For my Mommy Days this summer (part of my Summer Fun List) I’ve generally been doing less ambitious things. But my oldest had asked for a trip to NYC for his birthday a few months ago. We hadn’t gotten to that yet, so we decided to combine that with the Mommy Day concept.
On Friday, he and I drove into NYC. Despite living in NYC for 9 years, I basically never drove there. I didn’t own a car and when we rented one for weekend excursions, my husband would drive. But, having driven in NYC a few weeks ago for my TBT In Real Life filming, I decided it wasn’t that bad. And thus I drove through the Lincoln tunnel, and parked in a garage near our mid-town hotel.
We walked around Times Square, got Starbucks (of course!), and ate at a burger place. Then I got myself mentally ready for 3.5 hours of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
For anyone familiar with this play, apparently it originally ran something like 6 hours over two nights. To make this more doable in an American theater context, it was shortened to 3.5 hours and one night. A few parts still dragged a bit, but I appreciated that whenever something was getting too sappy or dramatic, they’d throw a funny line in there. That made the length less noticeable. And the special effects were pretty good! Not to spoil anything, but my son really enjoyed the Dementors.
In the morning, we walked to Central Park (after getting Starbucks again!). We circled the pond, taking in the sights. Then we checked out of the hotel, stored our luggage, and headed (via cab) downtown to the World Trade Center.
When my son and I visited NYC a few years ago together we had gone to the top of the Empire State Building. So this time, it was to the top of One World Trade Center. After paying our respects at the footprints of the old towers, we got in the elevator and rode (fast!) up to the top. The observatory was lovely on a clear day, and we could see the building where we lived until 2011. We had lunch in the cafe, then headed back uptown to collect our luggage, and our car, and I drove back out the Lincoln Tunnel without incident.
It was fun seeing NYC through my son’s eyes. He loved the theater district and the bustle of Times Square at night. He’s now decided he wants to do a summer program in NYC next summer. I remember going to see Phantom of the Opera when I was 18 and feeling just as enamored with the city…which is why I wound up moving there in 2002.
Now I just need to figure out one more Mommy Day for the 7-year-old. He has requested Chuck E. Cheese. Something of a different vibe! But hey, it’s about what the kid wants…
We spent 3 days in NYC in late June. My kids were not overly enamored with it which was a bit shocking to me because…I love New York. I think they might have been a bit young? There was a lot of chaos trying to find public bathrooms, and one child was especially bothered by the smells of smoke (cigarette…and other).
But we had many enjoyable moments (reading your post on this thought really helped me shift my perspective about our trip). And Broadway in particular was a HUGE hit. We did Aladdin one night and then Harry Potter the following. I actually really enjoyed Harry Potter. I thought what they did with such a minimal set was incredible; we loved the Dementors as well (the pool on stage – didn’t see that coming, the writing on the walls, various magic elements, and how the time-shifting was conveyed…the latter was my favourite part of the show as I thought it was so masterfully done).
@Elisabeth – I thought the time shifting was fun too – fun to think about. But yes, NYC has a very noticeable lack of public bathrooms. We were mostly going places that had them so it wasn’t a problem, but otherwise I’m all about Grand Central and hotel lobbies (though security has gotten tighter at some of those places)