Well said, Sandi! I'm planning a trip this October to NYC and found your report very helpful. Thanks, Jenny

Perhaps she didn't Wendell. It was a short trip, and I know being in a strange city for a short period of time always throws off my system.

hi sandi and thanks we will be in ny for the weekend of the marathon (my husband is running) the kids and I have never been, you provided lots of ideas other than shopping that will suit us all.my son will love the natural history and the Met. I really enjoyed reading your account. you have given me much more confidence with the subway etc many thanks pauline uk

Loved your trip report! I hope it inspires many visitors to NYC - and I hope you and your family return during some dryer days. I have one correction to make because for some reason I'm in a proofreading mood tonight: the Harbor Lights tour (which I love) goes under the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges. Those 3 span the East River, as opposed to the George Washington Bridge which goes across the Hudson...

thanks for the correction.. I knew it started with a "W" and Washington was the only thing I could think of (not having a map w/ me). We had a great time. My son called NY his "next home". Maybe he's a future student of NYU or Columbia!

Sandie, I'm planning a trip soon & had put down an itinerary which I wanted to check out. It's almost the same as what you did with only a few changes. Want to take in an ice hockey match & tour the UN building. I was wondering whether we were going to be doing too much, but thanks to your note & everyone comments I've learned loads. Thanks. Hope our trip is as good later this month, we'll have 3 full days & 2 half days.

Great Report Sandi. You did all of our favorite things (we have 2 boys who are 10 and 13), except you did it all at once! You also gave me ideas for some things we haven't done yet. We live just outside the city, so we bring our kids in on day trips, but they've loved the Intrepid, the Met (yes, the Egyptian and Armor exhibits are their favorites), the Museum of Natural History and still love FAO Schwartz.

Did you check out the new (fairly new), food market in Grand Central? Isn't it great?

Thanks for the report, I got some new ideas for our next family daytrip next month.

We were lucky that my husband is a walking compass. Regardless of whether we've been to a city before he is excellent with directions, maps and keeping his bearings. That and the fact that he's been to NY many times before (but hasn't done many touristy things) helped us stay on track and plan well. I also have to warn that we walked at least 8-10 hours a day to do all that we did. That kind of pace may not be for everyone..and it was exhausting. Just have a list of "nice to do" sites and do what you can.

If anyone is interested, I have my NYC "virtual photo album" on Imagestation.com if you'd like to view it. It's frre but you do have to create a user ID and password to see it. I do this for every trip so I can share w/ my family that live all over the place. Here's the link:

http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4291296171&code=3703089&mode=invite

topping for zizi.