Trip i took with my then 4 year old back in June/July
London - New York
Tuesday 28th June
We set off from London, England on Tuesday June 28th, leaving wasn't a problem, the temperature had dropped to 20 degrees C (68F) compared to 32 C (90F) on Monday. Had checked in online so that solved having to queue at the airport Security was quick and easy for once and we didnt have to wait to long for the gate to be listed.
My 4 year old was disappointed by Virgin Atlantic's inability to provide the activity packs that they claim all children leaving the UK will recieve, but one of the FA's recommended dropping them an email on my return as they don't offer them out of anywhere but the UK :/
Flight was one of the smoothest have ever experienced, my daughter sat happily in her seat for almost the entire flight (6 hours, 40 minutes) only broken by walks around the cabin, she appeared to be watching the same disney cartoon over and over again! On time leaving London and we were 40 minutes early into JFK
Happily security at JFK was almost empty, the only real wait was for the luggage, the flight was full and that took a while.
Took the Airtrain to Jamaica and then opted to take the LIRR to Manhattan, after the long flight it was easier to pay the extra money to reach Manhattan quicker!
We're staying at the Gershwin Hotel in NYC, i'd happily recommend it to anyone, its convenient for Manhattan, the rooms are nice and its quiet
I opted to take Anneliese (my daughter) to the playground at Madison Square Park after checking in, thanks to the helpful information we found it easily enough, the only thing Anneliese didnt like was that I wouldn't let her play in the water area, but drying clothes would be awkward to say the least! My cousin came and met us there which was nice, he hadn't seen Anneliese since she was 6 months old so a big change there, he treated us to dinner at the ShakeShack wonderful recommendation, it certainly didn't disappoint
Anneliese crashed out in the stroller by 8pm so i took the advantage of refamiliarising myself with Times Square, had a look round a few shops but somehow resisted the temptation to buy anything! Returned to the hotel around 10pm where jetlag soon over took me!
Wednesday 29th June
Nice early start! Although waking up after the alarm would have been nice lol. Left the hotel at 9am and went in search of breakfast, decided would be nice to walk down Broadway all the way to the Statern Island Ferry terminal instead of taking the subway, took 2 hours to walk there including stops to buy fruit, drinks and various snacks
The original plan was to stay on Statern Island and have something to eat but Anneliese decided that she wanted to go back straight away after the ferry trip across as the first trip across was so much fun!
From the Ferry terminal we walked back to Bowling Green Subway and took the 4 train direct to Woodlawn which made things a lot less complicated! The security guy at the Woodlawn Cemetary remembered me from my visit last year and was very helpful with providing a map and cold water for Anneliese. We visited Woodlawn to pay respects to Vernon and Irene Castle and to Irving Berlin, even with the map finding them all was a little difficult but it all worked out in the end, on my trip last year i paid my respects to the Castle's only and met someone who remembered Irene, this time as well as paying my respects the Castles i paid my respects to Irving Berlin who wrote the music for my favourite movie (Top Hat) i discovered he'd had a baby son who'd died aged 25 days, interesting but sad.
paying respects to Vernon and Irene Castle
From Woodlawn we took the subway to 14th Street and then walked to the Chelsea Piers, nice playground near pier 62, we spent a good half an hour there, Anneliese happily playing in the water. We then walked down to the Carousel where 4 rides were had, Anneliese was just under the height limit to ride alone which saved some money
Apparently returning before we leave New York is a must
From there we walked back to Manhattan as the temperature had dropped, although i wouldn't walk it again in a hurry! Back to the hotel for a freshen up
Nice sunburn on shoulders for me
Anneliese totally unaffected
Opted for Wendy's for dinner, it was the first time i'd been to Wendy's since i was 6 and a first for Anneliese, much nicer fries than i've had in any other fast food place and was impressed with the option of fruit with the kids meal, no complaints from Anneliese that i got her fruit instead of fries (that alone was amazing)
Anneliese fell asleep again before we reached Toys R US, so a good excuse not to go in there, however she woke as we reached the M&M's store, and was very excited as we passed the Disney Store, i somehow managed to persuade her that tonight wasn't a good time to buy anything and that tomorrow there will be plenty of time for shopping!
Back to the hotel for bed and then can see what tomorrow will bring
Thursday 30th June
Day didnt start quite as early as planned but still made it to the Empire State Building by 9.30. The queue was long enough but it moved quickly thank goodness! I'd been up before but this was the first time Anneliese had been up, wasn't quite sure how well she'd cope so just opted for a ticket to the 86th floor ($22 for an adult, children under 6 free) luckily she coped fine, was the first time i'd been up in daylight, views were fantastic much better than going up late at night!
Just to the 86th floor!
Spent a good hour at the top getting money's worth
got back down again at 11 and then went hunting for Jerry Ohlinger's Movie Materials Store located on W35th St between 7th & 8th Ave, got some new Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers photos to add to my collection, they provided Anneliese with paper and crayons while i chose the photos i wanted, was very impressed, they also remembered me from a previous visit!
With the shopping bug firmly set in we then visited Macy's, one Hello Kitty outfit later and we managed to leave
We then finally made tracks for Central Park where the Zoo got passed over for the Carousel and a rubber duck. Went the wrong way going back and ended up at Columbus Circle, so had a long walk to Lexington Avenue and Bloomingdales, somehow we didnt buy anything there! A long Walk back to 5th Avenue but found a Barnes and Noble on the way, nice Wallace and Gromit dvd for the train for Anneliese and the Astaire-Rogers Ultimate Collectors boxset for me
Once back on 5th Avenue a visit to the American Girl store cheered Anneliese up and a couple of books and a cookie later and the smiles were in full force!
We then found Build a Bear and a Pink Flamingo is now wearing a Statue of Liberty outfit, fortunately the Flamingo was already with us!
It was then decided that the subway was a better idea than walking! We somehow managed to get the Express Train so ended up at 14th Street instead of 34th Street, if we'd been half an hour earliar a trip to Chelsea Piers would have been in order but a visit tomorrow morning is still looking hopeful
We stopped at Penn Station to confirm with Amtrak that the bigger bags could be checked tonight to save having to carry them tomorrow, happily they confirmed that as correct, which will make it much easier when we leave for Washington DC tomorrow, so it was back to the hotel to pack and then back to Penn Station to check the bags and then back again to the hotel, but anything to make things easier tomorrow!
My cousin came and stopped by the hotel again which was nice
He brought some dvds for Anneliese which will make the long train rides much easier!! (I hope lol)
He walked with us down to 42 Street as Anneliese was quick to remind me that i'd promised a visit to the Disney Store..
The new Disney store in New York is fairly amazing, it is apparently the biggest Disney Store in the World! Although i don't think London's is much smaller
Very tiring day but well worth it, last few hours in NYC tomorrow before we take the train on
(hopefully we'll avoid any shopping!!)
Friday July 1st
Up bright and early to make the most of the last few hours in New York, checked out of the Gershwin shortly after 8.30am leaving the heavier of the bags in their luggage storage to pick up later on
We then walked to the subway and took the 4 train to 14th street before taking the L train to 8th Avenue and were nicely on the way to Chelsea Piers by 9.15! We walked first to Pier 54, where the arch way is all that remains of the former Cunard-White Star Pier and then we walked down to Pier 62 in search of the carousel. I was hoping (i hadn’t checked) that they’d be opening at 10 and there was major disappointment from Anneliese when the attendant informed us they didn’t open till 11, he explained that sometimes they open a little earlier but I then explained that we had to be back in Manhattan by 11 to catch the train. To Anneliese’s delight he offered to open up to allow her to have one last ride, a private ride on the carousel made for a lovely experience for our last morning in New York, he then refused payment saying that Anneliese’s smiles were payment enough plus her obvious enjoyment of having one last ride on ‘her pony’
private ride on 'her' pony
Saying goodbye to the Carousel and to the Piers was a wrench but it’s definitely somewhere we’d go back to on any future trips to New York!
We then took the subway back to 14th and then on to Grand Central Station where we switched to get down to Times Square where a trip to Toys R US for a ride on the Ferris Wheel was in order, Anneliese enjoyed the ride, getting to see all of the store from the best of vantage points was great, but having one eye on the clock (it was 11.45am when we boarded) meant that i didn’t enjoy the ‘flight’ as much as i could have done.
We took the subway back to 28th and Park Avenue before walking back to the Gershwin to pick up the bags, we had 50 minutes to spare before the train departed but opted to take a cab for peace of mind The traffic was pretty busy and it seemed that every traffic light was against us so it may have been quicker taking the subway but never mind!
Fortunately we’d had to print the tickets the night before in order to check the bags so all we had to do was to find the right track, the big crowd made it easy enough to find!
Sad to leave New York, short but sweet stay and hopefully we’ll get to visit again soon and visit some of the other places that we didn’t manage to visit on this trip!
The train was extremely crowded so we ended up having to sit apart, I really hope we don’t have problems on any trains that include overnight travel, spending 3 and a half hours with my 4 year old sitting behind is ok, but I wouldn’t want to have the same on the long distance trains. Anneliese was happy to sit and watch dvds all the way to Washington, once i got food for her, which allowed me to relax and fortunately the person she was next to had no problems with Anneliese making conversation! The train journey passed quicker than I expected, I’d never been on the Amfleet trains and found it strange being on a single decker Amtrak train. Anneliese enjoyed her first journey on Amtrak and got upset when we reached Washington Dc and had to get off.
We were met at Union Station by my friend Nina, who i met through YouTube and a shared love of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire and emails have been going back and forth for months, she’s very kindly offered to show us Washington DC which should make things a lot easier as the nearest we’ve ever been to DC is Dulles Airport :/ Was nice to be met, was good to finally meet after all the emails and for once Anneliese wasn’t telling me i shouldn’t be talking to strangers!
Picked up the baggage easily enough, fortunately both suitcases were easily found which meant we were soon on our way to the bus stop for the International Hostel where we’ll be staying until Monday
Hostel was easy to find, very pleased with the private room that I had to book due to travelling with a child under the age of 13, we have bunk beds with the lower bunk being a double, a bathroom and a kitchen which I wasn’t expected and is a welcome surprise, especially the fridge!
By the time had settled everything it was getting on for 7pm and more than time to go out and find dinner, took a nice easy stroll down to Columbus Circle where French fries and cold soda won over ice cream
Anneliese had grilled cheese sandwiches but the hot weather had affected my appetite so i opted for French fries only, although the cheese and bacon burger that Nina had looked good also, but the chips had been recommended and the portion was large enough to think that one would either get one or the other!
Anneliese seemed to have recharged by the time we’d done with dinner so we took a stroll down to the fountain in the middle of Columbus Circle where Anneliese had plenty of fun throwing pennies for wishes! A trip to the pharmacy was then in order, along with yet more sunburn
I also seem to have been quite badly bitten, if it can happen in New York and Washington i dread to think what it’ll be like in Nebraska and Missouri! Fortunately i brought insect repellent, just wish now I’d used it in New York instead of thinking I’d be fine!
Tomorrow as they say will be another day, but Washington seems far more relaxed than New York and at the moment at least a lot less busy!