NYC trip report with kids
Mar 12th, 2007 | 08:31 PM
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NYC trip report with kids
Thanks to all who helped us plan this trip! My husband and I planned this 4-day trip to NYC with our two daughters (aged 8 and 12). I'm posting it so it may be of help to others traveling to NYC with kids around this age...
We arrived on a late flight on Thurs nite. My younger daughter was feeling a bit queasy on the plane, and then we got into a bumpy cab ride to Times Square to the Doubletree Suites. Upon our grand entrance into Times Square, she promptly threw up all over the sidewalk (poor thing!). Within a minute, a woman walked over to us with a handful of paper napkins for my daughter, the bellman helped us guide her inside, and a NYC policeman asked if she was okay and if we needed him to call an ambulance (so New Yorkers are so nice and helpful!).
The Doubletree Suites is a great place to stay if you are going to be seeing some shows, because it's right in the theatre district. The room was a bit smaller than I expected, but perfect for our needs. They gave us chocolate chip cookies upon check-in, and the beds were very comfortable. Also a beautiful view of Times Square.
Day 1: We walked over to Dean and Deluca at Rockefeller Center for breakfast (delicious quiches and pastries). Then we took a cab to the Museum of Natural History. The kids loved this--especially since we had seen "Night at the Museum". We ate lunch at the museum cafeteria, and then took a cab back to the hotel and walked around Times Square a little bit. We then took a little nap, and got ready for dinner. We ate at John's Pizzeria upon your recommendations. We got there early (before 6 pm), so there was no wait. We just loved it! The pizza was great, and my daughter and husband ordered the linguine with clam sauce and chicken parmesan, and those were delicious as well. We then went to see "Spamalot" which was absolutely hilarious! Definitely recommend this show to everyone!
Day 2: I walked over to Times Square Bagels (which was very close to John's Pizzeria on 50th Street). Brought those back to the lazybones in the hotel--very good bagels. We then took the subway over to Soho to go shopping. We had lunch at Jerry's (another recommendation from you all). It was very crowded, but very nice food. Our favorite shops were Yellow Rat Bastard, Pearl River Mart, and So Good (all on Broadway)--and GirlProps on Prince. Then (don't yell at me), we went down to Canal Street and got my 12-year old a purse. I don't think I'll be going back to Canal Street anytime soon--very seedy, and lots of tourists with black garbage bags full of fake purses--we could hardly walk down the sidewalk it was so crowded. The purse she got was cute though--not sure if it was worth it. Back to the hotel to nap and get ready for the next show. We went to "Hell's Kitchen" for pre-theatre dinner--was not a great place. No kids menu and the food wasn't anything special. Then we went to our second show, "25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee". We all loved this one as well. We got there early to sign up to be audience participants, but they didn't choose us. After we saw the show, we were glad we weren't chosen--those participants were up on stage half the show! The show was very funny... Then we walked over to Junior's for a piece of chocolate swirl cheesecake--Heaven!!
Day 3: Went updown to have brunch with a relative. We went to a place called "Island" on Madison at 92nd street. It was right next to Sarabeth's. We had a delicious breakfast there! People were waiting to get into Sarabeth's, and this place was empty, and I don't know how Sarabeth's could have been any better. We had fresh popovers, granola with fresh berries, challah french toast, etc. Yummy! Then we went over to the Met and went to the Temple of Dendur, the Egyptian and Greek art exhibits, and the French Impressionists. I could have spent all day there, but my older daughter wasn't feeling well and wanted to go back to the hotel. So we went back to the hotel, and I left my husband with the girls and finally got some time to myself! I took a cab to the Greenflea Market on Columbus Avenue between W. 76 & 77 Streets (this is open every Sunday year round). It was so much fun--I got some homemade pretzels, rugelach, earrings, and just had a ball walking around looking at all the vendors. Then I walked down Columbus heading downtown, and shopped along the way (very cute shopping on Columbus!). In fact, it was such a beautiful day, I walked all the way back to Times Square (30 blocks). It is definitely nice to get some alone time when you are on a family trip! When I got back to the hotel, we went to the Top of the Rock to check out the sunset view--no lines and wonderful views, as expected! Then we went to Ellen's Stardust Diner for dinner. The food was marginal at best, but the atmosphere was fun, and some of the singing waitresses definitely could have been contenders on American Idol! Then we went to Dale and Thomas for some popcorn (we got cheddar and chocolate caramel). You have to go here if you like popcorn! It's delicious! Back to the hotel to collapse...
Day 5: Time to go home... Back to Dean and Deluca for breakfast. We got there too late for the Today show--we should have gone earlier. In fact, if you want to go there for breakfast, it is best to get there before 10 am, because they were already setting up for lunch when we got there. They have upstairs seating as well, so it's not hard to find a table... Then I went to Anthropologie to do last-minute shopping, while husband took kids to Toys R Us and MTV store for their last-minute shopping. Then back to hotel, and cab back to airport. Just FYI, it takes about 30 minutes from Times Square to Laguardia, and about $30 cab fare (this was on a Monday about 1 pm).
Again, thanks to all of you who helped make our trip a success!
We arrived on a late flight on Thurs nite. My younger daughter was feeling a bit queasy on the plane, and then we got into a bumpy cab ride to Times Square to the Doubletree Suites. Upon our grand entrance into Times Square, she promptly threw up all over the sidewalk (poor thing!). Within a minute, a woman walked over to us with a handful of paper napkins for my daughter, the bellman helped us guide her inside, and a NYC policeman asked if she was okay and if we needed him to call an ambulance (so New Yorkers are so nice and helpful!).
The Doubletree Suites is a great place to stay if you are going to be seeing some shows, because it's right in the theatre district. The room was a bit smaller than I expected, but perfect for our needs. They gave us chocolate chip cookies upon check-in, and the beds were very comfortable. Also a beautiful view of Times Square.
Day 1: We walked over to Dean and Deluca at Rockefeller Center for breakfast (delicious quiches and pastries). Then we took a cab to the Museum of Natural History. The kids loved this--especially since we had seen "Night at the Museum". We ate lunch at the museum cafeteria, and then took a cab back to the hotel and walked around Times Square a little bit. We then took a little nap, and got ready for dinner. We ate at John's Pizzeria upon your recommendations. We got there early (before 6 pm), so there was no wait. We just loved it! The pizza was great, and my daughter and husband ordered the linguine with clam sauce and chicken parmesan, and those were delicious as well. We then went to see "Spamalot" which was absolutely hilarious! Definitely recommend this show to everyone!
Day 2: I walked over to Times Square Bagels (which was very close to John's Pizzeria on 50th Street). Brought those back to the lazybones in the hotel--very good bagels. We then took the subway over to Soho to go shopping. We had lunch at Jerry's (another recommendation from you all). It was very crowded, but very nice food. Our favorite shops were Yellow Rat Bastard, Pearl River Mart, and So Good (all on Broadway)--and GirlProps on Prince. Then (don't yell at me), we went down to Canal Street and got my 12-year old a purse. I don't think I'll be going back to Canal Street anytime soon--very seedy, and lots of tourists with black garbage bags full of fake purses--we could hardly walk down the sidewalk it was so crowded. The purse she got was cute though--not sure if it was worth it. Back to the hotel to nap and get ready for the next show. We went to "Hell's Kitchen" for pre-theatre dinner--was not a great place. No kids menu and the food wasn't anything special. Then we went to our second show, "25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee". We all loved this one as well. We got there early to sign up to be audience participants, but they didn't choose us. After we saw the show, we were glad we weren't chosen--those participants were up on stage half the show! The show was very funny... Then we walked over to Junior's for a piece of chocolate swirl cheesecake--Heaven!!
Day 3: Went updown to have brunch with a relative. We went to a place called "Island" on Madison at 92nd street. It was right next to Sarabeth's. We had a delicious breakfast there! People were waiting to get into Sarabeth's, and this place was empty, and I don't know how Sarabeth's could have been any better. We had fresh popovers, granola with fresh berries, challah french toast, etc. Yummy! Then we went over to the Met and went to the Temple of Dendur, the Egyptian and Greek art exhibits, and the French Impressionists. I could have spent all day there, but my older daughter wasn't feeling well and wanted to go back to the hotel. So we went back to the hotel, and I left my husband with the girls and finally got some time to myself! I took a cab to the Greenflea Market on Columbus Avenue between W. 76 & 77 Streets (this is open every Sunday year round). It was so much fun--I got some homemade pretzels, rugelach, earrings, and just had a ball walking around looking at all the vendors. Then I walked down Columbus heading downtown, and shopped along the way (very cute shopping on Columbus!). In fact, it was such a beautiful day, I walked all the way back to Times Square (30 blocks). It is definitely nice to get some alone time when you are on a family trip! When I got back to the hotel, we went to the Top of the Rock to check out the sunset view--no lines and wonderful views, as expected! Then we went to Ellen's Stardust Diner for dinner. The food was marginal at best, but the atmosphere was fun, and some of the singing waitresses definitely could have been contenders on American Idol! Then we went to Dale and Thomas for some popcorn (we got cheddar and chocolate caramel). You have to go here if you like popcorn! It's delicious! Back to the hotel to collapse...
Day 5: Time to go home... Back to Dean and Deluca for breakfast. We got there too late for the Today show--we should have gone earlier. In fact, if you want to go there for breakfast, it is best to get there before 10 am, because they were already setting up for lunch when we got there. They have upstairs seating as well, so it's not hard to find a table... Then I went to Anthropologie to do last-minute shopping, while husband took kids to Toys R Us and MTV store for their last-minute shopping. Then back to hotel, and cab back to airport. Just FYI, it takes about 30 minutes from Times Square to Laguardia, and about $30 cab fare (this was on a Monday about 1 pm).
Again, thanks to all of you who helped make our trip a success!
