We surprised Rosie for her big birthday with a trip to the big city.
Where did you stay?
We stayed at the Motto by Hilton on 23rd street. It was between two subway stops- the red line and the orange line, and worked out great. Taylor is really motivated to get a good deal, so she picked the spot, and it worked out great.
We arrived super early- leaving Greensboro at 6:15, and making it to the Hotel by 9:15 or so- way too early to check in, but we were able to leave our bags there, and check in by 3pm. The room had a queen bed/bunk bed situation which Rosie really liked, and I thought the view was awesome from the 25th floor.
What did you do?
A few things were planned- this was Rosies big trip, so I wanted to honor her and the things she enjoyed. As a travel tip, I would recommend getting dinner reservations at the bare minimum, if you don’t want to eat street food for dinner.
We saw all the touristy things around Rockefeller plaza, like:
FAO Schwartz,
the Christmas Tree,
the Lego Store,
After watching all the movies to get the NYC spirit before the trip, Rosie wanted to see Central Park, which was a really fun tangent.
Rosie is a dancer, so we saw the Rockettes- and it was WAY better than I expected. And Yes, I did cry towards the end during the nativity scene: it just reminded me of how many prayers were answered over the past 10 years for us to get to go on a trip like this.
Going up to the top of a building had to be a part of the trip- and there are several options, but The Edge at Hudson Yards was where we ended up going- and it did not disappoint. The views were amazing, all the way around, and it had a glass floor for a part of it. Rosie loves a thrill, but the glass floor from 1100 feet up was almost too much for her. We got the all-day ticket to go any time we wanted, and I highly recommend it.
Strolling on the High Line, walking through Chelsea Market, and seeing a few malls like Hudson Yards, the Oculus, etc. They were great spots to get warm.
Rosie really likes the Broadway play Hamilton, and Alexander Hamilton is buried at Trinity Church between the NYSE and Freedom Tower, right near the place we went skating- so we stopped by there as well to see some of the names from one of her favorite songs: “The Schuyler Sisters”, all buried in the same place. Surprisingly, Rosie really enjoyed that spot- and her and I are going to see Hamilton at the Tanger Center in Greensboro later this month.
Finally, we did Ice Skating to finish things up. There are a few places in the city to skate, and I was hoping to avoid the huge crowds if skating in one of the popular places like Rockefeller Plaza, so the Rink at Brookfield Place was where we ended up, and it was great. Rosie was really looking forward to that part, and she did great.
Where did you eat?
For breakfast, Bagels are the way to go. There are lots of lists of “the best bagels in NYC”, but out of the ones closest to our hotel, we ended up at Brooklyn Bagels and Ess-a-Bagel. The latter one- with Lox, Scallion cream cheese and red onions on an everything bagel made for some downright offensive breath, but a darn good bagel. Rosie struggled with her braces, but didn’t complain.
John’s Pizza on Bleecker Street is the best pie in town, hands down. The wait was about an hour, so Taylor and Rosie did some shopping around the area while I waited. At that point, I didn’t really even WANT a pizza after eating Bagels (like, GIANT bagels) for breakfast 2 days in a row.
It was the best Pizza I ever had in my life, hands down. I think Taylor would say the same. What makes the pizza so good? We asked the waiter, and he said it was the 100 year old coal-fired oven that cooks at 1000 degrees.
Taylor really wanted to include Ellens Stardust Diner on our list because she went as a kid and really enjoyed it. There are lots of things I did as a kid and really enjoyed and many of them did not hold up well- the Brave Little Toaster movie was one of them. However, in this case, it did hold up well. It’s a little diner on Broadway where the wait staff are almost all people trying out for Broadway shows- so they sing these amazing Broadway numbers while people are eating, and they are surprisingly good. Once again, it was a 1 hour wait or so, so I did my dad duties while the girls shopped, but it was worth it. I was cold down to my bones at this point.
It is hard to get dinner reservations at some of the more popular, kid-friendly places, so we had dinner at La Grande Boucherie, a French place with great Christmas decorations. It was alright, and Rosie was falling asleep by the end of the meal.
We also ate at Rosemary’s for dinner. It was really decked out for Christmas and had great music and decorations. The food was great. Sitting in one of those restaurant booths on the sidewalk, looking in through the windows at the restaurant while wearing our coats during the meal to stay warm, was not great. Once again, no one complained- except me, I complained to the manager that the seating was not cool- it was freezing out there. Because we complained, they gave us some more carbs on the house.
What else?
The subway worked great. I worked hard to read up on some of the routes before going- I was still trying to recover from getting two families lost on a hike in the woods two years ago and didn’t want to embarrass myself.
Everything around Rockefeller Plaza was super crowded, but the second day seeing other parts of the city wasn’t too bad.
There is something on Apple Maps called “Guides”, where you can save a bunch of spots on a map and look at all of them at the same time, instead of looking up things 1 by 1. This was super helpful to add a bunch of “ideas” of things to do at various places around the city, then just let Rosie pick what seemed best.
It was really, really cold. We got a 6:15 am flight from Greensboro to Laguardia, and that may have been a bit too early. Rosie was a little slow all day, and I think we were too. A trip that early meant getting all your stuff out- including long johns and layers and layers of clothes- the night before. I am proud to say that no one complained.
Hudson Yards is a really cool mall- they put out 2 million lights for Christmas- but the stores aren’t that cool for people that don’t have a million dollars like us.
Having a few things planned, and a lot of room to be flexible, worked out really well. I took note of that from how Taylor has planned trips in the past.
On the first day, we took our bagels to Times Square as one of our first stops and learned that Rosie was afraid of the pigeons. “They kept trying to eat my food” she said. She was right, they were trying to eat her food, but for the girl that is not afraid of a single roller coaster, I was kind of surprised to learn of this new phobia of hers.
What about Mercy?
She stayed at her grandma and grandpa’s house (thank you Zippy and Papa!). We missed her, but it would have been terrible to have her in the dirty, dirty subways around the city. Zippy sent us some pictures and it looks like Mercy had a great time.
To summarize:
Where did we stay?
The Motto by Hilton.
What did we do?
Hudson Yards
FAO Schwartz
The Lego Store
Central Park
M&M Store
Ice Skating at The Rink at Brookfield Place
Where did we eat?