This summer was my third time to New York City. My first time I was in highschool on a Geography class trip in the late 1980’s. New York City was a completely different place then, not just because of my age (i.e. inability to see all the clubs, enjoy any rooftop patio bars, curfew placed by our teachers), but because I remember the city being cold, busy, dangerous after dark, and a constant stream of sirens morning, noon and night. Not my idea of a family vacation destination. It’s sad to think that one horrible day has the ability to transform and define a city, but here we are over a decade after 9/11 and New York City became a place I wanted to take my (step) kids to visit.
This summer was my third time to New York City. My first time I was in highschool on a Geography class trip in the late 1980’s. New York City was a completely different place then, not just because of my age (i.e. inability to see all the clubs, enjoy any rooftop patio bars, curfew placed by our teachers), but because I remember the city being cold, busy, dangerous after dark, and a constant stream of sirens morning, noon and night. Not my idea of a family vacation destination. It’s sad to think that one horrible day has the ability to transform and define a city, but here we are over a decade after 9/11 and New York City became a place I wanted to take my (step) kids to visit.
My second trip to New York City was a “thrill of a new relationship” one night excursion for my husband’s (then boyfriend) birthday. We flew down on Porter Air, the one hour flight that took us to the City That Never Sleeps and we spent the night at the Poisson Rouge – a club that featured one of our favourite bands performing a rare show. The next morning we had a quick walk through Central Park, toured Times Square, then boarded our plane back home. Quick, romantic, and exciting…it was the New York City that inspires so many of us to fall/remain in love with it.
Image from www.thelittledeathnyc.com
This past summer was an entirely new New York City for me. Nothing as monumentous as 9/11 had changed the city. I had changed. I was no longer the single, independant traveller on the go. I was a Mom, albeit a stepmom, and I was taking my new family to the Big Apple. The occasion we decided, was my step daughter’s 14th birthday. We travelled by plane, because the flights were cheap, parking in NYC is expensive, and truthfully I’m not certain I could have handled a 10 hour ride in the car each way. I am truly lucky to have 2 kids that seem to be natural born travellers. Even in shorter car rides, they entertain themselves with electronics of all sorts and most car trips are peaceful. But even an I-Touch can get boring after 10 hours, so we opted for the fastest way to get there.
I love researching where I’m travelling to next. I even love researching where I dream of travelling to one day. My Lonely Planet book collection is a true testiment to my endless daydreams. I forget what it’s like to be 14 (and 11 – the age of my stepson). We excitedly told the kids of the trip, and I guess I should have been unsurprised by their response… “That’s cool.” “That’s cool” was almost the equivalent of “but I still want to be friends.” I could only sigh, and hope that watching some NYC based movies and talking about our upcoming vacation was going to make them at least half enthusiastic as I was.
Planning the highlights of our 5 day visit was tough. I knew all the things I wanted to see, and for them to see for the first time. But what was going to wow them, I was stumped. My husband was my saving grace through the planning stage. He’s been a parent for 10+ years more than I have been, and he knew to let things happen as they will and to plan according to what we would like to see. The kids would enjoy it, or not. It wasn’t in our hands and no matter how many hours I looked at broadway sites, self guided tour sites, that it wasn’t going to make or break the trip for the kids. So with the exception of a few prebooked excursions, we left the days up to discovery and random agendas.
What both kids loved more than any of the attractions I could have planned out for their first visit to NYC, was the small things they found while doing the big things. Example…while having lunch at the overcrowded, overpriced Boathouse in central park, both kids found the most amount of fun watching the turtles in the pond swim around….something we could have done on the other side of the pond for much less money and in much more relaxing clothes. While at the Top of the Rock, although the views were impressive at night – the coloured lights that followed you in a new art exhibit at the top were far more entertaining and brought more smiles to their faces than any other lights shining brightly across the city.
Always impressive…Times Square NYC
The view from the Top of the Rock NYC
Would I go again with kids to New York City? Honestly…probably not. The days were exhausting, even with so little planned, it can be an expensive place to visit, from food, to attractions, to accommodations. I have no doubt both kids will remember this trip for a long while, I think both were happy with the experiences they had while travelling. I hope trips like this inspire them to see more of the world. But I think true appreciation for any destination, comes mostly from the desire to go there in the first place. The planning, the wanting…ultimately the chase of the adventure is what can make a place so truly inspiring. Although I travelled early and often in my childhood – I don’t remember being inspired like I am now in my 30’s.
Then again…I think a lot of what has made me into the adventurer today may have been all those car trips and family vacations I had when I was much younger. I know a vacation is something that is rarely a regret, even though maybe not as appreciated as I would have hoped. So, I plan our next family adventure – as either a sucker for punishment, or hopefully, as someone who inspires my kids to see the world.