More pics at the bottom of the post...My grandparents lived in New York City, and we would visit once or twice a year. I have many memories of walking the streets of New York, visiting the Statue of Liberty, Radio City Music Hall, I can't remember all of the adventures, but my mom always had a plan and we would ride the subway and walk and walk and walk. I think it is these fond memories that made me anxious to bring the Elli & Tori into New York. My sister has been mentioning it for a couple of years now, and this year it finally seemed like they were ready for the adventure. What an adventure it was - and my girls were troopers!!
I don't know the city that well, so I kind of blindly followed my sister around, but this is what we did:
Got off the train at Penn Station, checked out Macy's windows.
Went into Macy's to see Santa - too cool!!
Lord & Taylor's windows - my favorite windows
Bryant Park - I didn't really know this place, but it was very nice. They had an ice skating rink and there were all these little shops set up in what looked like mini-green houses.
We left my sister's, where we stayed the night before, a little before 9:00 am, and we got back to her house a bit after 8:00 pm. In between, it was go, go, go and lots of walking and lots of crowds, but I am proud to say the girls held up very well - no stroller, all walking except for about 8 blocks at the very end of the day where a kind uncle and kind cousins took turns giving the girls rides on their shoulders.
I don't know the city that well, so I kind of blindly followed my sister around, but this is what we did:
Got off the train at Penn Station, checked out Macy's windows.
Went into Macy's to see Santa - too cool!!
Lord & Taylor's windows - my favorite windows
Bryant Park - I didn't really know this place, but it was very nice. They had an ice skating rink and there were all these little shops set up in what looked like mini-green houses.
Walked thru Times Square - talk about crowds
Stopped at ToysRUs in Times Square - this place was crazy, way too crowded and just not set up well. If you've never been there, they do have a very cool indoor ferris wheel with cars that are themed after all kinds of toys - Little people, Nickelodeon, My Little Pony, Cabbage Patch Kids, etc. etc. Didn't get to ride this time, though.
Windows at Saks
Windows at Cartier
The World of Disney Store!! - too cool - got photos with Chip & Dale & Goofy. They also had a great deal where you got 25% off a purchase of $50 or more, so we had to shop just a bit :-)
Headed back down 5th Avenue - this is where the crowds started to get to me. I had one daughter by each hand and at one point I was worried that they were going to get swept away in the crowd. Obviously, we were all fine.
Stopped at Rockefeller Center to see the tree & skating rink. At Rockefeller Center there were some folks selling balloon animals for $1. We got one for each of the girls - they kind of looked liked scepters - you know, like a king or queen carries.
After that, it was time to head home, we walked straight back to the train station... We weren't on 5th Avenue any more, probably 4th, or 6th. It was dark and a lot of street performers had come out. Two memorable ones were Elmo, and Santa. Probably my favorite image of the day is my daughter, Elli sitting on top of her uncle's shoulders, wacking Elmo over the head (repeatedly, yikes!!) with her balloon-scepter-thingy. Luckily it was just a balloon & Elmo had a hard head, so I don't think he even knew what was happening :-)
It was a fun day! And except for the train & shopping, it was all free!
