and sounds that Times Square had to offer, they were most interested by the Sesame Street, storm trooper, and Statue of Liberty characters (actors?) who, thankfully, are now confined to a few well-demarcated rectangles in the middle of the square. We tried not to attract their attention.

We left Times Square proper and shopped at the M&M Store (where we bought...M&Ms), walked to Rockefeller Center, shopped at the Lego store (where we got some small sets, including a mini Statue of Liberty), and then ended up at the NBA store (where we found Andres a Kyrie Irving all-star jersey). We also happened to see a small War on Drugs poster!

It was getting late--6:30, maybe?--and Lucia began to sour on all the walking, so we decided to try to find a place to eat. Unfortunately everyone else had the same idea, too. We tried one Italian place that was supposed to be good (and kid-friendly)...booked, one hour wait. Same deal at the Hard Rock Cafe. Eventually we found this place, ordered take-out Italian (spaghetti and meatballs for the kids, and paninis for Natalia and me), had a nice conversation with an older Greek guy who seemed to own the place (and who also gave me a free cup of coffee), and then returned to our hotel for a relaxing, late dinner. And surprise--the guy who I had chatted up also gave us some cannolis for dessert, which was fantastic for me, because I'm the only one in the family who eats cannolis.

A night of restful sleep followed.

On Tuesday we woke up, packed, dropped our bags and jackets off at the car--the forecast said that it would be a balmy day, even though it was February--and walked a few blocks to the USS Intrepid museum, where we again met Uncle Mingo. Leaving the jackets in the car ended up being a bad idea, as the sun didn't really come out until noon, and I had to forfeit my vest to Andres so that he would stop pointing out how poorly thought-out our decision had been.

Andres, sporting my hat and vest, in front of the Intrepid.

The Intrepid is an old aircraft carrier, and it made for a really interesting field trip. We saw old soldier bunks, tiny officer quarters, and many, many airplanes. We learned about how they transported weapons (very carefully), how they made room for so many planes (folding wings), and how the planes actually took off and landed. At this point, Andres told the guide that his grandfather was currently working on the arresting system for the new USS Gerald Ford, which garnered a round of applause.

Lucia pilots a Coast Guard helicopter.

On the flight deck.

As an added bonus, the Intrepid even has room for a Space Shuttle exhibit--complete with the Enterprise, the first shuttle prototype. That was really cool to see, though I think it had less relevance for the kids, who don't really grasp how much of a cultural marker the Space Shuttle was in the 1980s and 1990s.

The skies cleared just as we were leaving, and all of a sudden it was a glorious, 50 degree day in February. We walked back towards the car, enjoying the sun and chatting with Mingo about life in/near New York City. After a lunch of pizza and burgers it was time to go.

Oh wait--not quite yet. Andres and Celia had both bought souvenirs at the Intrepid, but Lucia had not, so according to the Doctrine of Fairness, we had to stop at a souvenir place to get her something. But this was not a simple task, because there is a lesser known application of the Doctrine of Fairness that states that all parties have to be notified, well in advance, about their range of choices should they decline to purchase a souvenir at Place X--and apparently, I had not followed this application of the Doctrine, so while Lucia got a little NYC snow globe, we also bought a little Freedom Tower/Statue of Liberty statue for "the whole family." Tears may have been involved at various points during this discussion. It also took the people who rang us up an ungodly amount of time to wrap up the mini-statue, which did not help the situation. And then, finally, it was time to leave New York.

Times Square!

We were there for a total of 29 hours. It was a whirlwind. But the kids enjoyed it, and I think they acquitted themselves well enough that next time we go we'll try to stay longer.