The Journey Begins

For the past two years, I have been consumed by all things nursing school. Since it had gotten to the point where my daughters would look at me strangely and ask Kenny, "Who is that?" anytime I surfaced in our home, I thought it would be a good idea to orchestrate some quality time. While the "Daddy" version of that is eating out of cans, sleeping in the woods, and peeing on the ground, the "Mommy" version is much more civilized and involves good food, culture, and quite possibly peeing on the ground. Yes, we decided to take our first bite out of The Big Apple.

With eager faces and big smiles, we left our house around 8:30am. Our darling Kenny dropped us off at the metro and as we gathered our luggage and turned to say goodbye, all we could see was back of his car, all we could hear was the sound of his tires peeling out of the Kiss n' Ride area. Poor man was too heartbroken to properly see us off.

Union Station was an adventure in and of itself:

The train was just okay until it was discovered that CHEESE PLATES could be purchased:

Once we arrived at our hotel, the girls' excitement caused them to go Linda Blair on me, minus the green vomit:

Eliza found her home at Times Square, which was both endearing and very, very frightening:

These lovely plush animals offered (forced) us to pose with them:

When I offered them what I thought was a generous tip, I was informed that their children could not go to summer camp unless I gave them more. I decided sending my own kids was generous enough and we were on our way.

One piggy-back ride (and mile) later, we were at the 42nd street Pier ready for our date with Lady Liberty:

I tried to impart meaning and gravity to our experience. "Girls, your great-grandfather took this very journey when he came to America. His name is on that wall over there on Ellis Island!"  All I received in return were blank stares and shrugging shoulders. Another time.

 

The weather could not have been more perfect and even though the girls were exhausted and mumbled something about getting a cab back to the hotel, the energy of the city carried all of us home another mile and change.  We stopped by the Stage Door Deli for some dinner and Eliza decided to give blintzes a try.  Like a good Jew, she ate them right up.

Exhausted but happy, we took turns in the shower and nuzzled up with our favorite devices. Traveling with big kids and small tablets makes a trip like this possible. So far, so good. So very good.