So, we're back from New York City. And Sara was in the MACY'S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE!What a mind blower.
It was a great trip because we got to spend time with Kurt and Jenny (my cousin and his wife) and their FIVE kids and also with my Uncle Ardon who lives on 81st street in New York (where they blow up the balloons). Not so much a "go see a show" or "visit museums" type trip which wouldn't be so bad if we could be sure we'll be back -- but it IS incentive to try to return soon.
We left early on Monday morning. Tim drove the whole way. As we entered New Jersey, we watched as Exit 6 slid by and the sign said "something about Asbury". . . turns out that was our exit. AAA made a common mistake on our triptik -- they thought we wanted to go to ASBURY PARK. . . go figure.
So I called Jenny and we got on the right road and were at their house in 10 minutes tops. They have this great, old (well, PART old) stone house with winding stairs and lots of pets. That last part was difficult for Tim but he's always a trooper when the accommodations are free.
Kurt and Jenny were so gracious with their space (and nosh) -- they really barely knew us but welcomed us like it was "old home week." It was so lovely.
Tuesday, Tim drove us into Philly. We visited the Betsy Ross house, the Independence Museum and the Liberty Bell. We even had Philly Cheese steak sandwiches at Sonny's. (We weren't really impressed with those but we probably shouldn't have had the cheese whiz...)
On Wednesday, we headed into New York City! We came through the Lincoln Tunnel and entered the crazy world of New York drivers -- in our RENTAL CAR! aaaaaaaaaaaaaeeeeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeee! We had some close shaves but did get to 81st street where Uncle Ardon was waiting. He and Tim found FREE parking and the kids and Roberto and I took a walk to see the balloons being blown up and a bit of Central Park.
Once we were all back together, Uncle Ardon took us on a whirlwind tour of NYC -- Wall Street, Ground Zero, Chinatown and Little Italy -- and Five Points.
We had grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner and hit the hay -- I slept not much because A) I was excited, B) I was worried I'd oversleep, and C) I thought I was going to roll off of Uncle A's loft on to the floor and become a vegetable right on top of my children... but nothing bad happened and we were up at 4:30 a.m. to catch the subway to Herald Square!
. . . where, as it turned out, we were NOT allowed to "squat." Disappointed but not daunted, we walked into the higher street numbers looking for a place to light. Everywhere we stopped, we were either told we weren't allowed or, at one point, that the kids would march by in "silence" because it was close to where everyone was performing for T.V. and would detract from whatever act was on-air.
We finally found a spot at 40th and Broadway -- then another policeman started moving people out from under some flags behind us. We did not move -- even when he tried to tell us we needed to. The guy next to us had been sitting as long as we had and between the two of us we must have made an imposing sight because we ended up CLOSER to the curb with a great view!
Sara tells us the band stopped for the longest break in front of us which was really cool because we got lots of pictures of her!
We had a lovely dinner of ham and "fixin's" with Uncle Ardon, Roberto, Kurt, Jenny and all of our kids (except Sara). We watched the Tivo'd parade and I rewound to Dunbar. . . over and over and over. We drove back to Kurt and Jenny's to spend our last night "out East."
Our trip culminated in a leisurely Friday at Kurt and Jenny's where Tim and Noah helped Kurt and Soren clear some particularly large "brush" and the ladies went shopping for Indian groceries. We had a wonderful meal and then jumped back in our rental to drive through the night so we'd be home to meet Sara at school by noon today. We passed the Dunbar buses on our way home. . . but the kids still got home an hour early and Sara had some fun stories to tell.
It was a fabulous and memorable week.
