Start Spreading The News: 48 Hours in New York City

*NYC skyline as seen from The Beast's Speedboat*

Start spreading the news, I'm leaving today. Now that the tone is set (and you have the appropriate song in your head)...We were off! Our six week summer adventure had officially began. To contain our excitement would be impossible. We were beyond excited! A year of planning, researching, tweaking, purchasing, and dreaming. We were finally (thanks a lot, Covid) making our way to Europe! And there was only one city appropriate to kick start our trip: New York City!!!

The Big Apple, Here we come!

Oh, New York City. We wish we had time to do every possible thing in this iconic city but we were looking forward to 48 adrenaline pumping hours to check off our family’s official NYC Bucket List. And knowing how we roll, we wanted to attempt to do at least some of them casually and spontaneously. We did, however, pre-book two things prior to arriving: our hotel near Times Square (check!) and a speedboat tour out to see Lady Liberty (check, and check!). We wanted to (or hoped we could) enjoy the remaining bucket list items in unplanned fashion. The best of both worlds. Just how we like it.

After landing at JFK in the early afternoon hours, we Uber'd ourselves to The Kimpton Hotel Eventi in Manhattan just in time for free happy hour in their chicly decorated lobby. We barely threw our bags inside the doors of our high-rise hotel room overlooking New York's skyline before beelining it back down to the lobby to sip on a glass of wine together. The boys expressed their jealousy over our happy hour, and requested a walk so they could snag their own treats at a convenient store across the street. So we sent them on their way, alone, and out into the bustling city streets of New York. Luckily, we played undercover agent on them from the hotel's upper lounge area while casually enjoying our glass of red. We spied them crossing the two busy intersections, and heading into the corner store. After ten minutes and twenty dollars, they emerged with a plastic bag full of hot tamales, sour patch kids, Original Lays potato chips, cookies n cream Hershey’s bar, and two giant bottles of Gatorade. Holy crap, their happy hour was starting to look awfully good. Back they came, across the two intersections. We couldn’t see their facial expressions, but we could read their animated body language from above. They were happy, and confident, and excited. Us, too! We just got our first alone time of the trip (check!).

*Reid feeling New Yorky in our hotel room.*

*I spy with my little eye...The boys on their own in NYC, picking out snacks and pretending they're teenagers.*

Times Square Shenanigans (check!)

After devouring our giant slices of New York style pizza (check!), we headed straight for Times Square on foot. Only a fifteen minute walk from our hotel, and suddenly we were transformed into an alternate universe. Animated billboards with flashing neon lights screaming at us to buy Big Macs, and LG products, and reminding us to watch the upcoming Bachelorette season. Towering buildings plummeting up towards the sky. The pulse of thousands of onlookers, and tourists, and street performers all wandering about like a well choreographed dance. Then there was the blaring music, and yellow checkered taxis honking, and costumed Spiderman, King Kong, and Mickey Mouse characters attempting to lure us in to take a picture with them (which we did not). The energy was electric. The people watching, incredible. A treat (or somewhat overwhelming treat) for all five senses. There is just something about being enveloped by skyscrapers and snug up against the buzz of excited humans. Where were we to begin?! On this specific evening, a vibrant group of street performers caught our eye first, so we filtered in with the crowd and began to watch their well-rehearsed and very entertaining show. In our 48 hours in NYC, we came to Times Square four different times. As Tina Turner would say, it’s simply the best!

*Reid eating his New York style pizza, in the New York kind of way (folded in half!)*

A fun group of street performers that caught our attention immediately! Times Square is just wild!

Central Park

We had a few hours to kill on one of our days, so we ventured out on a two mile walk past the Empire State Building, through Times Square, making a pit stop at Rockefeller Center, and finally landing in the oasis that is Central Park. Escaping urban life to take in NYC’s green space was a respite from the chaos. We chose a meandering path lined with dense, oversized trees that eventually opened up to a huge rocky area known as Umpire Rock. We spent the majority of our time clambering atop the rocks and admiring the skyline views from our rocky perch. It was beautiful, though, the unusual highlight for us in Central Park was watching the rats (yes, I said rats) lurking around the greenery near the PineBank Arch. In my mind they were the size of small domestic cats. Yuck, but also so interesting! Central Park, you amazed us!

Statue of Liberty Via The Beast Speedboat

Why go on a boring and slow-paced ferry that’s sardine packed with people, when you can take a lime green speedboat called The Beast out to the Statue of Liberty?! As I previously mentioned, we booked this tour before leaving home because there was no way we were missing out on this action packed adventure. Shortly after jumping into our comfy seats on the boat, loud pop music started bumping and we roared onto the Hudson River already hitting speeds of around 45 mph. Spit was flying out the sides of our mouths as we screamed our way past the New York skyline, and headed straight for the Statue of Liberty that we spotted out in the distance. After around fifteen minutes of thrill riding, we arrived at the base of the statue. The engines went quiet and the crew came around offering to take pictures of families with the famous Lady Liberty. A few minutes of history and stargazing, then we were off on our adventure back to the pier. But not before more twists and turns and splashes and squeals (plus water guns that soaked many passengers!). It felt like a roller coaster on water! The Beast definitely lived up to its name (check!).

A glimpse of our wild ride down the Hudson River (and to the Statue of Liberty) with The Beast Speedboat!

*Stopping the party to admire Lady Liberty!*

*Soaked after our thrilling ride on The Beast!*

*Reid was so nervous beforehand, but we knew he would fall in love with this adventure!*

High Line Walking Trail

After The Beast, we stumbled upon the High Line, a hybrid public space where people can experience nature, art, and design while walking along a historic freight rail line elevated above the streets on Manhattan’s West Side. We learned it was saved from demolition by neighborhood residents and the City of New York, and officially opened in 2009. What a neat surprise to spontaneously discover the trail, as we had heard of it but weren’t sure we would have time for it or find it this specific trip. After walking around the diverse and unique areas, we highly recommend!

*Walking along the High Line trail in NYC.*

*A little slice of some of the art along the High Line Trail*

*Always making time for random splash pads!*

Next Stop…LONDON, Baby!

Forty Eight hours in New York City really hyped us up for the remainder of our six week summer adventure! It was a vibrant, lively city for us to explore as a family, with endless opportunities to stay busy. But, we were ready for our next location. This time over the Atlantic: London! A place that has been on the boys’ bucket list since Kindergarten. So off we headed on our red-eye from JFK to Gatwick. So many unknowns leaving New York…would we sleep a wink on our flight to London? How jet lagged would we be? Is Harry Potter World going to live up to our expectations? Will Lindsay get to walk across the iconic Tower Bridge? Will we splurge for last minute tickets to ride the London Eye? Find out more on our next blog post… Just Touched Down In London Town