Part 2 - 7 Themed Days In NYC

This is a journal from the second half of our Summer 2007 vacation...Part 1: Quebec, Part 2: New York City

July 8, 2007

Today we headed back to Vermont for another pit stop before taking the train to New York City. We were making great time…until we hit the U.S./Canadian border. Terrorism impacts us directly…more than TWO HOURS later, we drove away from the checkpoint, a bit disgruntled (but very thankful for purchasing Prozak!). After tea and decadent butter bars in the parlor of our Vermont home - The Lang House - we went in search of a good eats in downtown Burlington, a small pedestrian-only district right up the street. The political leaning of Vermont is about as subtle as San Francisco…we were surrounded by all varieties of old and young people stuck in the 1960’s. We had a fantastic dinner at Smoke Jack’s…starting with a variety of local cheeses that rivaled France, fresh mussels for me, a manly hamburger made from local beef for Lance, and homemade macaroni and cheese for the kids.

July 9, 2007

We doled out "Prozak" (Nintendo DS!) in alternating one hour increments to the kids as we sat on an Amtrak train bound for New York City - a nine hour journey. We emerged from Penn Station at 7 p.m. and were hit by New York’s famous summer heat and humidity. Visions of whining and complaining during my many planned explorations flitted before my eyes as we headed for our hotel.

The Bedford Hotel on E. 40th is in the heart of Manhattan and was priced incredibly considering where we were (I think we paid $235/night!). Our cab stopped in front of an old brownstone building that epitomized New York City. The room had not one frill, but - most importantly - had room for us to breathe with one bedroom, TWO fold-out couches, TWO televisions, and a tiny (barely functional) kitchenette. Our view out the back window…the Empire State Building!

Dinner at one of the top-rated themed restaurant was a reward to the kids for their good behavior on the train (we parents had to settle for the reward of peace for the past 10 hours instead of a gourmet meal). Mars 2112 was definitely a journey…after a nauseating spaceship “ride” to the red planet, where I almost lost my appetite, we were let off into a crazy mini-theme-park. The floors and walls were red faux stone, various aliens stopped by to greet us at our table, and intergalactic screens projected alien advertisements to all the patrons. Lance and I were prepared for a culinary disaster, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. We couldn’t avoid the stop at the arcade on the way out… fortunately everyone was tired and ready to go home after a couple of games.

July 10, 2007
Being the person that I am, I felt the need to theme each day of our visit to this potentially over-whelming city. The theme for today was “Welcome to New York”, which included a visit to Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, and the Brooklyn Bridge. We started sweating the minute we walked out the door of the hotel and I had serious concerns about our day’s plans, which were to include a walk on the bridge, plus an estimated two hour wait in line for the ferry to the islands. Our short visit to the bridge was dampened by the kids’ moans. When I made our reservations to see the statue for 1:45 p.m., I meant well…I felt a leisurely morning was going to energize us for the day. What it appeared to mean was that we were going to cook in the hot afternoon sun. Boy, did I get lucky again…we only waited for 45 minutes, half in the shade and the other half in an air conditioned security tent. We learned new things about "Lady Liberty"…it took one year for the U.S. to build the base and she waited in storage the entire time! We looked up ship manifestos for our relatives in the Ellis Island database and found both Wozniewski and Maslach!

After bringing our body temperatures down in our hotel room for a couple of hours, we headed out for a culinary adventure more to the adult’s liking. We went to Woo Chon, a Korean restaurant specializing in barbecue. We took it as a very good sign that we were the only non-Asians in the place…the owner was so intrigued by our presence, she kept stopping by to see how we were doing and finally asked how we found her (we both have Fodor’s to thank!). Numerous bowls of strange appetizers were brought to our table - some delicious, some a bit disturbing (this was authentic Korean, after all). The barbecue meat, which was marinated in a secret Korean sauce, was grilled right in the middle of our table. We all love it!

July 11, 2007
Today was a tad cooler, but just as humid so it didn’t make much of a difference to our comfort level. The kids were particularly excited about today’s theme - “Ethnic Neighborhoods”. We started in China Town on a search for the bizarre markets our travel book sent us in search of…grocery stores or stands with highly unusual & “fragrant” food (living, dead or desiccated), herb shops selling all varieties of strange things including many varieties of twisted ginseng roots, an Asian bakery (Lance & I ate a very gooey Coconut Rice bun), and the location of the infamous “Egg Cake Lady” (presumably retired as her spot is now vacant). I bought a pound of Jasmine tea in an amazing tea shop (I have not had good tea since leaving home and I am beginning to go into withdrawals). The kids were quietly enthralled and particularly enjoyed the neighborhood aroma (not!).

We stumbled onto the pizza restaurant that Lance had picked for dinner right at lunch time. Thank goodness we’re flexible. It turns out Lombardi’s in Little Italy is the first establishment to sell pizza in the U.S, the first slice being sold in 1905. And what pizza it is…all but Sophie determined it was the BEST pizza ever eaten (she doesn't count...she still doesn't eat sandwiches because the bread touches the meat!). It was definitely the sauce and the crust…and being cooked in the original coal oven probably didn’t hurt.

There isn’t much of Little Italy left as China Town is bursting past its borders, so we quickly made our way to the Jewish Quarter to find a sweet treasure and a special museum. The candy selection at Economy Candy is just as Fodor’s claimed…“mind boggling”. We all chose treats - even Lance. The Tenement Museum was not your typical museum. After meeting at a small museum bookstore, we were led by our tour guide across the street to an old tenement that is in almost completely authentic condition. In the next hour, we learned about the lives of two struggling immigrant families - one from Poland, one from Lithuania - that actually lived in two of the apartments. How these families lived - with 6-14 people crammed in three TINY rooms with no toilets, no running water, no heat, and sweltering heat in the summer months - was absolutely insane. The Lower East Side was the location of the city’s garment district, where 70% of the nation’s women’s clothing and 60% of men’s clothing was made, so many of the families had sweat shops in their homes with an additional 3-4 people sewing or ironing amongst the family, increasing the heat even more. All of us really felt their pain as we sweltered in the non-air-conditioned tenement…at one point toward the end of the tour, I glanced at Lance and saw that he appeared to be melting (I now know what he will look like in 30 years!). This is a must see attraction in New York as you truly feel like you are thrown back in time.

Just as we made it to our room for a rest, the skies opened up and dumped more humidity on us. Dinner tonight was in our room…gourmet treats from the Grand Central Station Market. One of my favorite things about New York is that it has somehow managed to maintain European food quality standards…a major miracle for the U.S...and they still understand the concept of specialties.

July 12, 2007
The theme of the day is “Sports & Leisure” - with more emphasis on leisure than sports! I tried to get tickets to a Yankee’s game, but I have a feeling any New Yorker hearing this would howl with laughter. All home games were completely sold out, most likely months ago to season ticket holders. Instead, we went on a Central Park bike tour. It was fabulous! We saw all of the park’s key areas… the Model Boat Pond, Shakespeare’s Garden & Belvedere Castle, Strawberry Fields, The Lake, the Great Lawn, and the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir. All of us loved Shakespeare’s Garden and the castle best as it was lush with landscaping and had a stunning view over a bright green pond (complete with turtles) and the Great Lawn (speckled with sunbathers).

After lunch, my original plan was to head for a baseball card store (mostly for Spencer’s benefit). However, he had leisure on the brain as did everyone else, so we opted to have a relaxing afternoon reading and napping at the hotel. We also opted out of dinner at Mickey Mantle’s after passing by and finding that it was not much different than Trophy’s in San Diego. Instead, Lance & I went downstairs to Domenico’s, sent the kid’s dinner up to the room, and enjoyed some Italian cuisine sans bickering.

July 13, 2007
Today was “Shopping Day”. Each of us picked a store - Spencer waffled between the Pokemon Center and Midtown Comics, Sophie chose Shoofly (a highly rated kids’ shoe store), I chose Serendipity (per Oprah’s recommendation!), and Lance sort of chose Maxilla & Mandibles (per my insistence as he’d rather not choose anything resembling a store). Even the best laid plans don’t always work out... although housing a great selection of comics, Midtown Comics had a minute baseball card selection so Spencer was done in mere minutes, the Shoofly store was no longer open (we’ll head to their main store when we visit Ground Zero), and we got duped into entering the Bloomingdales zoo in search of girl clothes. Maxilla & Mandible’s was a quirky store that was definitely worth the visit. This tiny store was full of dead bugs, shells, fossils, animal bones & skulls (including a red squirrel penis bone), and many other strange biological wonders. I bought some very cool shells and a sand dollar fossil for our new home by the beach.
The greatest success of the day was drinking Frozen Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate at Serendipity. Were I a poet, I could give credit to this delectable dessert, but alas I am just a traveler with a major sweet tooth. I’ll just have to stick with that overused cliché…it was Heaven on Earth, well worth the 45 minute wait. Thank you, Oprah Winfrey! The icing on the chocolate was seeing Abigail Breslin (the star of Little Miss Sunshine) and her big brother, Spencer (Cat in the Hat, The Santa Clause, and Raising Helen) slurping two tables away. I tried my hand at being paparazzi, but found I am just not obnoxious enough.

July 14, 2007
I nailed the theme today - it was “Bizarre & Funny” Day, pretty similar to our daily family theme! Our crazy day began on the long subway ride to Coney Island. It was here that the kids gained a greater appreciation for their parents after sitting next to our antithesis, Brooklyn-style. Whenever I’m feeling like a crappy parent, I’ll just go back to this moment and nominate myself for the Parent of the Year award! Coney Island was definitely a throw-back to the early part of this century, although most definitely peppered with updated material - a jam-packed beach peppered with vibrantly colored umbrellas on one side, a weathered wooden boardwalk running down the middle, a solid row of booths plastered with tacky signs on the other side, and hard core carnies in all directions. Spencer and Lance made a beeline for The Cyclone, which debuted in 1927 as the highest and fastest rollercoaster - and it’s still pretty harrowing. Sophie has become quite disgruntled about height limitations on this trip as once again she had to stand on the sidelines with her motion-challenged mom. A few more carnie rides, then it was off to the Coney Island Side Show (AKA…”The Freak Show”). The show began on the sidewalk with the announcer previewing some of the stars of the show to passersby…Danny Vomit the Human Blockhead, Chewy the Wolf Man, and Serpentina. What a deal this show was…for $4 each the four of us were freaked out for the next 45 minutes as performers shoved nails and drills up their nose, swallowed fire, juggled chainsaws, and electrocuted themselves, all for our demented entertainment. And the best thing…Danny Vomit spoke directly to Spencer warning him against the very real dangers of going to college and majoring in Liberal Arts (“Pick a REAL major!”, he advised.) We gorged on funnel cakes and Nathan’s hot dogs while watching some of the unpaid “freaks” roaming the area, then headed back to Manhattan for more weirdness.

Dinner was at another theme restaurant, this one ghoulish and creepy…Jekyll & Hyde. Four floors were done up in late-Victorian horror decor, complete with talking gargoyles, mutilated bodies, etc., who would hold an actual conversation with those “lucky” guests sitting nearest them. The food, which could have been quite frightening, was surprisingly decent.

Last stop was an improv comedy show - purported to be highly interactive and kid-friendly - just off Broadway at Chicago City Limits. My hopes were that this show would rise to New York comic standards and would surpass the quality of a similar show in San Diego, but you just never know. They rose! The four comedians were full of talent and other than one bong-related scene, blocked from the kids’ view by one big comedic "bum", it was truly clean and very funny. The best scene - by far - was the Jeopardy game with the nerdy sports announcer, bizarre grave digger, and Asian dry cleaner contestants answering the audience’s questions.

So far, today was everyone’s favorite day…what does that say about our family???

July 15, 2007
“Movie Stars & Entertainment” is the theme today. We started at Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum. Shell shocked by the ticket prices ($29/adult), we almost didn’t go in…but we’re glad we did. We were all stunned that we were allowed to walk amongst the “people”… you had to really pay attention to who was real and who was wax! As you peered closely at freckles, moles or nose hairs, you couldn’t help but feel the gaze of the person and begin to feel a little awkward and embarrassed…I found myself almost apologizing on several occasions. We each got photos of our favorites, which would fool most anyone into thinking we hit the celebrity jackpot in New York City.

We opted out of the Museum of Television & Radio as much as Lance and I would have enjoyed watching a few TV. shows we watched as kids (remember Land of the Lost or H.R. Puffinstuff???), but it was just hard to fathom paying more money just for the kids to vegetate in front of a television or beg us to leave. Instead, we decided to find Island Burgers, recommended by our travel book, for a hamburger and milkshake before more relaxing in our room. It was worth the four block walk…more than a quarter pound of beef (cooked medium!) and a coke float in a quaint little diner.

The grand finale of our day - and trip - was a creative odyssey out of this world, into the world of “blue” entertainment. Spencer came up with the best word to describe The Blue Man Group show…“Random!”. And I have to add... “Hysterical!”. Part of the appeal of this show was not knowing what to expect, so I’m not going to say much other than it ranked as one of the top three favorite activities of the entire trip for all four of us.

July 16, 2007
Today was a day for “Culture” and, because it is so huge, we dedicated the entire day to the Museum of Natural History. Unfortunately, we had to do the responsible parent thing and Lance had to take Spencer back to the room while Sophie and I spent the next few hours wandering around. I was pretty much overwhelmed by this place…you could have spent two hours in just one single room and they were more rooms than I could count. I went into “tharn” mode and couldn’t pick which ones to read and which ones to pass by. I think the best way to see the museum as a tourist would be to hire your own private tour guide who could highlight each exhibit and enable you to really connect with the place in 3-4 hours - or do some major research and planning beforehand and plot out a course.

On our last night in the city, we sought out another pizza place - Angelo’s Pizza - also purported to be one of New York’s best. It was good, but not as good as Lombardi’s. Lombardi’s is our lunchtime destination tomorrow as none of us can bear the thought of leaving without eating there again! Good bye, Lombardi’s…I will miss you and think of you often…

July 18, 2007

Before we headed back to the West Coast, we stopped to pay our respects at Ground Zero. I let Lance talk me out of a guided tour led by a person directly impacted by the tragedy. Based on the warnings, he was just a bit worried about the effect on Sophie, being only 9 years old. I do regret not doing this and will someday go back to experience it firsthand. Seeing the devastation up close was surreal and the horror of September 11, 2001, was even more unimaginable.

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