Farewell to the Big Apple!

I have been remiss in blogging but with good reason but I won't get into that now. We had a great last day in the city. We picked up Christa's NYC BFF Maddie and went out for a big day on the town. They wanted to go to Ripley's Believe or Not in Times Square--their favorite thing was a tie between the black hole and the shrunken heads. They weren't too sure about sitting next to this cannibal.

After we got a quick bite to eat at Pax, we headed down to Pier 40 to do flying trapeze at the NY School of Trapeze. Christa LOVES this place. It was awesome and the girls did great but I was a wimp. She has taken classes with them before in NY and LA so she is a little expert. Her buddy was a first timer, but was fearless.

After trapeze, we went out to Ellen's Stardust Diner. I highly suggest going there if you want Broadway caliber singers to rock out while you are eating dinner. Check it out at http://www.ellensstardustdiner.com/

Christa had a sleepover while I packed up the apartment. I picked her up in the morning so she could help me walk all the stuff from our apt to the car parked 2 blocks away. It was not easy moving out that was for sure. When you say we have to make 2 or 3 trips, it is a lot different when the car is not parked nearby. We headed out over the Verrazano Bridge to Staten Island and onto Pennslyvania to heave lunch with family. It seemed that everything was going smoothly until we hit Virginia. Apparently bad storms hit this area last night and much of the power was out. We didn't know if our hotel would have any power and no one could tell us one way or another. We spent the last 2 hours of the drive were occupied trying to find another room. There are no rooms left at all because of so many issues around the state but lucky for us our hotel had power and all was well. After living in our apt for the summer, we relish simple pleasures like a hot shower with great water pressure.

As far as our trip home goes--we hope tomorrow goes a bit easier and that we get home safe and sound soon.

Boston--The Sequel!

It's only day 2 and we have to leave--bummer! We were just getting acclimated and figuring things out! But we still had all of Sunday to make the most of our time here in the great city of Boston and wow, what a great city it is--so clean, friendly, uncrowded, and fun! New York has some serious competition for my #1 most favorite city ever and the kids too!

We got up pretty early, loaded the luggage in the car, and checked out which confused the kids because we weren't leaving yet. We headed to breakfast at a nearby Panera--I know I am crazy to go to Panera in this city filled with amazing restaurants but sometimes you just have to eat. We headed to the Whale Watch tour boat and got in line to board our vessel. We scored some awesome seats and enjoyed the view as headed out of Boston Harbor.

Unfortunately, not everyone was enjoying their voyage out to the whales. We had hit some pretty big swells and over 50% of the boat was sea sick so the captain decided to turn us around and head back in. "NO WHALES FOR YOU" he said. We were all really disappointed but deterimined to make the most of our day. We headed back to Quincy Market for a quick bite and then onto a Freedom Trail Walking Tour leaving from Boston Common with a costumed Colonial reenactor playing Barzillai Lew--so cool! Check out the real guy on wikipedia and don't judge me for using this source.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barzillai_Lew

We learned so much on this short journey--about 90 minutes. The kids were always at the front close to our guide asking and answering question after question making Mama so proud! Our guide was super--he took us to the Old State House--site of the Boston Massacre, lots of very old churches which acted as meeting places and even arsenals, the Park Church grave yard which is the final resting spot for 4 Signers, Paul Revere, and Ben Franklin's parents. We started the whole journey at Boston Common--the oldest park in the country which used to be the site of Puritan justice. We finished our trip at Freinul Hall--I know I am messing up the spelling but I am super tired. It was the place of many of America's greatest speeches and holds a great deal of history.

We ended our Journey to Boston with a visit to Cheers--the place where everyone knows your name for a quick bite before heading back to NYC.

Ryan navigated for me all the way home and took about 54 pictures of himself making funny faces--what a sweet guy! Christa fell asleep hugging her new Ukelele. No attached garages here so she had to wake up and roll her suitcase down the sidewalk to our apartment but she was a trooper. They both were great! We had a fun family adventure together to a wonderful city that is so clean, super friendly, so conscious of keeping its history alive, and just a lot of fun! We will be back but next time we will bring Tyler!

An adventure to New England!

On Friday afternoon, right after Christa was done with work, we hit the road. Just kidding, it was more like Friday night because she had a callback that took 2 hours so we didn't even leave Manhattan until about 7:25 pm. It was a 4 hour and 16 minute drive so I figured I could shave some time off but boy was I wrong. TRAFFIC! We got stuck getting out of the city and then finally gave into our hunger in the Bronx at a Popeye's Chicken. Desperate times call for desperate measures! We continued on our way only to find traffic in Connecticut, in Rhode Island, and you guessed it in Massachussets as well. How can there be traffic at 10 pm you ask?? I don't know and I just don't understand. Poor Ryan was my navigator and suffered under the tyranny of my moment by moment requests for directions and traffic updates on my phone. My GPS is broken--the husband was supposed to get me a new one but you know how these things go.

WE finally made it Boston but instead of helping me navigate to our hotel, Ryan was dropping pins on my map and Christa was playing her new ukelele. It appeared that I was on my own until out of nowhere Ryan saved the day and found the hotel. We made it--it was technically Saturday, but we did it! I happily pulled into the hotel's valet parking and didn't care that it cost $40 a day. I had promised myself and my CFO that I would find cheaper parking but it was past midnight and all bets were off. We checked in to our very nice hotel and went to sleep in our very cozy beds.

http://www.intercontinentalboston.com/

We woke up the next morning to the excitement of taking a gloriously hot, high pressured shower or bath. You see, our apt. in NYC leaves a great deal to be desired when it comes to plumbing--the water gets warm but never hot and the stream of water is more of a trickle than a shower. Tyler wondered what I had been doing to the kids in NYC that the most exciting thing about Boston was the shower in the hotel. Hehe! After our showers and baths we enjoyed room service--quite a treat and then we were on our way to explore the city of Boston! None of us had ever been so we were quite excited! We had to take a detour at Quincy Market to find some warm clothes as we didn't quite come prepared. The new jeans I bought still had the security code on them and I had no sweatshirt really. Quincy Market turned out to be a wonderful stop. It is filled with shops, street performers, history, and great food. It was only a few minutes from our hotel so we spent a good bit of time here.

After a stop at the Quincy Market, we hopped on the Freedom Trail and headed to the North End to find Paul Revere. He was one of the biographies Christa studied this year so he was a must see. We arrived in a wonderful part of town filled with cobblestone streets, a wonderful appreciation for history, and the aroma of many Italian eateries. We enjoyed a visit to the Revere home and learned so much about this man and his life. We also enjoyed the story telling of a Colonial reenactor who explained in fun detail about the Revolutionary period.

We had to leave the Revere home to head to Urban Adventure Tours to join our bike tour around Boston. It was a wonderful trip that took us to lots of fun places guided by 2 great young people who know a lot about their city--shout out to Craig! Ryan loved all the stories about MIT and hopes to go there some day. I think he is mostly intrigued by their pratical jokes like Smoots or Tetris but he said he is motivated to keep up his grades so whatever works! :-)

http://www.urbanadventours.com/

We knew it had to be getting close to the end of our journey because Christa started to complain about how tired she was and asked how much longer about 12,392 times. We made it back to the bike shop finally and then headed to the hotel for a moment of RnR. We went to the indoor pool and the steam room. Christa loved the ladies locker room--she is such a diva! Poor Ryan got yelled at by a grumpy older gentleman so he headed up the room while Christa finished pampering herself in the "spa". We got dried off and dressed for dinner and then headed to the T which is their name for their subway. We took the T over to Harvard Square. We found the subway to be quite nice, very clean, and cheaper than NYC--hmmmm!!! When we arrived out of the train station we found a barbershop quartet peforming some older tunes adjacent to a group of hippies smoking marijuana openly. This was not what I expected when I arrived at Harvard. It was quite a fun atmosphere and did not seem studious at all. We found a great place to eat, Christa and Ryan met some fellow musicians, they played some songs while in the alley way, stepped foot onto Harvard, found a UU Church, and then turned around and left Cambridge for Boston the same way we had came.

Stay tuned for more on our Boston Adventure!

NYC appeals to your senses!

Why is NYC such a loved city? As I walked through the throngs of people today I thought what brings them here. What makes everyone love NYC so much?? And then it occurred to me that NYC appeals to all your senses--all 7 of them but mostly just the main 5.

We will start with a human's visual sense--Times Square, Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, the new Freedom Tower, Broadway, the Brooklyn Bridge and so much more. These are iconic images of NYC that evoke powerful feelings just with their mere presence. And on a humorous note--visually I know I am in NY every day when the sun comes up around 5:15 am and wakes me up. It gets light here sooooo much earlier than in Atlanta. What is your favorite NYC site?

Human's next tendency is to their sense of hearing or audition. How does NYC appeal to this sense? In both positive and negative ways. When the car alarm goes off on the street every night in the middle of the night waking me from my slumber that might not be so positive but possibly the serenade of the homeless schizophrenic woman who sings outside our window every night is more enjoyable. I especially enjoyed listening (and watching) my kids perform in Central Park today which is how I feel about all the street performers in NYC--they bring joy to my day. This gentleman is taking his piano on wheels to 100 locations around NYC this summer.

Next, we have to go to our sense of taste aka gustation. When you are in NYC, you gotta eat and there are sooo many choices. Do you want sushi, Italian, a falafel, a dirty water dog, great BBQ, dimsum or just regular chinese food, italian ice, pizza, Alice's Tea Cup, chocolate at Max Brenners, cheesecake, burgers, salads, a great selection of fresh fruits on every corner, smoothies, fresh made juices, and so much more--I could go on and on and on! Where would you want to eat tonight?

And we all know what is closely related to taste.... yes, you guessed it--smell. The smells of NYC are mostly wonderful but sometimes frightening. I love how every night when we return to our apt the lady in the apt below us has cooked all day and the hallway smells delightful. Walking into any restaurant in Little Italy makes me salivate like Pavlov's dog. The smell of Max Brenner's chocolate restaurant makes it impossible not to order something sinful. How can you walk by a food truck and not stop? You can't--your nose just leads you there. There are some smells like urine that make you go hmmm.... where did that come from but overall I would say that the smell of NYC usually just makes me say YUM! Just try walking through the Chelsea Market and not ending up with a crepe or a cupcake! It is impossible!

The last of the main 5 senses is touch. Whether you are grasping the rail on the subway car as it races down the track or you are feeling the water on your feet as you play at one of the many and great playgrounds around the city. Maybe it is the feeling you get when you receive a free hug in Times Square or the sensation of pushing the pedals down on your bike as you head down the wonderful bike paths all around the city. It might be bumping into all those bodies packed into the subway train or holding hands with your kid as you make your way through a busy sidewalk--either way there is plenty of appeal of your sense of touch.

The last two human senses are closely related--kinestethic and vestibular which have to do with movement and balance. In a literal sense the city keeps you on the move which works both senses. In a more symbolic sense, I think NYC realigns my equilibrium. You remember what is important when you visit this city--you might find yourself more in balance with who you really are. In NYC, I have time to watch my children play at the playground and even join them. The city gives you an excuse to just have fun and be a little like a kid again.

Top 10

Totally behind on our blog so we are going to catch you up with the top ten things we have learned over the last few days during our adventure--

10. The Flat Iron building is the coolest building in the city.

9. Jimmy Hendrix street performers are very nice and friendly--no sarcasm.

8. The subway does come to an end.

7. MOMA is free on Fridays--we thank Target but Ryan doesn't. He is still having nightmares about the exhibit on the 6th floor. Haha!!!

6. Pedi cab rides might be fun, but you might as well just get robbed. Total ripoff!

5. Madagascar 3 is the best one yet--soooo good esp. when you see it in Times Square after a rip off pedi cab ride. :-)

4. Mysterious liquid is worse around Times Square. No picture--just use your imagination.


3. Bicycling around the Hudson is awesome. We saw the Shuttle resting on its new home at the Intrepid. We played on a playground and went on the carousel. We had ice cream and generally had a great time!

2. Getting out of the city and going to Six Flags in Jersey is fun except when you have to drive back to the city late at night and you are tired.

and the # 1 thing we learned over the last couple days is.....

1. Laundry is heavy when you have not done it in a week and you have to carry it all the way to the laundromat 2 blocks away. No picture on this one either because my hands were full with laundry.