Family visit to NYC – trip report
 

I’ve just returned from a fantastic few days in New York with my husband and 6-year-old son, Stephen. I’d like to thank all the people who have posted such useful information on the board, as it really helped our trip planning! We felt really welcome in New York – everyone we met was very helpful and friendly. <BR><BR>We stayed at the Excelsior Hotel on W 81st street, which I can thoroughly recommend. I’m feeling particularly warm towards this hotel as they upgraded us to a suite (very unexpected!). It is just by the American Museum of Natural History, and across the road from Central Park, both of which I thought would be popular with our 6 year old. He loved the park – trees to climb, playgrounds, the Ramble, the turtle pond (we saw lots of turtles), the Alice statue … It was great to stay close enough so that he could play in the park each day. <BR><BR>On our first day (Sunday) we were all awake by 7am as we’d flown from the UK so we were glad the hotel started serving breakfast early. We explored the park in the beautiful spring sunshine, and I visited the Columbus Ave fleamarket. We then took a subway to Times Square (we bought Metro cards each day which made getting buses and subways very easy). Toys R Us had long been promised, so that was the first stop (Lego is considerably cheaper in the US than the UK). Then we walked to Caf&eacute; St Barts, but my micro-management broke down here, as they are not open on weekends in March. We looked round the church which is amazing, and were invited for coffee by the people attending the service. Then we walked to Grand Central Station and ate in the food court.<BR><BR>After lunch we went to Sony Wonder Lab on Madison and 50th St, which was good, but aimed at slightly older children. Also, Stephen wasn’t really in the mood for concentrating on computer screens (with a new Lego set to build!). Then we dropped in at FAO Schwarz (as you do…) and found some Lego on special offer (is there a theme emerging here?). The robot elevator is great!<BR><BR>Then we made our way back to the hotel, and after building his Lego sets, Stephen was asleep by 5pm. He was still so soundly asleep by 7pm that we hadn’t the heart to wake him so ordered Chinese food to our room. <BR><BR>continued....

Monday was the day for the Natural History Museum but it doesn’t open till 10am, and we were still waking up early. So after breakfast at Zabar’s we walked along 79th St to Riverside Park and the boat basin, and took a bus back. The Natural History Museum is magnificent. We enjoyed the Space Show and the Butterfly Conservatory, and of course the dinosaurs. There is an interesting and colorful Vietnamese exhibit. In the evening we tried to go to Mars 2112, but found a note on the door saying closed Mon/Tues, so we went to John’s Pizza on 44th St instead (excellent).<BR><BR>Tuesday – sightseeing! A big breakfast at EJ’s Luncheonette set us up well for the day. First we took the subway to South St Seaport, walked around there and admired the Brooklyn Bridge, then took a taxi to Chinatown, and walked up to Little Italy where we ate ice cream on Mulberry St. Then we walked along Canal St (I could have spent a lot more time there, but my companions are not into shopping (Lego excepted)). We caught a bus along 6th Ave, then a taxi to the NY Waterways ferry terminal for a sightseeing cruise (only just got there in time – the bus took ages to go the last 10 blocks). The cruise was excellent and very informative, and the weather was perfect. After that, we took the free NY Waterways bus to the Empire State Building. No lines at all, much to my surprise. That evening we ate at La Caridad near our hotel – an interesting mix of Cuban and Chinese.<BR><BR>On Wednesday we wandered slowly down though Central Park to 68th St, then went to the IMAX cinema for a 3D film about the Space Station – great! Stephen was in fits of giggles trying to catch things floating “out of the screen” at him. Then to Mars 2112 which this time was open. This was a fun experience, though the food was pretty mediocre. Finally we had 4 hours before our car to the airport. We went down to Battery Park for a last glimpse of the Statue of Liberty, and a walk round the park. When we got back to Upper West Side I decided I had (just) enough time to visit the New York Historical Society Museum near our hotel. I’m really glad we did – not only were the Audubon watercolours of birds really beautiful, there were many other fascinating exhibits of American history. Stephen (initially very sceptical) loved the hands-on exhibit of antique board games (the hands-on bits were replicas!). The Tiffany lamps were wonderful, and there was a temporary exhibition of Jules Feiffer’s work – one of my favorite cartoonists and illustrators. Then we collapsed into the car back to Newark Airport through the first rain we had seen in New York.<BR><BR>Sorry this is so long – we had such a good time and saw so much!

Thank you for your post! I love it when people take the time to tell us how it all went...come back soon.

Great trip report!

What's interesting to me about your trip is how you managed to have a nice balance bewteen &quot;tourist&quot; time and &quot;locals&quot; time. <BR>On the one hand I hate to see visitors to NY spend ALL their time in places like Times Square, but we New Yorkers sometimes get overzealous in recommending that people completely avoid the places that NY is actually known for. To see a trip report that blends places like the NY Historical Society and shops/restaurants nearby with FAO Schwarz &amp; a sighseeing cruise...--well done!

Great report -- thanks!<BR>

More kudos for a very warm report!

Thanks for all your kind comments! It was my husband's first trip to New York, and I've only had a short visit before, so we certainly wanted to see the tourist sights. But I'd read so much about the Upper West Side (a lot on this forum) (and watched &quot;You've got mail&quot;!) so I definitely wanted to explore the neighbourhood as well.

I'm so glad you and your family had a great time here! It's really wonderful to hear that you did a lot of UWS things (EJ's, Zabar's, La Caridad, Central Park AND Riverside Park!!) because I think it's a fabulous place for families with kids. And I loved hearing about your scavenger list from the other post - like I posted there, I hope to come up with a similar one for our Boston trip.