There is More in Central Park Than a Doctor Who Rock!

Like classic, iconic vistas we have seen time and time again. It was amazingly beautiful...this oasis in the midst of this immense urban jungle. At times, I couldn't wrap my brain around the fact that we were still in Manhattan. 

Our first attempt at finding the Doctor Who rock. But it was the wrong one.

The statues of literary greats were fun to try and guess before we approached, whom it would be.

Abbey with Shakespeare

We were all fascinated by...

the Bubble Guy. I even joked with the kids that you could probably Google "Central Park Bubble Man" and find him on YouTube. Guess what? I was right!

Of course we had to take a photo where The Avengers said goodbye to one another!

And absolutely no trip to Central Park would be complete without visiting the Maine Monument...

or rather the man in a thong standing behind it washing out his bike shorts in the fountain. No...I did not take a photo of that!

Yes, we all saw a lot of new and different things.

But my favorite was all of the street musicians. This is what I think of when I picture New York City:

American Girl Place, New York City

A little over 12 years ago, our oldest child discovered this "thing" called American Girl. It was always a dream of hers to travel to Chicago and visit the American Girl Place. Well, we never did and the next daughter in line didn't much care for dolls. She was significantly more interested in stuffed animals, books and nature. She still is...that's just how she's been wired by God.

Then along came the last daughter and I was out of baby doll mode. Plus, being an extrovert...she was usually content to play whatever anyone would play with her. Sadly, I didn't pick up on her nurturing skills and natural compassion for babies and other weak things until she was about five years old or so.

When Abbey (the oldest) mentioned we could go to the American Girl Store in New York City, at first I thought that it would just be easier to not go than to look wistfully upon all of the dolls and accessories we could not afford to buy. Then the day before we left for New York, I felt that "nudge" that said, "What if she wanted to buy a doll with her own money?" 

When I mentioned it to her and that we would pitch in a little for her 10th birthday which is coming up next week...the beaming smile was all I needed to confirm that it was the right choice. When we walked through the door, I could almost feel the excitement emanating off of her.

Josephina was the doll of choice and she finished the accompanying book in record time too. Okay...I have to throw in one more photo...yes...that is a place to hang your doll while you use the bathroom.

How Far Will a Who-vian Walk?

...apparently the answer is at least 30 city blocks...

...if they want to stand on the exact same rock that has been shared by Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill!

Leading up to our trip, I kept insisting to our children that I would not walk all over Manhattan and Central Park looking for a stupid rock.

Uhh...yeah...

Playwright Tavern, New York City

Our New York City lunch took place in the Playwright Tavern at 202 West 49th Street. This Celtic pub had great traditional food, like the shepherd's pie that Abbey and Noah shared, but also had other delicious options...

like Dale's mahi-mahi, and...

my vegan panini that never had cheese to begin with! The salad was a free option instead of fries and both it and the sandwich were delectable. Needless to say, I couldn't finish the whole thing.

It seemed a little pricey at first, but when the final bill came in, it was only about $5 more than The Pub in Crestview Hills, Kentucky, where we dined for Mother's Day this year. Dale remarked later that the prices at all of the shopping and restaurants we went to weren't that much more than what we typically pay around here.

So this is one more that I'd recommend. If you're ever in midtown Manhattan...it's worth seeking it out for lunch.

NYC

My three photo panoramic view of Times Square

Smack-dab in the middle of our trip, we took a 2.5 hour Megabus trip into New York City. I had two older children excited to see landmarks they had only seen in photos and I apparently, irrationally, had over dramatized the volume of the crowds and terrified the two younger children.

Amazingly enough...we all had a blast!

I'm the only one in our family to have ever visited "The Big Apple" and for me, it was almost 30 years ago. When I went with my teen church choir in 1985, Times Square was a scary place where we saw drug dealers and prostitutes in broad daylight. Not so now. This is consumerism and capitalism's grand central station. Our bus dropped us off near Madison Square Garden and the kids were thrown for a loop by the people shouting at the commuters coming off the trains. I had to explain that they were just trying to sell their newspapers!

Abbey and the Phantom

For my Broadway-loving daughter, nothing less than seeing the theatre that started it all (for her at least) would satisfy. Once we found the Majestic and took the prerequisite photos, a sense of calm came over her and we could then spend a few hours wondering around mid-Manhattan.

Sunday night when we arrived in our hotel in Triadelphia, West Virginia, we were able to catch about the last half of the Tony Awards. Three days later, to see the marquees of the shows that had just been celebrated, was pretty exciting.

The iconic buildings that are so much a part of our popular culture were pretty cool to see in person.

Empire State Building

Radio City Music Hall

Rear view of Rockefeller Plaza which becomes an ice rink in the winter

Rockefeller Center

Too bad she didn't have breakfast with her

We'd just passed a little hole in the wall convenience store and I thought "That sort of looks like the one Letterman always has a camera going in" I looked up...and there it was!

In Times Square, we kept seeing costumed characters like Toy Story's Woody and Buzz, Elmo, Iron Man, Batman and many, many more. At first, I thought it was the Disney Store trying to drum up some business.

But then the naive traveller (aka ME!) finally got caught in the snare! One of the numerous Hello Kittys called Leah over to her and asked me to take a photo. After I did (even though we had to coax Leah into doing it) Hello Kitty politely opened up her white messenger bag to reveal about 50 dollar bills and said, "Donation for the photo...donation for the photo?" Yep...I felt pretty stupid...until one of The Simple Way folks told me later that they too had fallen for it. Okay...lesson learned!

This photo cost me 5 bucks! I had to save my ones for the train in Philly & I wasn't about to give her a 20!

NYC is just a different world. There is nothing to describe it. It's one of those places you just have to experience for yourself...and we just stayed within a 40 street by 6 avenue block rectangle. We've already decided that if we are ever blessed to go back we'll attempt to tackle the subway and head down to Chinatown, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the World Trade Center site.

It gives us something to look forward to.

Megabus

Leah, sleeping on our early morning bus ride.

I don't think I can say enough good words about Megabus. The cost of a trip for our family of six from Philadelphia to New York City was a total of $108 roundtrip! But I know it would have been less had I purchased them further out from our intended travel date. I just priced a ticket from Orlando to Atlanta that was only $3!

Our first, long distance view of the city.

Okay...great low cost aside...after seeing the bumper to bumper traffic going in and out of the Lincoln Tunnel into Manhattan, there was no way I would ever drive it myself. NYC may be an exception, but with "Bus Only" lanes...we buzzed right through all of it. I will allow that with the predominance of public transportation out East it was easier to get back and forth from the bus drop in Philly. Our nearest drop in Cincinnati would require either overnight parking downtown, a friend to give us a ride or perfect timing of the TANK Express bus that comes near our home.

A church viewed out the top of the bus.

We all had a comfortable ride...with limited WiFi...and enjoyed sitting in the upper level of the double decker bus with windows on top...even though it looked like we were within inches of the top of the Lincoln Tunnel!

Leah and I still smiling at the end of a long, long day!

At the end of a long day of walking around Midtown Manhattan, it was great to sit back, relax and enjoy some down time, reading a book while someone else took care of the driving. I think Megabus will become my new "go to" when exploring travel options. Timing connections from city to city may be difficult, but if I can send a child or two to Grandma's house in Indy for 6 bucks...now that's something to consider!