The City That Never Sleeps

I love New York City.

I must admit that I wasn't sure that I would love it with my children. When I would mention that we were taking the kids, people would say, "well, just don't plan to do very much, or see very much, or have fun, and be prepared to get the gout and hemorrhoids and bitten by one of those rabid raccoons in Central Park."

And so I prepared for the worst.

But the worst never came. In fact, I got the best. The absolute most wonderful part of the whole vacation. It was even wonderful when I thought that I would die of heat stroke on an Express Bus from Jersey in the Lincoln Tunnel. It was so wonderful eating Magnolia Bakery cupcakes with Jeff and watching my kids chase pigeons that I thought that my heart would burst--or at least that I would spontaneously burst into tears from the shear joy of the whole thing. And I did cry, at Ellis Island, which for me; will always be hallowed ground.

We stayed at a Days Inn that had the potential for me to send a scathing report to my not-so-good friends at the Hotwire cheapskate service. Fortunately, there were enough people who had been burned at this locale that they had all sorts of suggestions for getting upgraded rooms. I used my teacher voice and got us upgraded to a decent room. It was practically in the Lincoln Tunnel on the Jersey side. I was a little nervous until we discovered the luxury of the Express Bus. Okay, maybe luxury is an exaggeration...luxury for us because how often do you get to ride a short bus without air conditioning and a earful of music that can only be described as Middle Eastern Reggae? Our family lives for that kind of adventure! It was so hot and humid on that bus that at one point Lachlan turned to us and said that water was getting in her eyes.

I interject a letter to Lachlan:

Dear Lachlan,

The image of you with so much sweat all over your face was probably one of the funniest memories I will ever have of you. You are one sweaty kid. And hey, that's saying something coming from your mother who wears prescription deodorant. If we had been anywhere other than a bus in New Jersey it wouldn't have been as funny. You really completed the moment for everyone when you pushed your bangs out of your face and they stood straight up in the air.

Love, Mom

The Central Park fountains saved our children. Jack would have stayed here all day. His clothes were so wet that I took off his shirt and shorts and literally wrung them out before we went to the zoo.

Jack didn't want to have his picture taken by the Polar Bear because he didn't want it to "eat him up." I told him that it was too hot for the bear to eat a little boy.
Have I ever mentioned that I love zoos? I know that it isn't exactly an ideal situation for the animals, but I love that you can see a floating bear and talk to your kids about how they like to swim. Food Break. Ice Cream Vendors. Jack can polish off one of these in under two minutes.

Lachlan thought that Times Square was so fancy because the sidewalks were "polka-dot" designed. I'd like to thank the millions of people who threw out their gum for the last 50 years for making it special for her. Jack loved it because Buzz Lightyear was on every billboard.

Food Break: Pizza Vendor.

The view from the top of the Empire State Building is pretty cool. I was so taken with the bridges. I just couldn't get over the amazing architecture. I wish that I could have gotten some better pictures. It's hard to wait around for better lighting when you have small people.
It's her pigtails that really make this picture. We took the CitySights bus tour to a number of the tourist locations. I figured that it was the best way to maximize our experience without wearing the kids out too fast. The bus was convenient, but the sun was sweltering and it made the longer driving sections tough. The kids were so good. They collected maps from every stop and read them back to each other. It was so fun to watch them waving at policeman and trying to count taxis. We had lunch at a Malaysian restaurant in Chinatown.

A Basil/Chicken dish that was so good. I had a beef curry. I always think that I will like beef at these places and then I change my mind when I see the "chub". Note to self: You do not like beef unless you have personally cooked and trimmed it yourself. Give it up. Let go of the dream. Order seafood, chicken, or go meatless. End of conversation.
I love this guy. He ate the beef and let me eat the chicken.

Yeah, we did some sight seeing in between, but mostly we ate our way through the city.
Magnolia Bakery. Jeff eating a Devil's Food with Caramel Frosting. Lachlan savoring Chocolate with Chocolate.
I had the "Carrie"--It was a White cake with Cosmopolitan flavored icing. I could eat one every hour for the rest of my life.
And while I was in line a woman said, "Would you like to try a piece of our Chocolate Rum Cake?" I practically screamed, "Oh, my hell, please just fill my purse!" Have I ever mentioned that I love cake more than unicorns and fairies?

Want to know why you should stay in Jersey rather than right in the city? Because you can take an easy drive to Liberty State Park and walk along the boardwalk at night and show your kids this incredible view. We talked about the Statue of Liberty and taking a boat to see her up close--and I'll probably remember this one night for the rest of my life.
We took the ferry ride from Liberty State Park to Ellis Island and onto the Statue of Liberty. I actually didn't have any desire to spend time at Ellis, but I was so shocked at the wonderful exhibits and family history "stuff". After visiting I think that it is probably one of my favorite monuments. We arrived very early in the morning (9AM) and had almost the whole museum to ourselves. I don't really know if I can verbalize what it was like to read the stories of immigrants and hear the voices of their children retell their experiences of coming to America. I had to hold my breath to keep the tears from falling out.
I really wonder if people understand the contributions that immigrants make in our country.
I paid $2 for each of these hats just so that I could have a couple of pictures. It was totally worth the wasted resources.
I took these pictures! I know. You can't believe it either! The finishes are part of the Action packets that I downloaded from Pioneer Woman. They are so awesome!
I haven't printed any pictures in two years, but I've got to have these.
My babies. On a boat. In a harbor.

Pure Happiness.

Philadelphia, PA

Have you ever eaten a Philly Cheesesteak from a place underneath a viaduct? Tony Luke's was really good. I had mine with American, peppers and onions and Jeff had his with red sauce (basically pizza sauce). The bread is what makes it so good. It was the perfect combination of bread to meat. I hate it when there is so much bread that you choke it down. This place was a little tricky to find. My blood sugar was really low and I had just gotten us lost in Camden, NJ, in rush hour traffic. Yeah, if you're doing some geography, you will notice that Camden is a little overshot for Penn's Landing. I was wishing that my GPS on the Palm was operating in "real" time. I was making all sorts of mental notes about how I will never be the navigator should we ever be on "The Amazing Race". I wouldn't want the whole world to know how bad my language becomes when I am hungry and lost and relying on Palm to map our ride.
This was our view from a crappy Comfort Inn. Hotwire you still suck, but I will give it up for this view. I get a little misty-eyed when I look at this picture of the kids. We arrived at dusk and they were so excited to look out the window and watch the boats on the river. It's all they wanted to do in that room. There were some pretty neat fireworks that night on the other side of the river. We let Lachlan get out of bed and watch them with us. She is still talking about it. Can you believe that I took this picture out of a closed window??
We started the next day at Franklin Park. We knew that it was going to be a hot day so we decided to start slow and look for ways to keep the kids from having a complete meltdown. I love big city parks. I love that they take the time to put in quality play equipment and rubber mats. We have a couple of good parks in our town, but they are always really crowded. This park was virtually empty. Yeah!



Practicing more photography techniques. These aren't perfect, but they are pretty fun to look at...
Jack was soooo happy to be riding this "winged horse"...he would have ridden it all day long!
We have seen the Liberty Bell. Can you guess how much fun it was for everyone?

A picture is worth a thousand words. To say that the kids would rather ride through hell on a razorback than walk through that exhibit hall again...well, that's an understatement.
We went directly for more cheesesteaks. The Balm of Gilead.

Don't worry. I was taking blood pressure medication by this point and following every meal with a chaser of baby aspirin.

This is the best sandwich I have ever eaten. Period. And yes, that's cheese whiz. This is how they should always be prepared. Forget having it any other way. I could eat one of these every day.

Before I forget, I do have to mention that there was one place in Phily that Jeff wanted to eat, but it was just a little too authentic for me. Chinatown. Phily's Chinatown is a lot like a real China town. To give you a little perspective, NYC's Chinatown was like eating on the clean streets of SLC... I just couldn't get past the smell of hot garbage. I don't even think that it was the heat and the humidity--I just kept thinking, "is this a place that Anthony Bourdain would look for food, or Andrew Zimmerman" and I think that P-town Chinatown belongs in the Zimmerman category.

Chinatown. You are exciting but I am going to pass on your Dim Sum. For those of you who want to know what it feels like to walk down the sidewalks and have this experience...melt a Popsicle on the ground and then step around on it with your flip flops until you almost rip them from your feet. Now put your head inside your outdoor garbage can at high noon and then honk your car horn 10 times. Rub your hands in your arm pits and now think to yourself, "want to have a little snack in the bathroom?" And THAT is why I just didn't want to eat with you Zimmerman.

We rounded out the whole experience by touring Independence Hall. The kids are standing in the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed. You can see George Washington's chair in the back of the room. I had to laugh a little at our tour guide. He kept repeating the same lines over and over again. I kept wondering whether he was new or whether he had just done the same tour so many times during the day that he couldn't remember what he said, and when he said it. I laughed with sympathy because I've had to teach the same class more than once and it is easy to get confused from one session to the next. I'm also just noticing that Jack doesn't have any shoes on. Whoa. I don't have any idea where his shoes are...or how long we were sporting the ghetto look.
Shoes recovered.

Did I mention how much I love free public transportation? I swear that Lachlan must have been born on a bus. That kid would take bus to the moon if it were offered to her. I wish that I would have taken some pictures of their happy faces as we rode around town. We were finally able to convince them (after several days) that all the yellow cars were taxis (not policemen).

Gettysburg

We drove to Philadelphia by way of Gettysburg. It's not exactly a straight shot, but Pennsylvania is a lovely state; I wish that we would have had more time to spend there.

For the record, I love the story of Abraham Lincoln. I always cry at the Lincoln Memorial, at Ford's Theater, at readings of the Gettysburg Address and when our choir sings The Last Full Measure of Devotion. I have such respect for his character under incredibly difficult circumstance. This past spring there was an amazing television series on the History Channel called, America, the Story of Us. Did you see it? That program singlehandedly made it possible for me to ride a spin bike for over an hour. I couldn't look away--it was incredibly powerful! The series had a full section devoted to the Civil War. People were so angry with Lincoln for his stand against slavery--ultimately, he paid for it with his life. It was such a tragic loss.

Lincoln was asked to give an address at the fields of Gettysburg. He prepared his statement in Washington before he left, but when he arrived at the hotel near Gettysburg he felt like he needed to change his prepared statement. What he wrote, now known as the Gettysburg Address was what he felt inspired to say. During the ceremony, the governor of PA spoke to the crowd for two hours! Lincoln stood before the crowd (the guest of honor) and gave his remarks. He only spoke for two minutes. He left feeling like he had disappointed the people. It wasn't until months later that he realized the impression he had made upon those who read his words.

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth

on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and

dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing

whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so

dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-

field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of

that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave

their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether

fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate…we cannot

consecrate…we cannot hallow…this ground. The brave men,

living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it

far above our poor power to add or detract. The world

will little note nor long remember what we say here, but

it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the

living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished

work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly

advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the

great task remaining before us…that from these honored

dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which

they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here

highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain;

that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of

freedom; and that government of the people, by the people,

for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Ahh, doesn't it just give you chills! The Gettysburg museum is incredible. I regret that the kids were too little to understand the significance of what was being seen. I would have liked to have gone through the "quiet" sections of the museum. We spent most of our time exploring the battlefields.

This hill was the Union Army stronghold. They held this ground until the end of the three-day battle. The battle was fought from July 1st to July 3rd. There were approximately 50,000 casualties from this single battle, but it was a turning point for the Union forces.

Poor Lachlan. She is a head-sweater. You've never seen sweat like this on a kid's head. It's like she dunked her head in a bucket of water. She kept telling us that she was "soaking wet!"
Lincoln gave his address in the cemetery. Only Union soldiers were buried here. Confederate soldiers were taken to Virginia (I think). I was also surprised to learn that a number of soldiers from the World Wars were also buried here. The gravestones for the Civil War casualties are flat stones like these. There are also mass graves for soldiers only identified by their state names.