We bit it a month ago when my family and I decided that the big city was going to be this year's destination for our annual getaway. And I'm pleased to say we liked it! Some more than others, but all in all it was definitely something to see.
Up until this year I was the only one in the family who had ever been there. About thirty years ago to be exact, but some of that trip was still in my mind and I knew we'd find something for each of us to enjoy. Heck, with the ethnic diversity alone it would make for some great people watching wouldn't you think?
Racing has taken up a lot of our time over the past five years and a family trip of this sort has always taken a back seat to our weekend endeavours. We were determined to not let this year go by in the same fashion so about four months ago we began looking at our options. Everything up to this point included a giant mouse in Florida so with our already grown family, and the fact that we wanted to keep it a bit more *affordable, New York was what we landed on.
*Regarding affordable, outside of a screamin' deal on airfare (which we upgraded anyway to better seats) there was not much that was "affordable" about this trip. But hey, when you're in a city with non-stop entertainment and rents for apartments going two to three times more than my mortgage, You can live with it.
Like any trip into uncharted lands there was some apprehension. Oh we've contemplated the complexity of their mass transit system, the looming threat of a crime waiting to happen around every corner, and the fact that when you've seen one large building you've probably seen them all. We were told that New York City in August would be unbearable. Warm temperatures forecasted for our week would make an already irritable town even more jumpy, but I have to say that this nor any of these fallacies were true. The people were generally hospitable, the weather not bad, and we rode the subway system like pros after only a couple of trips. And with the amount of uniformed police officers around at all hours we never once felt unsafe.
After all of the typical stops were made- Times Square, the Empire State Building, and Ellis Island, I had one of the best times just strolling through Central Park and the surrounding neighborhood. We had to swing by the Dakota to see John Lennon's digs and I have to say that the architecture on that building and many others around it were absolutely stunning. This day trip did rival our time at Yankee Stadium watching the Bronx Bombers humiliate Seattle. My son and I took the train straight uptown on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon and got the best seats I feel I will ever find in a stadium. And by accident I might add! It's a bit of a long story to go into but let me just say that if you find yourself at the ticket booth empty handed at game time, ask for the Cafe Bleacher seats. These seats are normally a minimum of $150 a seat but at game time they shrink to just $50 and have all the amenities of much more expensive tickets.
So there you have it. In my mind there's no need to worry about navigating this town, everything is laid out quite easily I had thought. At least Manhattan is. The boroughs weren't bad either but nothing beats a strip of land 7 miles long and three miles wide. And with destinations at 42nd and Third, how can you go wrong?
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