Our Yankee Vacation: Part 4

This is the final installment of our Yankee Vacation. Yippee!

The morning after our Philly visit we left for New York City. This was a destination we were all particularly excited about. This is a city that Jeremy has had no desire to go to so I never expected him to decide to vacation there, especially when we could get a nice quiet cabin in Oklahoma like this one. Mark & Melissa had live in Maryland for almost 2 years & wanted to go but it's not very feasible with 3 kids. But add 2 more adults & that's more hands to hold little hands & more eyes to watch the kids. And I was excited because, after all, it was New York City!

I vaguely remember being in the city when I was maybe 4 or 5. It was one of those connecting flights either going to or coming from Italy (while my dad was in the army). I remember tall buildings & it was very loud & us getting in a cab, which I've been told was a very terrifying experience for my parents.

So with this visit our plan was to go to the Navy Lodge on Staten Island & check in, eat lunch, & then go visit the city. We wanted to see the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Times Square, the Empire State Building, & FAO Swartz. We also wanted to get a real New York style pizza & had Chinese food, because we hear that's good there, too.

The drive to the city was quick; only an hour & a half from Philly. We drove through some of New Jersey & learned that not all of NJ is dumpy. There were pretty farmlands.

Heading to Staten Island was so exciting because we could see the NYC skyline. It wouldn't be long till we were in there!

We checked into our room (decided to share one room to split costs) & ordered our Chinese food because we were very hungry. And it was very good Chinese! I had chicken lo mien with fried rice & an egg roll. And it was also only 5 bucks!

We then started getting everyone bundled up. Jeremy, Mark, & all 3 kids put their pajama pants on under their jeans for extra warmth. We also put on our warmest socks & pulled out scarves, hats, & gloves. But we also tried to make sure to wear "nicer" sweaters because, after all, it's New York City. We wanna look like we belong there.

Then we were off. We crossed a bridge that I can't remember the name of. There were 2 levels & we were on the bottom level, which was exciting to the kids. First made it into Brooklyn. It was about what we expected, kind of a dump. On the way we could finally see Lady Liberty. She's a lot smaller than we thought. She was real far away & I couldn't zoom my camera in & also keep it steady enough to get a decent picture of her. But I thought, "That's ok. I'll get a better shot later".

We went through a long underwater tunnel into Manhattan. We wondered what it must be like to be in traffic in there. I tried to not let claustrophobia take over.

Once we came into Manhattan we passed a big construction site & realized that was Ground Zero! It really just looked like any other construction site.

We had our TomTom with us, who we've named Lori after the voice that we chose for her & she was leading us to Times Square. We hoped to get close enough & find a place to park & then start walking.

Then it all just got very very bad. We hit traffic on the west side of Manhattan going north. But this was no ordinary traffic. People were cutting off anyone they could to get a few feet ahead of another. We later learned that the street ahead was closed off & we were being directed to turn right into the city. We wonder now if it has to do with the bombing in Times Square just a few days earlier.

The next 5 hours was spent in the van. We never got out of the van. At one point we found a parking garage that we were willing to pay the $30 for. We drove all the way up to the 7th level & found nothing. As we tried to leave the attendant there tried to convince us to leave the van with him & he'd find a place. Um, no! Didn't you just hear us say there were no parking spaces?

We also found a spot on the street & Mark tried to parallel park but taxi cabs stayed right up behind him giving him no room to maneuver in so we left it behind. Jerks!

So what did we see? Well, we saw the Empire State Building the most because it's so easy to spot, Penn Station, the NY Nicks stadium, Madison Square Garden, Macy's, & the Brooklyn Bridge. Oh, and we also saw the building where the "Ghostbusters" were! That was exciting!

The way people drove was like a foreign country where there are no rules & people do whatever they want. Just the rudest bunch of people ever! People crossing the street when they shouldn't & yelling & cussing at you because you try to drive when your light is green. The honking of car horns is something I always saw on TV & movies & it's totally how it is there. Just honking for no good reason. If I honk my horn, it's to get someone's attention ahead of me that's oblivious of the green light or at someone who nearly hits me when cutting me off. But there was a lady in the same line of cars as us waiting at a light (probably 12 cars ahead of her) & she's laying on her horn! Why?! The light is red. That means stop!

We really just saw the biggest display of selfishness & saw the verse that says of the people doing "what was right in their own eyes" come to life.

I am not a city girl. I like having Dallas & Ft. Worth in close proximity but I don't need them. And those cities are dinky compared to NYC. I came into the city so excited & ready to be a little tourist & left disappointed & ticked. I had this place built up in my head & was completely let down. Sure, it's not a place to drive in & should have walked. But we had kids with us & couldn't do that to them. So it's just not a family-friendly city. I want a big family so NYC is just not for me.

We got back to our room at close to 7:00 & asked to check out. We were so fed up with the whole area & just wanted to get away. Plus, it would have been a 5 hour drive back home on a Monday morning! Not fun. So we left, having already paid. We only used the room to eat Chinese food, go to the bathroom & change clothes.

We then headed back to Philly where Tim & Allyson were gracious enough to allow us to stay with them again. And to make us feel better we got philly cheesesteaks again. Allyson even made some great Georgia sweet tea again for us & nearly cried because I was so tired & emotional. Then we just sat around & talked & watched videos on youtube.

The next morning we left to go back to Maryland.

And then the following morning we flew back home to Texas. After being in a different part of the country like that we were so happy to be home.

Despite our NYC experience, we still had a good time on vacation & are so glad so had the opportunity to go.