Two Days In New York
Surprise Road Trip
A few days ago, Autumn and I surprised the boys with a road trip to New York.
William (middle boy) just completed sixth grade. Sixth grade is the grade that students learn about the American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence and our Founding Fathers. One of which is Alexander Hamilton.
A few years ago, Lin-Manuel Miranda, created a play about American Founding Father, Alexander Hamilton, and the play had recently been streamed to Disney+.
William’s strategy to avoid reading about this period in American History was to watch the play Hamilton on Disney+, over and over and over again. And once that got old, he would play the sound track over and over and over again on Alexa. This would happen almost every day for about six or seven months.
Needless to say, the lyrics to the sound track would play over and over and over again in my head and eventually, I started to actually think about how relevant the story of Hamilton is now just as much as it was back then.
Autumn saw ticket for Hamilton at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC…not to far from the house (compared to New York), but tickets started at $500. Then for “poops and giggles” she check ticket prices in New York on Broadway. Under $200 each. That’s when she she called me to ask if I wanted to do this. Now…that is a little tongue and cheek. She already knew what she wanted to do but she just wanted my participation. She was not really asking me, she was… letting me know that we would be going to New York to see the play, Hamilton, so…
A few days ago, Autumn and I surprised the boys with a road trip to New York. The goal was to get on the road by 10:00 (just after DC rush hour traffic ended) and arrive at the hotel in Manhattan about 3pm…just before New York afternoon rush hour begins. Perfect plan, except that we had gone to a Ziggy Marley concert at Wolf Trap with some friends the night before and after a 15 year old bottle of scotch and lots of smoke in the air, I didn’t wake up until after 11 and we did not get on the road until 3:30pm…just as afternoon rush hour was starting.
One State Per Hour
All things considered, we made pretty good timing. We would enter a new state each hour. By 4:30, we were entering Maryland. By 5:30, we were entering Delaware. We hung out at the Joe Biden Welcome Center (rest stop) to take a breather and gas up before heading into New Jersey to avoid the full service gas stations (not that there is anything wrong with that…we recognize that people make a living doing that, we just are not used to it).
Pan-Handlers in Delaware
***Quick note...it takes about 15 - 20 minutes to travel through Delaware. Leaving Maryland and entering New Jersey. Is you should stop at the gas station or rest area in Delaware, the "scam" that the pan handlers like to run is "Excuse me Sir/Ma'am...I just ran out of gas and I need a few dollars to put gas in my car...can you spare a few dollars for gas?" On our way to New York, it was a middle aged/older white lady and she was hitting everyone up (including me). We parked at the rear of the parking lot to walk our puppy - Goldie the Golden Doodle (check him out at www.GoldieTheGoldenDoodle.com) and we took turns walking to the rest area to use the restroom. First I walked with Clark and Ethan. On our way out, the lady asked me for money. Once I returned to the car, I took over for walking Goldie and Autumn and William went to the restroom. Once Goldie was done, we got into the car and moved the car to the front of the parking lot to pick up Autumn and William. As I was parking, the same lady was waiting at my window to ask for "gas money" once again. I told her, "you already asked me." She said, "Opps...sorry. Enjoy your trip." We both laughed. She did have an middle aged man who was running her scam with her. He would check in with her at the rest center and then make his way over to the gas station to pan handle and ask for money.
On the way home, we stopped at the same rest stop and gas station. On the gas station side, there was a mini van parked in the gas line at the pump and would not move. Three men, a woman and two children. Either Latino or European... same pitch line... "We have run out of gas and need gas money. Do you have a few dollars that you can give us for gas? I said "I am putting gas in my car now and we are trying to get home from New York." She said "We are trying to get to New York." I told her that "you're gonna need more than a few dollars to get to New York."
The point is...be mindful of the pan handlers.***
New Jersey Turn Pike
6:30, we enter New Jersey and get on the New Jersey Turn Pike. The boys are still trying to guess where we are going, but they have a pretty good idea that we are heading to New York. About 7:30…7:45, we begin to see the airplanes taking off and landing on our left side from Newark Airport t and shortly after, on the right side we start to see the New York skyline and the mobile phone cameras start to come out and everyone is excited.
I continue to drive and after making a few wrong turns, I make my way past the Meadowlands where the New York Giants and Jets play and into the Lincoln Tunnel…WELCOME TO NEW YORK!!!
We Made It To New York
We arrive to our hotel…Element by Western…part of the Marriot family. Next to the Port Authority. Walking distance from Time Square.
We check into the hotel. Park the car across the street. Go to our room. And head out to experience the city.
Street Food in Times Square
We hit the street around 10:30pm and the aroma of cannibas is strong in the air…fresh in my mind from the Ziggy Marley concert the night before.
Clark gets a street pretzel and William has a street chili cheese dog. Ethan, Autumn and I hold out to see what our options are and we eventually settle on 5-Guys (a local favorite here in Virginia…also started here in Virginia).
Lots and lots and lots of people wearing Red Vests promoting New York City Bus Tours and lots of people promoting Comedy ShowsPalmer Family Travels – Clark hanging out with GoldMan in Times Square, New York.
The smell of Kabob Street Food smelled sooo good. I had recently purchased a Kamodo Joe Jr (ceramic grill) and I had been making a lot of kabob’s recently and the smell of the grilled chicken on the New York Streets was so familiar. I fight the temptation to get it and hold out for later.
We start to go towards the hotel and stop by a 5-Guys Burger Restaurant and pick up Double Patty Bacon Cheeseburgers and fresh cut potato fries for Autumn, Ethan and myself.
Mr. Gold
In front of one of the stores was a “Mime”… a guy dressed in all gold. He was even painted gold and for $5.00, you could pose with him and interact with him and take a picture with him and that is exactly what Clark did. Initially we were like “$5.00 for what?!?” But after a moment we realized that this may end up being a once in a lifetime experience and a memory that will last for a lifetime… “Dancing with the Gold Man in New York’s Time Square.”
After we complete our tour of Times Square and pick up our food, we make our way back to the room, ate our burgers and fries and called it a night.
Morning Routine
The next day, I woke up around 7am and headed downstairs to the eating area and grabbed a cup of coffee and sat in the common area while reading along with my audio book (Traffic Secrets by Russel Brunson).
Around 8am, I returned to the room to assist everyone with waking up and eating breakfast and getting started with our busy day.
Subway and Staten Island Ferry
First stop for the day, we made our way to the 42nd Street and Port Authority Subway and took Yellow W all the way to the end and we were on the 1pm Staton Island Ferry to sail past the Statue of Liberty.
There are paid and free options here. When you return above ground from the subway, you’ll see people in blue vest with the Statue of Liberty on it. These good people are workers for the paid tours of the Statue of Liberty.
If you go into the building with the huge letters that read “Staton Island Ferry” and go all the way up the stairs, then you will see the line for the free ferry. This does not go to Ellis Island and it does not go to the Statue of Liberty; however, you do get beautiful views of the Statue of Liberty.
Once we returned, we went to the pizza shop/bar on the bottom level and had our first slices of New York Pizza! So good!
Hey Jessie!
After leaving the ferry, we were back on the metro with a goal of visiting the house for “Hey Jessie” (the tv show from Disney) which is located in Central Park.
We navigated our way through the metro and walked to the house and took some pictures. From there, we found a small playground and William and Clark played around a bit while Autumn and Ethan rested.
Once rested up, we got back on the metro and worked our way back to where we started… 42nd and Port Authority.
The boys wanted Wendy’s. We were pressed for time so we did not argue about them getting Wendy’s – which is something that they can have back home versus experiencing authentic New York food.
Got them back to the room and Autumn and I ordered Dim Sum from Kung Fu Chinese Food, around the corner from the hotel.
We picked up our Dim Sum and brought it back to the room and shared a moment. It was so yummy.
Hamilton
Dinner/Snack was over and we cleaned up. Now it was time to make our way to Broadway. The 15 minute walk ended when we passed the Hamilton store and William asked if we could go in. Then he looked ahead and asked if the building on the other side of the street with the Hamilton sign on it is where they show the play.
That is where Autumn said “William, we saw the Statute of Liberty because that is where Clark wanted to go. We saw Times Square because that is where Ethan wanted to go. We never asked you where you wanted to go because we are surprising you with tickets to see the play, Hamilton.”
He was so excited. We made our way to the building and he was in awe and disbelief for the next three hours.
After the Play
After the play, we walked around Times Square and took in the New York night life.
We ended up at a deli/bakery where we were able to get cookies and carrot cake and blackberry pie and New York Cheese Cake.
We also went to a pizza joint and ordered a large pizza to take back to the room. Something about New York Pizza…it is just amazing!
Once back to the room, we ate the pizza and deserts and after an adventure filled day that included a lot of walking, everyone was ready for bed.
Wrapping Up...Until Next Time
The next morning presented itself with the same routine as the previous morning.
I got my coffee and continued with my audio book.
Then we had breakfast and started our preparations to leave the hotel and get back on the road and head home.
Before checking out, William and I were able to interview the Operations Manager of the hotel – Sean Ismael. It was busy so we did not take up much of his time and we were very thankful for his time.
From there, I retrieved the car from valet/parking lot across the street and we got on the road to head home.
We arrived home about 8pm. We had such a wonderful time in New York. It is such a beautiful city. Rich in history and culture and we are so thankful that it is so close.
The boys had an amazing time. And it helps Autumn and I to feel fulfilled knowing that we are giving our children an opportunity to be exposed to some of the best that life has to offer.
We plan to make New York a place where we can visit every 90 days and pick a new area to explore each time.
Have you ever been to New York? If so, where are some places that you enjoy visiting and eating at?
If you have never visited New York, would you like to visit? Where in New York where you would like visit?
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