Incredible Family Trip to New York City – The Summary

As an Incredible Dad, one of your preordained roles is to ensure that all family vacations turn out to be spectacular! (no pressure…)

Well here’s a summary of our trip to New York with all its high and low points.  May it help you as you plan to make your family’s vacation Incredible!

General points:

• This link to NYC Mag was extremely helpful.   http://nymag.com/travel/visitorsguide/46356/.  They had great suggestions on how to do NYC in 4 days with kids

• NYC is absolutely a walking/subway/cab city.  I don’t know how anyone finds parking and why there aren’t more traffic accidents…

Day 1

Arrived late the night before, 7.5 hour drive from Niagara Falls, slept in a bit but excited to start the day.  Had breakfast at Ellen’s Stardust (on Broadway) where the waiters were performing musical theatre and songs throughout all of breakfast.  Pancakes were delicious, eggs and sausages weren’t…. which amazed me because I thought that meal was ‘unscrewupable’…  Walked down Broadway through light drizzle.  Great stores, very touristy but we loved every minute.  M&M World was crazy.  Toys R Us with a ferris wheel and 4 floors was a bit much but still fun.  Bought tickets to “The Little Mermaid” broadway show at a bit of a discount at the box office… didn’t want to line up at TKTS… should have bought beforehand online but ah well…  Toured Grand Central Station and had late lunch at Juniors.  Overpriced deli and cheesecake was good but #1 in NYC?  Not too sure about that.  Walked back to hotel, freshened up then cabbed it over to The Little Mermaid (due to rain).  Had a quick bite at a local pizzaria nearby (ok) then watched the show… very good show, kids really enjoyed it.  Walked back to hotel through the lights of NYC as rain stopped, so many people… fun.  There happened to be a model and talent agency conference at our hotel… fun for Incredible Dad… bedtime…

Day 2

Beautiful morning.  Took #1 subway uptown to just west of Central Park.  Had breakfast at Alice’s Tea Room… very good pancakes, scones w/poached eggs and just a great overall experience (Ballet Girl got wings to wear through breakfast and pixie dust sprinkled on her).  Walked over to Central Park, walked around.  Saw lots of things, lots of pictures.  Went to Central Park Zoo, looked around but decided not to enter (as family just went to Toronto Zoo the week before).  Skirted around park then went to FAO Schwartz… wow, very unique and cool toys.  Had lunch at Pop Burger (ok) then did some shopping for Clean Mom (as she has a Pottery Barn illness…).  Walked over to the Museum of Natural History and it was CLOSED!!!! Arghhh!!! Didn’t know it closed at 5:30pm!  (we arrived at 5:45).  Took a bike cab over to Rockefeller Center, walked around.  Barefoot Contessa had a special exhibition.  Had dinner at Alfredo‘s… without a doubt, the BEST Fettuccine Alfredo we’ve had in our lives…. bar none….  had some cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery (yum…) back to the hotel… bedtime…

Day 3
Overcast day.  Had breakfast across the street from hotel at a deli (ok), Incredible Dad and Book Boy got on TV and had our 1.7 seconds of fame on The Today Show!  (see image above).  Took subway to Museum of Natural History.  Beautiful exhibits, huge whale!  Nice dinosaur exhibit…worth the trip.  We wanted to spend more time there but a) there were SO many camp kids around and b) wanted to do some other things before driving home that night.  Hopped back on the subway, stopped off at 18th st.  Rain started to come down.  Visited Books of Wonder (kids bookstore) and Cupcake Cafe… cupcakes weren’t as good as Magnolia… bookstore was a bit of a letdown…  only good thing was another Pottery Barn and Gap/Old Navy that Clean Mom got to hit.  Rain really starts to come down so we cab it to Lombardi’s in Little Italy.  No lineup due to weather.  Without a doubt, the BEST Pizza ever… pizza and meatballs… how can we ever go back to Pizza Nova?!?!?  Cab back to our hotel.  Hop in our car, drive over to see the Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty (no time for cruise or tours, just a drive-by with stop to take pics).  Something to do when we go back.  Start driving home, at about 11:30, driving through the Poconos in PA, see signs for Great Wolf Lodge.  We decide to surprise kids and stay the night there… got a 50% off deal for coming in so late.  Had a great time the next day, no line ups in water park, Premium Factory Outlet right beside hotel…  drove home safely….

There you go, our NYC trip in a nutshell.  We had a great time and I would highly recommend it to any family!  I hope you got some use out of this post and I would love to hear your comments or other suggestions you may have for other Incredible Dads out there planning on going to the Big Apple!

Start spreading the news…

Source of picture : Picture Correct, picturecorrect.com

Other Posts That Might Interest You:

1. Incredible Family Trip to Myrtle Beach and Washington DC – Part 1
2. Incredible Family Trip to Myrtle Beach and Washington DC – Part 2 and Book Review of The First Pup by Bob Staake
3. Ten Tips to Survive (and Enjoy) a Family Driving Trip to Florida