New York City Trip Report with Teens
Jun 14th, 2008, 01:51 PM
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New York City Trip Report with Teens
My wife and I took our 18 year old son and 15 year old daughter on our first trip to New York City. We flew into Newark on Saturday June 7th no problem, in fact our luggage was literally the first bags off the carousel. I called for our car from Dial 7 and he was there to pick us up in five minutes. It was a wild ride in from the airport as the driver was trying to set a new speed record, but he got us there in one piece.
We checked into our room in Radio City Apartments, unpacked and chilled for an hour. This is a great hotel for families in an excellent location between Times Square and Rockefeller Center. We had two double beds and a fold out couch that my daughter said was comfortable. It had to be the quietest room we ever stayed in. We were on the 11th floor with the A/C running the whole time which helped. It had a full kitchen and we bought milk and cereal for our breakfast every morning. The front desk staff wasn¡¦t much help, but I learned so much from these boards and other research that we didn¡¦t really need them.
We ate dinner at John¡¦s Pizza which was very good and then wandered around Times Square. We checked out the Hershey and M&M stores and of course Virgin Records. That was enough time spent in Time Square for the entire trip, although we did go back for a few minutes each evening. There are just so many people there it¡¦s hard to move around.
Sunday we took the New York Party Shuttle all day tour which I recommend. This gave us a great overview and took us places we would not have had time to get to on our own such as Wall Street, Ground Zero and Lower Manhattan. They took us across the Staten Island Ferry for great views of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan Skyline. The guide was very informative and fun. We ate supper at Cara Mia (excellent) and then to Spamalot which we all loved. To quote our son ¡§whoever thought to turn Monty Python into a musical is a genius¡¨.
Monday we met up with a Big Apple Greeter for a walking tour of Greenwich Village. We ended up walking 3.5 miles in record high temperatures. The tour was worth it as a one time experience, but I don¡¦t think I would do it again. We learned more about what it¡¦s like to live in NYC than we did about the history of Greenwich Village, which was fine. He gave us four subway passes good for two rides each which was a nice bonus. After resting up at the hotel we went to Rockefeller Center to get tickets for Top of the Rock for 7:30, then explored the area including St Patrick¡¦s Cathedral and 5th Avenue. Dinner was at an Irish Pub, PJ Morans which was OK. Our food arrived suspiciously fast like they already had it made up. We spent two hours at the Top of Rock, seeing the city in the daylight and then waiting for the lights to come up. What a great view.
Tuesday we stopped by the Today Show set on our way out in the morning. We all enjoyed that, especially the kids and we all made it on TV. Ann Curry came over to talk to our daughter and gave her the script notes she was using. It was another day of near record high temperatures so naturally we went walking through Central Park. Just about everything we had planned was outside so there wasn¡¦t much we could do about it. I had printed out a walking tour from the Central Park Conservatory, but we cut it short after 4 miles. That night we ate dinner at Meson Sevilla (very good) and then to the early show at the Ha Comedy Club. The first show of the night is family friendly and it was something different than we get back home, so I thought we¡¦d try it. The kids liked it better than the adults. They were only a dozen or so of us there which didn¡¦t help. I would imagine the shows get better later in the evening.
Wednesday my son actually wanted to get up early (7:30 which is early for him) to go back to the Today show. He worked at his college TV station this past year and really enjoyed seeing behind the scenes. Ann Curry recognized our daughter from the day before and came right over to talk with her again. They were doing a story on hair fashion and they zoomed right in on her since she has rainbow dyed streaks in her hair. Then the girl that plays iCarly on TV came over to say hi and gave her a CD and an autograph. (She¡¦s the new Hannah Montana in case you don¡¦t have teenage girls.) I think that was the highlight of the trip for her.
From there we took the subway to Brooklyn and walked back across the Brooklyn Bridge. What a view! It was an easy walk and the path from the subway stop was well marked. The weather was not nearly as hot which made it even better. From there we headed to the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory for the best ice cream I think we¡¦ve ever had. We picked up some desert at a bakery in Little Italy and headed back to the motel for our afternoon rest. Later on we walked down 6th avenue a dozen or so blocks to check out some knitting stores for my wife. We ate a local diner called Moonstruck which was very good. It was nice to get away from the traditional tourist areas. The other reason for coming this way was to check out Grand Central Terminal which was awesome. We even stayed to see one of the trains leave and watch people running to try and catch it. Did I mention we¡¦re from a small town?
Thursday we checked out and left our bags at the hotel and headed to the Museum of Modern Art. The kids can only tolerate one art museum per vacation and I picked this one because we all prefer modern art. We spent 2 hours exploring and then grabbed a street hot dog for lunch (we had to do it once) before heading back to meet our car to Newark. Once again we used Dial 7 and this time had a much better driver. We spent the night at the airport before flying back Friday morning.
Some random observations:
We were the only people with kids in any of the restaurants we went into except for John¡¦s Pizza.
We were always given a table in the back except for John¡¦s Pizza. Coincident?
The subway is very safe and easy to use. If you are traveling with kids just make sure a parent goes through the turnstile first and last in case one of the metro cards doesn¡¦t work and one of you is stuck on the wrong side from the others.
We should have brought a small back pack to carry water, cameras and other typical tourist stuff in. My wife ended up carrying it all in a large purse and it was getting quite heavy. A back pack would have let us macho men share some of the load (my son was not about to carry the purseļ)
We walked everywhere, probably averaging 4 to 5 miles a day. My wife recommends several pairs of shoes for the ladies so they won¡¦t rub the same spot every day.
Most of what we did was based on things I learned from this board, so thanks to everyone that contributed to our trip. I¡¦m happy to answer any questions.
We checked into our room in Radio City Apartments, unpacked and chilled for an hour. This is a great hotel for families in an excellent location between Times Square and Rockefeller Center. We had two double beds and a fold out couch that my daughter said was comfortable. It had to be the quietest room we ever stayed in. We were on the 11th floor with the A/C running the whole time which helped. It had a full kitchen and we bought milk and cereal for our breakfast every morning. The front desk staff wasn¡¦t much help, but I learned so much from these boards and other research that we didn¡¦t really need them.
We ate dinner at John¡¦s Pizza which was very good and then wandered around Times Square. We checked out the Hershey and M&M stores and of course Virgin Records. That was enough time spent in Time Square for the entire trip, although we did go back for a few minutes each evening. There are just so many people there it¡¦s hard to move around.
Sunday we took the New York Party Shuttle all day tour which I recommend. This gave us a great overview and took us places we would not have had time to get to on our own such as Wall Street, Ground Zero and Lower Manhattan. They took us across the Staten Island Ferry for great views of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan Skyline. The guide was very informative and fun. We ate supper at Cara Mia (excellent) and then to Spamalot which we all loved. To quote our son ¡§whoever thought to turn Monty Python into a musical is a genius¡¨.
Monday we met up with a Big Apple Greeter for a walking tour of Greenwich Village. We ended up walking 3.5 miles in record high temperatures. The tour was worth it as a one time experience, but I don¡¦t think I would do it again. We learned more about what it¡¦s like to live in NYC than we did about the history of Greenwich Village, which was fine. He gave us four subway passes good for two rides each which was a nice bonus. After resting up at the hotel we went to Rockefeller Center to get tickets for Top of the Rock for 7:30, then explored the area including St Patrick¡¦s Cathedral and 5th Avenue. Dinner was at an Irish Pub, PJ Morans which was OK. Our food arrived suspiciously fast like they already had it made up. We spent two hours at the Top of Rock, seeing the city in the daylight and then waiting for the lights to come up. What a great view.
Tuesday we stopped by the Today Show set on our way out in the morning. We all enjoyed that, especially the kids and we all made it on TV. Ann Curry came over to talk to our daughter and gave her the script notes she was using. It was another day of near record high temperatures so naturally we went walking through Central Park. Just about everything we had planned was outside so there wasn¡¦t much we could do about it. I had printed out a walking tour from the Central Park Conservatory, but we cut it short after 4 miles. That night we ate dinner at Meson Sevilla (very good) and then to the early show at the Ha Comedy Club. The first show of the night is family friendly and it was something different than we get back home, so I thought we¡¦d try it. The kids liked it better than the adults. They were only a dozen or so of us there which didn¡¦t help. I would imagine the shows get better later in the evening.
Wednesday my son actually wanted to get up early (7:30 which is early for him) to go back to the Today show. He worked at his college TV station this past year and really enjoyed seeing behind the scenes. Ann Curry recognized our daughter from the day before and came right over to talk with her again. They were doing a story on hair fashion and they zoomed right in on her since she has rainbow dyed streaks in her hair. Then the girl that plays iCarly on TV came over to say hi and gave her a CD and an autograph. (She¡¦s the new Hannah Montana in case you don¡¦t have teenage girls.) I think that was the highlight of the trip for her.
From there we took the subway to Brooklyn and walked back across the Brooklyn Bridge. What a view! It was an easy walk and the path from the subway stop was well marked. The weather was not nearly as hot which made it even better. From there we headed to the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory for the best ice cream I think we¡¦ve ever had. We picked up some desert at a bakery in Little Italy and headed back to the motel for our afternoon rest. Later on we walked down 6th avenue a dozen or so blocks to check out some knitting stores for my wife. We ate a local diner called Moonstruck which was very good. It was nice to get away from the traditional tourist areas. The other reason for coming this way was to check out Grand Central Terminal which was awesome. We even stayed to see one of the trains leave and watch people running to try and catch it. Did I mention we¡¦re from a small town?
Thursday we checked out and left our bags at the hotel and headed to the Museum of Modern Art. The kids can only tolerate one art museum per vacation and I picked this one because we all prefer modern art. We spent 2 hours exploring and then grabbed a street hot dog for lunch (we had to do it once) before heading back to meet our car to Newark. Once again we used Dial 7 and this time had a much better driver. We spent the night at the airport before flying back Friday morning.
Some random observations:
We were the only people with kids in any of the restaurants we went into except for John¡¦s Pizza.
We were always given a table in the back except for John¡¦s Pizza. Coincident?
The subway is very safe and easy to use. If you are traveling with kids just make sure a parent goes through the turnstile first and last in case one of the metro cards doesn¡¦t work and one of you is stuck on the wrong side from the others.
We should have brought a small back pack to carry water, cameras and other typical tourist stuff in. My wife ended up carrying it all in a large purse and it was getting quite heavy. A back pack would have let us macho men share some of the load (my son was not about to carry the purseļ)
We walked everywhere, probably averaging 4 to 5 miles a day. My wife recommends several pairs of shoes for the ladies so they won¡¦t rub the same spot every day.
Most of what we did was based on things I learned from this board, so thanks to everyone that contributed to our trip. I¡¦m happy to answer any questions.
Jun 14th, 2008, 03:09 PM
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Great trip report - it sounds like you had a good time. I'm going to NYC with my 16 yr. old daughter for a day. I think we're going to go around Greenwich Village - anything that we shouldn't miss? We won't do an official tour, but I'm not really familiar with the area, so I'm hoping a good map will do. I haven't been down there in years.
Spamalot sounds like a lot of fun- it's on my list. I also ate at Cara Mia on my last trip and it was excellent. There are so many good restaurant choices in Hell's Kitchen.
Thanks for posting!
Spamalot sounds like a lot of fun- it's on my list. I also ate at Cara Mia on my last trip and it was excellent. There are so many good restaurant choices in Hell's Kitchen.
Thanks for posting!
Jun 14th, 2008, 03:27 PM
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rich,
So glad you enjoyed your visit, even with the record heat.
There are a few Moonstruck diners around NYC and I find them to be a step above other diners in quality.
I remember seeing your daughter on the Today Show as I was getting ready for work morning!
So glad you enjoyed your visit, even with the record heat.
There are a few Moonstruck diners around NYC and I find them to be a step above other diners in quality.
I remember seeing your daughter on the Today Show as I was getting ready for work morning!
Jun 14th, 2008, 04:23 PM
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Glad you had a good time.
But yes, you can really tell you're from a small town if you're spending time watching people catch a train. Or feel you need to sandwich 18/15 year olds on the subway so you don't lose them.
I can see this if they were 8 and 5 - but not 18 and 15. (Our kids rode the subway regularly with friends or alone from the time they were 11/12 - not late at night of course).
As for sitting in the back of restaurants I don;t think it was because of teenagers - unless you looked very obviously like tourists and they figured you wouldn't complain. Or you were very disheveled due to the heat.
But yes, you can really tell you're from a small town if you're spending time watching people catch a train. Or feel you need to sandwich 18/15 year olds on the subway so you don't lose them.
I can see this if they were 8 and 5 - but not 18 and 15. (Our kids rode the subway regularly with friends or alone from the time they were 11/12 - not late at night of course).
As for sitting in the back of restaurants I don;t think it was because of teenagers - unless you looked very obviously like tourists and they figured you wouldn't complain. Or you were very disheveled due to the heat.
Jun 14th, 2008, 04:39 PM
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Nytraveler... Although we have ridden subways in other cities, we had not yet used the machines in NY to buy a metrocard. Since there was not a booth at that location, my wife was forced to figure it out on her own while the rest of us were on the other side of turnstyles. I would have hated for that to be my 15 year old daughter. Too bad one of your kids wasn't around to help out us hick tourists.
Jun 14th, 2008, 05:51 PM
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richbutnot, I really enjoyed your trip report! What a great trip for whole family--I bet your kids will never forget it. NYC is my favorite city ever (so far!) and I am always dreaming about return visits. My son is 2, so I don't think I'm quite ready to tackle NYC with him. My husband says he needs to be at least 3 to go to a Yankees game--ha, ha! Thank you for sharing all of your experiences with us.
How far in advance did you book your room at Radio City Apartments? Any time I've ever checked dates on their website, I've never had a bit of luck.
How far in advance did you book your room at Radio City Apartments? Any time I've ever checked dates on their website, I've never had a bit of luck.
Jun 14th, 2008, 06:33 PM
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I made the reservation last August. I wasn't sure of our exact plans back then, so I made the reservation for an extra day on each end and adjusted it in December when our plans firmed up.
Jun 15th, 2008, 03:14 AM
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Nice report rich! My teens enjoyed the Party Shuttle as well. It doesn't take the place of deeper exploration, but gives you a real feel for where you are going. Plus, all the little stories, tips and personal touches are priceless. Sounds like a great use of time. After all the walking that we did in NYC and all the moaning from my girls, this year I had them fitted for good hiking/walking shoes and one daughter for orthotics to wear in Paris. I suggest that more than switching shoes. Makes a world of difference.
Jun 15th, 2008, 08:08 PM
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Really fun reading! We're from a small town too and it was fun seeing the world through New York eyes on our trip there several years ago. We also ate at the John's Pizza near Times Square--in fact, we ate there twice because it was handy for pre and post theater dinners.
Glad you had a great trip
Glad you had a great trip
Jun 21st, 2008, 10:15 AM
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Radio City Apartments is a huge bargain for what you get - so are often sold out 6 months or more in advance - esp for busy times. If you're interested try to book them as soon as you have your trip dates.
Jun 23rd, 2008, 07:12 PM
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Thanks rich. I enjoyed your trip report. Sounds like you had a wonderful time. My 15-yr-old dd is the same about museums, although she did love the Museum of Natural History. Re shoes, I always wear comfortable shoes (Clarks) in NYC but that doesn't seem to be enough, as your wife notes. We are planning a trip now, and I have been thinking of hauling my tennis shoes along when I dress up.
I'm glad you and your family had a good time.
I'm glad you and your family had a good time.
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