New York City: Central Park to Times Square

New York, The Big Apple, the City that Never Sleeps! We almost didn't go there. But, boy am I glad we did.

We knew some friends of ours (another family we have met on the road) were headed there, but we weren't sure if we wanted to go or not. The conversation went kinda like this “Do you wanna go?”

 “Kind of, but not with just us. Do you want to go?”  “I dunno.” So we left it to a third party.

“Morgan, do you want to go to New York City?” 

“Yes. I want to see the Statue of Liberty.” and we went “Okay!” Two days later we were there. (I love that we can do this!!!)

There’s only one RV park within reasonable driving distance from the city, and as such, they charge an arm and a leg for the gravel parking spot we were to call home for our next three nights. But they are really convenient for getting into NYC via the subway or ferry, with a lovely view of the Statue of Liberty. 

We pulled in early afternoon, set up and got our butts walking to the PATH (NJ-NYC subway) with nary a clue on how to get anywhere. (The planner in me shakes my head over that, but I also wanted to GO, and not waste any more time.) Immense thanks to a local mom who was willing to walk us through the busy stations and help us get to Central Park. I never did get her name, but hopefully karma smiles upon her. 

Walking into the south end of Central Park (it’s big!), we passed by rows of horse drawn carriages (I was momentarily tempted) and found some fun rocks to climb on. There’s a good sized playground in this area too, and the kids enjoyed both for quite a while. The big bustling city is only a short distance away, but the trees and rocks and serenity in the park make it feel like it’s in an entirely other place. Almost like you've entered a magical realm and the skyscrapers are the walls that separate the two; it would be easy to spend an entire day here and not really notice the passing of time.

Rocks - fun for kids and adults, alike

Morgan has been doing some reading and schoolwork related to Balto the sled dog, and we knew there was a statue of him in the park. We set off to find him, at a slow saunter (this is where we discovered just how big the park really is.). The winding paths took us past many other statues, into an area where artists and entertainers were displaying their wares. The kids were fascinated with a fellow who was creating enormous bubbles with a rope. For a dollar, Lily got to try her hand at bubble making as well (PS, if someone could show me how to get videos off our big camera, I would be forever grateful! I can't even figure out how to view them most of the time!). 

A few steps more led down to a fountain, which added its music to that of a set of performers playing classical music under the bridge. Continuing along the paths, around every corner was something different to see. (One could explore Central Park for quite a while before seeing everything.) Reaching the spot where my GPS on the phone said the statue would be, we discovered it was completely wrong. Turning around, and basically going back where we started – that’s where the darned thing was!!!  By then we had walked the equivalent of 20 blocks and the kids were tired, and getting hungry (me too!).  

And so after (finally!) finding the darned dog statue (look up Balto, if you’re curious), we headed out of the Park to go find some food. 

On the way we passed by 30 Rockefeller Place, and got some pictures with the famous statue at the entrance. We joined up with our friends for a quick meal, passing by several other spots around Rockefeller Place (which we would revisit later). 

Supper was a simple affair, but, man, food in the tummy certainly changes your outlook on the day. Before food: I’m done, take me home!  After food: Okay, I can explore some more.

We said good night to our friends and headed towards Times Square (Rockefeller and Times Square are quite close). After dark, Times Square is a riot of light in every direction, and actually reminded me of Freemont Street in Las Vegas (I’m sure that many people would put that the other way around, but I saw Vegas first). Tourists were everywhere, taking in the lights. Confession: I hate it when Bob carts his big camera around his neck because it always makes me feel like an obvious tourist. But here, we were just little fish among many. 

Lily spotted the Disney Store & we spent some time in there (honestly, I think the other ones I've been in were just as good, if not better). We also spent some time at the four story Toys R Us in Times Square so Lily could go on the Ferris wheel inside and spend her birthday money. (She bought herself some nail paints & manicure stuff – very girly.) 

By the time we were done in the stores it was getting late, and everyone was rather tired. It took almost another hour to get ourselves back to the park via the subway (and walking) and pour ourselves into bed. Tomorrow would be another busy day.

Tired kids on the subway