Originally Posted by
gardengirl
Thank you, thank you. So very gracious of you to take such time.
I'm looking online to purchase the oyster cards. Is that 15 per person or will the 15 take care of both our fares?
Each passenger needs their own oyster card for a journey - the gates won't open if you try to use the same card twice - so you will need two cards. Alternatively if you have a contactless debit/credit card or Apple Pay it will be much easier to use that without the need for oyster at all. It looks like Apple Pay works with many US banks now:
https://tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-payment...ment/apple-pay
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204916
To second what Microwave explained above, the British Library, the Railway Children and King's Cross St Pancras station are all very close to each other - no cabs necessary.
The Railway Children is near a very trendy regeneration area called Granary Square behind St Pancras station and across the canal. There are some excellent restaurants and cafés there - Dishoom in particular is great, but you may not have time for that. [Edit: On second thoughts, you could easily manage lunch at Dishoom if you fancied it - say if you booked a table at 12.45, that would give you an hour or so at the Library beforehand and time enough to get to the show at 2.30.] Otherwise just head for a wander around the square and canal - it's buzzing in nice weather.
Note if you're running late and/or hungry when you get to the British Library, there are a couple of decent cafés in there - one has a terrace with some outdoor tables, but Granary Square is a nicer setting.