A week in New York City! We hadn't been on a flight in over seven years with all of us. Last time was with my in-laws for a trip to Oahu. I was really hoping to travel again, but the timing never worked out. In November 2023 Manny got Covid. I took care of him while he still worked from home. When he came out of self-quarantine, he said, let's go someplace, and ask the kids where they want to go. Eventually we decided we had to stay within continental U.S., so we agreed on New York. Lucas had wanted to go up the Statue of Liberty when he was younger, Naomi always wanted to visit and see a Broadway show, and Isaac wanted to see the Empire State Building. So we did all of these. There were more things all of us wanted to do, but we made sure to do one thing for each of them. Some time after we booked the flight, Manny said he was done with planning. I wasn't sure if I could plan it without him. I didn't know what he thought of the budget, and he had traveled there in 1997 so might have more insights. I did go to New York as a kid when I lived in the east coast in the early 80s, but barely remember it.
While doing some YouTube research, I found this company called Ask Khonsu, and they had a deal (only $40 at the time) for a travel planner with insider knowledge of the city. If it weren't for the service, we might have ended up sitting on a bus for hours to go two miles or sitting in the hotel the first night not knowing where we had time or energy to go. All in all, I was very pleased with the options he gave me based on the list of places we wanted to see and the type of food we could eat. We were somewhat limited because Isaac's food issues, but we managed to find him food most places we went.
I would like to go back someday and see the NY Public Library or eat at some more places, definitely see more of the Met. There wasn't enough time to see everything, but someone who travels there often told me later that we squeezed in more than they thought was possible in New York. I guess it's because I didn't know whether we'd get to go again!
In order to get there early enough the first day, June 25, we had to leave at 4 am for our flight. The flight was changed a few times before we left so I had to keep rescheduling it, but it worked out. We just had one stop in Nashville on the way, which was kind of neat. People there were in cowboy hats, drinking in the middle of the day, and the plates and portions were big.
When we landed, we basically got to the hotel and then hit the ground running to get to our reservation at Serendipity 3. It's a popular Instagrammable place, so hard to get a reservation for and overpriced, but maybe good to experience once, especially if you are able to finish the ice cream (we were not). The dessert portions were huge, and you can't really take a banana split to go. I think it may have been our most expensive meal, even, for pretty average (mid, like the young'ens say) food. It was nice that it was so close to the Roosevelt Island Tramway. The ride is just $3 one way, which is pretty good for a unique ride. We weren't able to get to the front either time, and it's quite packed if you go during commute times, as this is the way people get to and from Manhattan to RI.
Since we went at night, we didn't walk around the island, but you can do that if you want. I think it was pretty enough just to see the lights from the gondola and around the island.
