New York City was the first stop on our HopScotch through the East Coast. We caught an evening flight from Chicago to New York. I expected the girls to sleep on the flight but they both stayed up the entire flight, coloring.
Trudging from the plane to the taxi cab is one of the funniest memories of this trip. Picture my two little girls, Punky & Cat, who are insisting on carrying their own booster seats, Cal pulling our luggage (survival pack on his back, more on that later) desperately trying to find the cab stand while I am also pulling luggage and trying to make sure the girls stay in sight, while not dropping their booster seats. Did I mention the airport terminal was under construction? It was a mess, we were a mess and it was comical! As we fumbled with our bags and young girls, a lovely woman stopped me and offered to pull my luggage for me so I could focus on the girls. She was a business traveler from Texas, offering to help me because she could vividly remember how difficult it can be to travel with young kids. I love the kindness of strangers.
Once we boarded a our van cab, the girls finally fell asleep! Which is great because it was pretty late. Only that it was not great because they missed the fantastic sight of Time Square at night, I trust that they’ll go back one day so in the grand scheme of things it was fine. Our hotel, Hotel Edison, was perfect. This boutique hotel had the perfect amount of space for us, two beds and a bathroom. What more did we need? For 18 hours in NY – nothing. I do highly recommend Hotel Edison- it was perfectly located in Time Square very close to the hustle and bustle, Broadway and Penn Station, which was particularly important to us. The hotel staff had provided a small goodie bag with jelly beans, chocolates, a coloring book and teddy bears for the girls – nice touch!
But back to the cab: the girls are sleeping so it’s a bit difficult to get them both and all of our luggage checked in to the hotel. The cabbie was very accommodating in helping to unload the luggage while Cal checked us in. Punky had to wake up and walk into the hotel while I carried, our 90th percentile, 4 year old. These are the moments they won’t remember but seem daunting for us as parents. Minor detail – don’t sweat it.
Sometimes, I wish we were but we are NOT early risers. If I’m being honest, it’s me. I love to sleep! I’m sure the rest of the crew would wake up if I was an early riser but it’s vacation people – I sleep. We’re up and out at about 9am. We’ve planned to spend the morning at The Statue of Liberty because that’s a sight that kids my girls age can appreciate. We stop at the McDonald’s in Time Square (we are NOT foodies), overpay because it’s NY, then take our food to go and hop in a cab to Battery Park. We eat breakfast in the cab because we’re already halfway through our 18 hours.
Battery Park has a number of statues which add a historical value to the stop. Above is a veterans statue but there is also a statue that survived the 9/11 attack which was fascinating to see…sorry but the pics I took don’t do it justice – it needs to be experienced. Battery Park also has plenty of open space for kids to run. I make it a point to stop at a park wherever we go because I’m adamant that kids need to run…and if yours are anything like mine they’ll fall so pack band-aids.
Unbeknownst to me – you have to order tickets to enter The Statue of Liberty about a month in advance. (sometimes it pays to plan ahead, but that isn’t my style) To quote Pretty Woman, “I fly by the seat of my pants.” Fortunately, this is NY so a “nice man” offers to cut us a deal on a private boat that will ride us around to the Statue for a great view. It doesn’t stop at the Statue but he’s offering a “great deal”. Even more fortunately for us, we’re meeting my girlfriend who is a native NY-er and she happens to know that The Staten Island Ferry goes right passed the Statue of Liberty for free! We opt for the free ride. Let’s be honest- my girls are 6 & 4 we can go into the statue on another visit when they’re able to walk themselves up without whining.
We searched the Staten Island Ferry on my map app then walked over to the station- it was just that simple. The ferry ride was lovely. The day was particularly sunny for October so we sat outside and took in the free view of The Statue of Liberty.
Once you reach Staten Island, you de-board the ferry, go into the station, and walk right back onto the same ferry for the return trip. Ta-Da, we just had a free ride passed The Statue of Liberty.
We had cabbed our way down to Battery Park but opted to take the subway back to Time Square because why go back the way you came? It was also faster than sitting in traffic. If you live in a town that doesn’t have a train system, I advise that you opt for a train in NY. If you do live in a city with a train, I still advise taking the train because you are in NY. Do it!