Manhattan Memories

Family vacations have been a summer tradition since I was little. Sometimes we fly, other years we’ve driven, but either way, my parents, two brothers, and I head out of town for a week to discover new things. Throughout the years, we’ve been in over 30 states and after last summer, 10 different countries. This year, we visited the most populous city in America, New York City. There are many ways to travel around the Big Apple. You can drive a car, hale a taxi, or ride on the famed double-decker tourist buses. You can also travel on over 650 miles of track below ground on the NYC subway. That’s the way my family decided to travel around town. For just $25 per person, we could travel unlimited for 7 days. What a deal! There are so many things to see in New York City, you could never see it all in four days. However, I think we saw a pretty good share of it. We stayed in a hotel on 57^th St. between 6^th and 7^th Ave. We were very close to Carnegie Hall as well as a subway stop. We were also only about two blocks from Central Park. On our first evening there, we decided to start our trip in the spectacular Times Square. We were able to eat at the Hard Rock now located there. The next day, we went to the south part of Manhattan. We saw Battery Park, the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, Trinity Church, Ground Zero, Chinatown, and Soho. We also took the Staten Island Ferry (a free ride) in order to get a better look at the Statue. We also walked across the Brooklyn Bridge into Brooklyn. On the next day, we got up super early and headed to The Today Show. They were doing a cooking segment outside that day. We got to see them preparing everything. After we got a glimpse of Matt, Meredith, and Ann, we decided to go on with our day. We continued to walk through Rockefeller Plaza and then walked towards Bryant Park where we ate our breakfast, donuts and coffee from a corner stand. From there, we continued on to the Empire State Building. We were able to get to the top in almost record time due to our morning arrival. They say you can spend almost a whole day waiting in line! The views really were amazing. Then we walked to Macy’s (and of course, rode the escalators) and then on to Grand Central Terminal. I’m glad we didn’t have to figure out the trains there! AAAHHH! After our early morning, we were ready for some dinner. Some locals on the street had suggested an Italian restaurant by our hotel, Romeo’s, so we ate there. The next day we went to the 5^th Avenue Shopping District. It was so much fun to see all of the ritzy shops. We went inside of FAO Swartz as well as the Apple Store. We also walked around Central Park some more. The next day we took an amazing trip on the Circle Line Tour. Although the sunburn still stings a bit, the tour was well worth it. To finish off our trip in New York, we went to the musical production, Mary Poppins. It was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. The set and lighting was amazing. It was such a spectacular way to end an amazing experience. The next morning we left early for Penn Station where we took the Amtrak to our next destination. However, nothing would compare to our stay in The City That Never Sleeps!!!