Three Hours and a Million Miles Away...

New York City!

After about five years of "We should take a ride to New York for the day....", well, we finally did!

But sometimes something that's just a few hours away seems so out of reach.  I should know better - I've been there countless times.  A decade or two ago, I don't think I went a month without going to New York for some reason - to visit friends, go to a concert, go clubbing, shopping, sightseeing.  

But these days, my small town mentality has returned.  Until we're in the car and headed there, it always seems like such a big hassle to go there.  But once we hit the road yesterday, I started to feel the excitement.  We left right on time as usual...planned on leaving by 6:30 AM... 7:00, maybe 7:15 at the latest.  At 8:15 we pulled out of the driveway.   

Thanks to blessedly light traffic, we reached the George Washington Bridge at about 11:00 AM, then turned onto the Henry Hudson Parkway and drove south along the Hudson River.  My daughter was getting a bit antsy, and we were bombarded with those four words..."Are We There Yet?" Honestly, I thought that only happened in the movies.  When we finally arrived, found $40 parking in the general vicinity of where we wanted to be, she was raring to go.

With her new hat and (really cool, by the way) glove/mitten things I bought the day before, her faithful friend, Roo, tucked safely under her arm, she emerged herself into the culture of the Big Apple by standing in this...

It's called "A Line".  One that stretched NOT to the FAO Schwarz banner you see here, but beyond it and around the corner of the building.  No problem, it actually moved pretty quickly and we had fun meeting all those New Yorkers....except they weren't.  No self-respecting New Yorker would be caught dead standing in line at FAO Schwarz in December.  Those people in front of us turned out to be from Massachusetts.  Yes, from where we live! Figures...

Anyway, after entertaining the crowd with her rendition of "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" a dozen times, we finally made our way into the store.

I kid you not...these things were about 10 feet inside the door and she just HAD to have one!  It was the only thing we bought that day.

We did see some cool stuff though....

A soldier made out of jelly beans!

A Lego Darth Vader, as well as Chewbacca, Batman and several Harry Potter characters.  Grace wasn't even afraid of the massive, hulking Vader.  But she was afraid of this...

The friendly guard that every other kid wanted their picture taken with! :)  That's right, dear, don't talk to strangers!

Safely in Daddy's arms we made our way towards Rockefeller Center.  We stopped at Build-A Bear.  Waited in another line. Went in, only to find that the Rudolph and Clarice Build-A-Deer's were only available online.... By this time, Grace had become acclimated to Manhattan. Funny how quickly kids learn...

"Daddy, Rockefeller Plaza is that way..."

She was right, of course.  The girl can sniff out a lit Christmas tree like our dogs can sniff out...well, anything!

We did some walking, stopped and got a bite to eat at a trendy New York restaurant (McDonald's) and after regaling the crowd with "Old McDonald's Had A Farm..." we made our way back to our car, hopped in and drove around a bit before heading home.

Times Square always looks so cool, even during the daytime!  This is where I feel like jumping out of the car and singing, "I wanna be a part of it! New York, New York!"  But of course I don't... my cousin, Paul, who used to drive a cab here, said that's not a good idea.

This is my favorite New York landmark, the Flatiron building at 5th and Broadway, designed by architect Frank Burnham.  No really, I know this stuff....

Anyway, it's just so cool...

We made our way down to lower Manhattan.  As we drove along, I looked down streets into neighborhoods that I want to come back and explore.  We didn't stop at the site of the World Trade Center, but we both commented on how strange it is not to have the towers there as a landmark.  In fact, the last time we were in New York I stood there, getting dizzy, as I tried to look up towards the top of the towers from the plaza.  

A lot has changed since then.

But one thing hasn't.  That is, New York is much too close and much too wonderful for me to ignore.  All I could think of as I drove home were the memories of that day, may many previous visits, and the many more to come.