---

Olivia’s alarm chirped at 3:30 a.m. to wake them for the GMA concert in Central Park. Cara and I had chosen not to participate in that particular brand of craziness so they were going without us. I’m a light sleeper so I wasn’t surprised when her alarm woke me and I had already accepted I would hear them getting ready and probably not be able to go back to sleep. So when my eyes next opened at 4:30 a.m. (their planned departure time), I jumped out of bed with my heart immediately racing and eyes wide open because I was sure they had fallen back asleep. I yanked the bedroom door open and found only an empty apartment! Somehow they had gotten ready and left without me hearing and were already well on their way. Of course my excited state made going back to sleep impossible (it didn’t have the same effect on Cara).

In a couple of hours Cara and I left for breakfast. We wanted on this trip to eat at a restaurant that had earned a Michelin Star (1 star would do). The main problems were the prices at dinner (as much as several hundred dollars per person), and the fact that you apparently don’t earn a star for grilled chicken or ceasar salad (and the girls weren’t willing to eat foie gras for dinner). Our solution was to find one of these restaurants that served breakfast, this made it both affordable and an experience we could spare the girls.

We took a subway to the NoMad Restaurant. It was a dark, very ornate place with heavy velvet curtains and mahogany furniture that made me think it was originally decorated many decades ago. The glass ceiling of the main dining room (what must’ve been originally built as a courtyard) lightened the decor and gave the whole restaurant a more elegant air. The service was excellent and the coffee was even better (not something I usually even notice since I don’t drink a lot of coffee). The menu was small and there seemed to be a lot of duck involved (which neither of us were excited about). But there were a few more “normal” options. Cara got bananas foster French toast and I ordered eggs and hash. The food was incredible- even better than we expected, so the “higher then our usual breakfast price” was well worth it.

We headed back toward Time Square to meet the girls after the Demi Lavato concert. Olivia has gotten good at navigating the subways and streets, and we found them without difficulty. Cara and I next headed to the Body World Pulse exhibition (another adventure the girls opted out of) while the girls did some shopping. The Body Worlds exhibits feature real bodies preserved through a process called plastination to show intricate details of different body systems and it’s one of the most remarkable things I’ve ever seen. We got the audio tour and made our way slowly through the exhibit. Both being health care workers we were constantly fascinated by what we saw. About an hour and a half later we came to the end having seen structures with our eyes that we’ve only previously only seen on x-ray or felt under the skin (as in the case of muscles). It was really fantastic.

We met the girls back in time square for some – surprise – more shopping. We found a local pizza place Cara had heard of and then headed for Central Park Zoo which is a small park that resembles the campus of an Ivy League college with its old brick buildings covered in ivy and manicured sidewalks twisting between them.

Next we stopped at Grand Central where we walked through much of the terminal and shopping concourse and had the obligatory New York black and white cookie and a soda to go with it. When Cara was getting her drink Maggie suddenly asked “Do you need a hug Mom?”.  Olivia and I both looked at her, I hadn’t even realized she was upset about anything! But then Maggie quickly corrected us- she’d said “do you need a hugger Mom?” (b/c Cara’s hands are sensitive to cold). We laughed until I thought they’d ask us to leave and so that question became the joke of the trip (and never failed to make us laugh).

We finally moved on to Rockefeller Center and some more sightseeing and shopping both in and around Rockefeller Center and 5th Avenue. Dinner at Bill’s in Rickefeller (a hamburger place Olivia and I like that we have been to several times).

Today we logged almost 11 miles and 40 flights of stairs and we were tired to say the least. Our feet and legs were tight and sore and I’d hold Cara’s hand to balance on the subway platform to stretch my quads (so “do you need me to hold your hand?” became funny to us to).

We returned “home” later than we had planned (as usual). We were already getting more comfortable with “our” neighborhood and how to get around. Being in the city always feels so exciting to me that I hate to go home, but on the other hand it completely exhausts me and I’m so glad to relax. But either way we have to rest up for another fun day tomorrow…

We woke to a foggy, drizzly morning so we just grabbed our rain jackets and decided it wasn’t going to slow us down. Breakfast (if gooey sweetness can be called that) was at the donut plant. I seriously don’t even like donuts but those beautiful confections are more a work of art than what we typically call donuts. We passed each flavor around the table so we could all be amazed at each one. After breakfast we headed downtown since we had tickets to the Freedom Tower. We arrived early and were whisked up 105 floors in about 40 seconds flat. It seemed even quicker since there was a “view” on the elevator walls as if we were in a glass elevator. We reached the top floor and watched a short video about the tower and then were left to marvel at the 360degree views from the massive windows. We could see every burrough of the city in its entirety and a lot of New Jersey. The Statue of Liberty sat far below us in the Hudson River as if it were no larger than a Barbie doll. Words and even pictures don’t come close to describing the views, so I won’t waste time trying.

After we left One World Trade Center we toured St Pauls Cathedral across the street.  Although they still hold services here, it’s a moving museum in itself with so many mementos from the 9 months it served as a base for 9/11 workers.

Shopping was next on the list, along with lunch at an adorable but tiny restaurant in Little Italy. Maggie bought a knockoff purse from a man in Chinatown. This was a fairly easy transaction a few years ago but now we felt like we were involved in a drug deal with the exchange of the purse and the money to buy it in a phone booth.

Heavy bags in hand (mostly Maggie’s hand), we returned to our apt to drop them off. We couldn’t resist a short nap after all that walking before we headed to the meat packing district. We meandered through Chelsea Market and made a visit to the friends building. We stopped at a gourmet French Fry place and on to Washington Square Park.

Since we had tickets to the Upstanding Citizens Brigade stand up comedy show tonight, we took a subway to the lower east side. I’m amazed each time we emerge from an underground station, I feel like I’m in a new city. Every neighborhood has its own vibe, no 2 seem to be alike.

We were less than impressed with the comedy, these were the type of comedians that make you realize how hard it must be to get up and tell jokes (i.e. they DO NOT make it look easy). This was a little different from our previous experience with UCB when Amy Poler and some of the Saturday night live crew showed up.

Back to the apt before 10, Maggie and Olivia will have a very early day leaving for Central Park at 4:30 a.m. to see Demi Lavata.

Still no A/C- we are again promised tomorrow. So tonight we sleep with open windows to catch the cool night air and the sound of blaring horns and breaking glass along with it. But this is New York! And I’m loving every minute of it.

THE day finally came and it didnt come quietly. At 3:30 in the morning Olivia tiptoed into my room to tell me she happened to see a notification when she woke during the night that our flights had been changed and I needed to come and confirm it online. Our morning flight was already delayed (I later learned it was because of severe weather the night before causing problems with the morning schedule) and we were offered alternative flights since it would mean we’d miss our connection in Atlanta. Of course we weren’t the only ones this was happening to and seats were not easy to come by. We ended up with a new itenerary that took us through both Atlanta and Raleigh/Durham and then to LaGuardia. Olivia’s flight however, was to be a standby ticket only and since we didn’t want to leave her in North Carolina she spent 2 HOURS (2 TENSE hours) on hold with Delta. By the time we arrived at the airport we were already anxious but after we checked in and started chatting excitedly with Cara and Maggie we relaxed. For the most part I’m always able to see travel delays and mishaps as just another part of the adventure and rarely get upset about them.

Our original flight was delayed even more than anticipated and by the time we reached Atlanta we actually ran to the next gate just in time for the last call. (That’s a funny story I won’t go into). The remaining leg for North Carolina went fairly smoothly and we were finally in NYC! We took an uber into the city to the Airbnb apt we rented. Being close to afternoon rush hour, the traffic was worse than usual and the long ride allowed us plenty of time to adjust our senses to the busy city around us. We found our apt building in Hell’s Kitchen and found we had a 4th floor walk up (with luggage). The stairs in the old building were steep and narrow (a suitcase had to be dragged behind you- there wasn’t room to carry it beside you in the tiny stairwell). The stairs also had a decided tilt to the right (which Maggie called sketchy but I corrected her- it’s called character). A cute and clean apartment awaited us, but with a few more hiccups – the A/C was MIA (although it had been advertised) and the bathroom light didn’t work. We later obtained a promise from the owner to install the portable A/C tomorrow and fix the light, but for tonight we’d make the best of it. I have encountered similar struggles with properties before and I wasn’t really shaken, but I could tell Cara and Maggie were possibly considering checking into the nearest holiday inn. Not really, but it was getting harder to keep positive attitudes for sure.

There is always that moment for me when I go on any trip even slightly out of my comfort zone that I begin to question why I’m here and begin to believe that I’d have been better off staying at home. It usually happens quickly, often just a couple of hours after I get there. Luckily I also know that feeling will pass pretty quickly and I will soon remember my love of travel and be ecstatic to be there.

We left our tiny apartment and went to find lunch which was at Grand Central. We headed to the upper east side and shopped in some of the huge 3 story stores, we got a cupcake from the sprinkles cupcake ATM and rode the Roosevelt tram over the East River to see the skyline a little better at night. We rounded out the night with impossibly small but delectable cupcakes to take home. The day had turned out to be a success!

Our apartment was warm and stuffy and we felt this place deserved the name Hell’s Kitchen, but when you stepped out on the old iron fire escape outside our window you could see the Empire State Building’s tall, brightly lit antenna.

Our adventures are just beginning and I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings!