I get out of the taxi and it's probably the only city which in reality looks better than on the postcards, New York. *Milos Forman
"Bright lights, big city, that's where we gotta go!" Mr. Centipede from the movie James and the Giant Peach said it best as he, his bug crew, and their fearless leader James drifted off to a musical dreamland with wide smiles, glossy eyes, and singing hearts; they all knew that New York was the place to be and did whatever it took to make it happen....and those were my exact sentiments as I ponder on all the times my child brought up all the things she loved about New York and how she dreamt of going one day. So, I decided that after being away from her for almost 6 months, the best way to celebrate us reuniting was to make it a lifetime of dreams coming true....starting with a trip to New York!
We arrived at the airport transportation station in Columbus, Ga around 3am wearing our matching mommy and me shirts; we were super cute, even with the sleep in our eyes. As we waited for the van to pick us up to drive us to the airport, I finally told Kennedi where we were going. Now, here I was thinking I was surprising her, but she knew the entire time. SMH. Nevertheless, we still both were eagerly excited as we took selfies and made videos documenting the start of our soon to be, memorable trip.
Once we reached the airport, I was annoyed to hear that the original flight I booked had been canceled and that we would have to fly out on the next available one. I was already irritable from lack of sleep and an early departure to the airport, but I didn't want my mood to ruin the vibe. Luckily, in the nick of time, seats became available on the next flight out; we just had to deal with an hour layover in Chicago. I didn't mind at all though because that meant a stop at Garret's popcorn stand near the airport terminal. It also was our first time in Chicago, layover and all, so it was a cool experience seeing all the world flags above our heads as we headed to board the plane.
This was Kennedi's second time ever on a plane, so she was excited. With it being a standby flight, we weren't able to sit together, but she was in the row right next to me; plus, she got a good view out the window as our flight took off.
We finally reached New York and with good timing. I think I was more bright eyed and bushy tailed than Ken was as we stepped off the plane and headed towards our bags at the end of the exit (we both had a carry on since it was only a 2-day trip). I had prearranged mostly everything before we got there, so our private car service was waiting outside the airport to pick us up and take us to our hotel in Manhattan. I din't know ahead of time that paying for tolls and tips were seperate, but everything worked out by me having extra cash on standby.
On the ride to the hotel, we were taking in all the sites; the bridges, the tall buildings, the parks, the signs, etc. Kennedi couldn't believe she was actually in the place that she had always told her dad about visiting one day.
We arrived at the hotel and I was amazed by the structure of the place; it was very classic New York architecture. I felt I had stepped back to the 1900s, but with a slightly modern twist of upkeep and cleanliness. We had a beautiful suite with views from three different windows...and the location of the hotel was a hop, skip, and a jump away from the both famous and infamous Central Park (which is why I picked this particular hotel). I was feeling quite pleased with the bundle I purchased via Expedia.
I am currently vibing to Jay-Z's and Alicia Keys "New York" in my head with visual of Mary Tyler Moore's famous "we're going to make it after all" scene as I anticipate writing about our overall experiences the two days we got to be there...and with that said, there was no rest for the weary. "We sleep when we are back home in Atlanta," I said loudly with a chuckle and grin as I finished taking and posting pictures of our fabulous old-school vibin suite. I had kicked off my shoes, and found myself lounging on the bed watching a marathon of "Friends". I got a kick out of being in New York watching "Friends" until I found out that they actually filmed the show in Califonia. But, it didn't take away from the fact that there were many other shows I loved that had been filmed right down the street from where we were sleeping such as my all-time favorite, "Law and Order: SVU". And I finally found myself wrestling up the energy to pry Ken away from her sofa bed she had claimed to take a walk down to Central Park.
Central Park was beautiful and I didn't realize how big it was until we got lost trying to make our way back to the hotel. But, we still enjoyed the scene; from the random statutes to the ice cream and scenery of an old castle-like building, to the live music, to the street vendors, to sit on the bench while watching the joggers pass and the kids playing soccer, and even the bit of sprinkles from the clouds, it was cool being in Central Park. I remember squeezing Ken's arm ever so tightly when I realized I was standing in the same park or passing by the same bench I had once seen on tv while watching my favorite show. And she squeezed my arm back when she realized she was in the same park where also her favorite shows had once been filmed. It was a surreal moment.
We left Central Park and headed back to the hotel to find out where we could go that was near for dining. On our walk back, we noticed many people here with dogs, which is a contrast to the UAE where cats and parrots are the animals of choice. We found ourselves at a famous pizzeria near the hotel. The food was good; I got lobster rolls that actually were delicious, but the service wasn't that great as we had to wait a long time to be served.
We headed back to the hotel and napped before getting ready to head out to Time Square. I showed Ken how to hail a cab. This was after our attempt to ride the metro, which was an overwhelming disaster. People I had encountered that day about riding the train made it seem so easy, but it wasn't. After getting frustrated underground, we found ourselves heading back up to catch a cab. It was cool seeing how the city lit up at night, but I was over the traffic. Nevertheless, we made our way down and had the time of our lives.
It seemed like a magical place with all of its people, glitz, and glam. It was a city that was wide awake like a kid on Christmas morning. As I looked up to notice MTV on one side and Good Morning America on the other, Ken was looking down the street to notice the big two-story Disney store. I was hungry, so before shopping, we decided on TGIFridays down what seemed to be an alley of different food establishments. After eating, we went exploring and decided to go souvenir shopping for my niece and nephews in the Disney store. On the way to the store, there was a crowd around a man with a "Back to the Future" car. For a small donation, he let you stunt in his car while he entertained the crowd with his gizmos and gadgets. Although she had never heard of the movie "Back to the Future", Kennedi was amazed by the experience as she took pictures with this old school hooptie with lights.
ANd the Disney store?? She was even more amazed by that. I, on the other hand, was amazed at the prices. Geesh! It was very expensive, but I was able to find my crew loves something including Kennedi, who picked out a Disney princess doll from one of our favorites Moana.
We arrived at the hotel and I was amazed by the structure of the place; it was very classic New York architecture. I felt I had stepped back to the 1900s, but with a slightly modern twist of upkeep and cleanliness. We had a beautiful suite with views from three different windows...and the location of the hotel was a hop, skip, and a jump away from the both famous and infamous Central Park (which is why I picked this particular hotel). I was feeling quite pleased with the bundle I purchased via Expedia.
I am currently vibing to Jay-Z's and Alicia Keys "New York" in my head with visual of Mary Tyler Moore's famous "we're going to make it after all" scene as I anticipate writing about our overall experiences the two days we got to be there...and with that said, there was no rest for the weary. "We sleep when we are back home in Atlanta," I said loudly with a chuckle and grin as I finished taking and posting pictures of our fabulous old-school vibin suite. I had kicked off my shoes, and found myself lounging on the bed watching a marathon of "Friends". I got a kick out of being in New York watching "Friends" until I found out that they actually filmed the show in Califonia. But, it didn't take away from the fact that there were many other shows I loved that had been filmed right down the street from where we were sleeping such as my all-time favorite, "Law and Order: SVU". And I finally found myself wrestling up the energy to pry Ken away from her sofa bed she had claimed to take a walk down to Central Park.
Central Park was beautiful and I didn't realize how big it was until we got lost trying to make our way back to the hotel. But, we still enjoyed the scene; from the random statutes to the ice cream and scenery of an old castle-like building, to the live music, to the street vendors, to sit on the bench while watching the joggers pass and the kids playing soccer, and even the bit of sprinkles from the clouds, it was cool being in Central Park. I remember squeezing Ken's arm ever so tightly when I realized I was standing in the same park or passing by the same bench I had once seen on tv while watching my favorite show. And she squeezed my arm back when she realized she was in the same park where also her favorite shows had once been filmed. It was a surreal moment.
Central Park Adventure....
We left Central Park and headed back to the hotel to find out where we could go that was near for dining. On our walk back, we noticed many people here with dogs, which is a contrast to the UAE where cats and parrots are the animals of choice. We found ourselves at a famous pizzeria near the hotel. The food was good; I got lobster rolls that actually were delicious, but the service wasn't that great as we had to wait a long time to be served.
We headed back to the hotel and napped before getting ready to head out to Time Square. I showed Ken how to hail a cab. This was after our attempt to ride the metro, which was an overwhelming disaster. People I had encountered that day about riding the train made it seem so easy, but it wasn't. After getting frustrated underground, we found ourselves heading back up to catch a cab. It was cool seeing how the city lit up at night, but I was over the traffic. Nevertheless, we made our way down and had the time of our lives. It seemed like a magical place with all of its people, glitz, and glam. It was a city that was wide awake like a kid on Christmas morning. As I looked up to notice MTV on one side and Good Morning America on the other, Ken was looking down the street to notice the big two-story Disney store. I was hungry, so before shopping, we decided on TGIFridays down what seemed to be an alley of different food establishments. After eating, we went exploring and decided to go souvenir shopping for my niece and nephews in the Disney store. On the way to the store, there was a crowd around a man with a "Back to the Future" car. For a small donation, he let you stunt in his car while he entertained the crowd with his gizmos and gadgets. Although she had never heard of the movie "Back to the Future", Kennedi was amazed by the experience as she took pictures with this old school hooptie with lights.
ANd the Disney store?? She was even more amazed by that. I, on the other hand, was amazed at the prices. Geesh! It was very expensive, but I was able to find my crew loves something including Kennedi, who picked out a Disney princess doll from one of our favorites Moana.
Pictures say a thousand words...Time square was a great time.
After staying out late like rock stars, we slept the night away, with an early wake-up call for a new day of citywide exploration and shenanigans. I had booked through my Expedia bundle a trip to the Empire State Building and cruise on the waterways to view the Statue of Liberty. We also had tickets to see " The Lion King" musical on Broadway. We had a very long day ahead of us, but we were up for the adventure.
Before we started our New York City Tour, we walked down the street to a nearby sandwich cafe. It was quaint yet relaxing as we sat outside and had our own personal view of New York waking up in the morning.
We started our site seeing adventure off with a tour of the Empire State Building. It was pretty cool walking into a building with so much history and going all the way to the top to see all of New York from heights that used to be the highest in the world at one point. The view was amazing and the breeze felt wonderful as we posed for our Kodak moments.
Next on the agenda was our cruise on the waterways to see the Statue of Liberty. We arrived at the port early, so we had lunch at the nearby food joint where they served your typical out and about foods like burgers, nachos, hot dogs, and french fries. As Kennedi played at the fountain, I remember sitting feeling overjoyed with the blessing of being able to provide this opportunity for her. Here we were, in the "concrete jungle where dreams are made of" and my daughter's dream was about to be made by seeing something she'd only viewed from a book, tv, or movie. It was a proud moment as her mother. It was moments like this that reminded me why I worked so hard and why perseverance means everything to me. It was amazing to experience this once in a lifetime opportunity with my daughter; the summer where one of her dreams would finally be made.
The cruise was very chill. We were able to eat snacks and take in all the various sites on the way to the Statue of Liberty as the native New Yorker tour guide explained what everything was along the way...And then, there it was....the Statue of Liberty. It was cool to finally see it in person. I had read and learned so much about it during my studies as a kid, so to finally see it for myself made it seem like a full circle moment.
We made our way back to the hotel via cab and Kennedi seemed to be getting the hang of hailing them down; it was a favorite part so far. It was now time to get ready for our date to the "Lion King". We put on our Sunday's best and caught a cab back to Time Square. The theater we were attending was across the street from where we were the previous night. It was Kennedi's first musical and my first Broadway show. I have one word to describe the experience AMAZING! It was so vibrant and full of life. The cast did an amazing job with the performances. The beginning, middle, and end were jam-packed with excitement, beautiful singing, and dancing. We laughed, we cried, we ohhhed and ahhhed. It was one of the best things I had ever experience. Truly a site to see. Broadway musical was officially checked off of our New York to do list.
Our night ended with a New York stable in bed: Juniors! It was super expensive but the amount of food that they gave you was totally worth it. Kennedi and I really could have split one meal, but either way, we enjoyed our burgers, onion rings, and cheesecake while lounging in our plush robes. It was heaven.
We had an early flight, so I arranged for a car to pick us up and take us to the airport with my Expedia bundle. Before boarding our plane, we indulged at a Belgian waffle spot at the airport terminal; the breakfast was delicious.
As I looked over our pictures and chit chatted it up with my offspring, I was feeling very much accomplished about completing all that I had set out to do this trip. My daughter truly enjoyed herself and so did I. It was a great mini-vacation. It also was the start of a tradition that we decided to set which will be to visit a different place in the states during each summer; our next statewide trip will be California.
From New York to Cali...
I thank God for the opportunity of being able to help make a dream turn into reality. It was through this trip that my daughter realized that whatever she sets out in life to do can be hers with faith and hard work. It was through this trip that she also realized what her future could hold. She spoke frequently about wanting to move to New York when she gets older while having an important career in whatever she decided to do and we both are excited for the day. This trip to New York sparked interest my child didn't even know existed and I am ready to show her through our abroad living and traveling that the world is ours for the taking. I want her to see that all we could ever dream is possible with determination, perseverance, patience, and FAITH....and I am glad to be the chosen one to guide her in the direction of working to make all her dreams come true.
New York was very good to us.....
