Springtime in NYC!
3 Bucks! 2 Bags! 7 Mes!
When you have 5 kids, shopping for Christmas gifts can be quite an orchestration. Does everyone have equal money spent? Does everyone have a fair amount to open? Do I remember everyone’s name?
By the time Christmas morning arrives, the kids have usually been through 2 or 3 grandparents celebrations and they have received more stuff than we can haul in our 15 passenger van! They are truly blessed.
A few years back Elizabeth and I made a change that we have found to be super helpful. Santa usually brings the kids the same thing every year which includes new shoes, socks, and a Hallmark dancing snowman. The kids buy a gift for each sibling from a local toy store. And our recent change is that instead of buying each kid stuff, we give each kid gets a experience. This experience usually requires travel and of course everyone gets to go. Here was our experiences from Christmas 2022:
Henry-Chicago, Museum of Science and Industry
Elliott- Springfield Illinois, Abraham Lincoln Museum/Library/Home
Benjamin-Chicago, Shedd Aquarium
Amelia-Indiana University Bloomington, Traveling Production of the musical Annie.
Arthur- Rantoul Illinois, Half Century of Farm Progress Tractor Show
By giving experiences we are able to tailor trips/events to each child’s personality. It has been a fantastic way to make memories and give a gift that will last a lifetime.
For Christmas 2023, Elizabeth and I decided to do a group experience gift. On Christmas morning after opening Santa and sibling gifts we gave each child a wrapped box with a clue in it. The first box had newspaper clipping of the business stock section. The second box had sleep masks in it. The third were cutouts of the classic theater faces. The fourth box had apples. Finally, the fifth box was a puzzle of NYC.
That’s right, this years group experience was a spring break trip to the Big Apple!
We left as soon as I got of school on Friday on our journey. Our trip was actually a two parter 1) We were going to Ithaca New York for the first weekend to see our dear friends Maggie and Jeremy and their children Ella and Owen 2) Then travel through the Catskills to our Destination in Brooklyn.
The first night we made it as far as Cleveland. It was late but we were still able to swim for 30 minutes before the pool closed for the night. We took off after breakfast and made our way up towards the finger lakes. I was not prepared for the geography of northern New York. The last hour was some of the biggest hills I have ever climbed in a vehicle. Ithaca is a giant bowl and it was beautiful! We met up with our friends, ate some delicious food, and played a board game that they turned us onto last time we were together called Wingspan.
The next day we toured Ithaca including some gorgeous waterfalls, Carl Sagan’s home, a lakeside restaurant, and my first time in the glorious wonderland of Wegmans Food Market! After a night of visiting over Wingspan it was time for us to say our goodbyes and hit the road.
My personal favorite part of the trip was the 5 hour drive from Ithaca to Brooklyn. We traveled through the Catskill Mountains and it was gorgeous! It felt like an honest to goodness Bob Ross painting. White snow crest mountain tops, that transitioned to lush green trees, leading to the river valley down below. I could have been happy to stay there the rest of the trip.
We came into NYC from the North and crossed the George Washington Bridge. Driving in this area was not difficult as long as you kept up with traffic and made your lane decisions early. Luckily when we arrived at our destination, Elizabeth’s cousin Katie was camping out a perfect parking spot on the street right in front of her building! From our front door to hers was exactly 999.9 miles.
It was wonderful to spend time with Katie! She is a lawyer who lives in Brooklyn and works in Manhattan. She was the perfect Sacagawea for us country bumpkins! She opened her third story apartment to us and made us feel so welcomed. I know I keep saying this line a lot, but “my favorite part of the trip,” was the precious time Elizabeth, Katie, and I stayed up late laughing and sharing stories. We will forever be grateful for her hospitality and we miss her so much ( ohh she’s very much still alive, I just mean… well you know what I mean)!
In a moment I want to share all the tips and tricks we have to share with you on how to enjoy New York City, but I want to share a few standout moments from the trip that stand out.
After settling our luggage in, Katie called for Uber cars and we travelled to the Staten Island Ferry. This was the Coley’s first experience Ubering and we loved it with the only exception that since we are a giant family we had to take 2 cars. The Staten Island Ferry is totally free and it travels right past the Statue of Liberty. It was incredible to see Lady Liberty in person! Elizabeth said it best, “It’s like all your life you’ve heard about it, read about it, and seen pictures. But when you see it, it’s like a sensation of WOW this is actually real!”
9/11 Memorial Museum was on the top of our list. We went to see it starting with the Reflecting Pool. It has twin waterfall pools surrounded by the names of all of the victims from the 9/11 attacks. In addition, there are yellow roses placed on names of individuals on their birthday. Outside there is also a pear tree that is known as the Survivor Tree. It was discovered by recovery workers severely damaged at Ground Zero. It was nursed back to health and returned. Inside the museum there are sites of remaining structures, items from recovery workers, audio of calls made that day, news coverage, found items from victims, and more. It was extremely sobering and you leave there emotionally drained, yet encouraged with human spirit.
We bit the bullet and purchased Broadway tickets to see Wicked. We saw Wicked several years ago for our 1-year wedding anniversary, but none of our children had not seen it. Knowing that the Wicked movie was coming to theatres November 2024, we wanted them to see the stage performance. Thinking about a Broadway show, I thought the theatres would be these large overcoming buildings. It was quite the opposite. The theatres were stunningly beautiful, seats were intimate with perfect views of the stage, and the feeling was nothing short of magical.
We wanted to see 30 Rock and Rockefeller area to see some of the shopping and to see those “movie moment” spots. To do this, we decided to utilize the hop on-hop off tour bus. While we were waiting for our bus we noted that the bus times were slower than scheduled. Oh well, we hopped on and headed to Rockefeller area. We hopped off and went to the Lego Store and then started our way to FAO Shwarz. There wasn’t ANYONE around. Elizabeth even said, “Wow! There are not crowds today. We are going to be able to see everything today.” We walked into FAO Shwarz and came out 15 minutes later to a locked down city. What in the heck?! Well, unbeknownst to us, there was a major fundraiser on that city block featuring 4 of the US Presidents. President Clinton, President Bush, President Obama, and President Trump were all right there within that city block. The first thought was “How neat is it that we are within a city block to all of these US leaders.”… very quickly we realized we were not going to be doing any sightseeing the rest of the day. NYPD (thank you for your service!) were everywhere, about every city block was barricaded, demonstrations of protesters were being bussed to approved locations, sanitation trucks parked for additional barricades, and the city was stopped. We hopped back on the bus and made it… not very far. We decided that we had had enough and quickly abandoned that plan. So, if you are going to be focused on sightseeing and doing the hop on-hop off bus, maybe double check that the 4 presidents aren’t arriving that same moment.
Travelling to NYC is one our family will always treasure and enjoy. There is so much more we could write and share. I believe we could spend a month in NYC and still not see it all. Special thanks to our dear cousin Katie for being our personal NYC concierge. Also, special thanks to our cousins Megan, Josh, and Charlie for spending a morning with us and sharing their NYC.
Below are travel trips for NYC and then also general travel trips with families.
NYC Travelling Tips:
Driving: Opt to drive on interstate and avoid to drive downtown. It isn’t because there are bad drivers but the the sheer amount of pedestrians and bikes. We drove our 15-passenger van into NYC. Anywhere you drive, there is traffic. When we arrived, we parked and left our van put.
Getting around NYC: Utilize the metro! Midwesterners, we promise, it will be okay! You can do it! You can swipe your metrocard and open the side gate to let your whole family in. WE PROMISE IT ISN’T STEALING!
Download Citymapper app to plan your trip. There are local subways and express subways. Express subways do not stop at every stop and can make your commute quicker.
Uber helped us considerably! Especially when the weather was questionable or it was late in the night. We did have to order two cars each time to fit everyone, but it was an extremely safe option.
If you have a day you want to try and see several sites, consider a ‘Hop on hop off’ tour. You can purchase a full day pass or even an afternoon-evening pass to rest and see it all. Tickets were considerably cheaper if you purchased from the ticket salesman versus purchasing online on the website. We were able to haggle the ticket price to half-price in person. There was also an option of $19 tickets for 6pm or later. *A hop on hop off tour is a bus that you can ride around the city and do just that… hop on and then hop back on another bus.
Shoes: Bring two pair of good shoes. You will be doing a A LOT of walking. And if you get hit with a rainy day, you do not want soggy shoes the rest of your time. This is not the time to try out new shoes either. Wear your trusty shoes that are comfortable and reliable.
Pizza: Need a snack? There is 99c NY Pizza everywhere. It is the perfect and inexpensive snack!
Staten Island Ferry: GO AND SEE IT! This is a non-negotiable. If possible, make it your first stop of NYC. The Staten Island Ferry is a commuter ferry and is free. It takes you right by the Statue of Liberty. There are seating options inside and outside.
New Yorkers: If you are worried about New Yorkers… don’t be. New Yorkers are NOT how they have been portrayed!
NYPD: Bravo to the NYPD! They were ON IT in the subway. There was one situation where someone was getting heated. The NYPD were calm, did not make a scene, and kept things moving. They had a positive presence everywhere we saw them.
Broadway: Go see a show! The theatres are intimate and powerful. When buying tickets, go to the show’s actual site. There are less fees and tickets are not price gauged. If they are sold out, then go to stubhub. If you are not particular about what show you see, TKTS at Times Square is a place to try and score inexpensive tickets.
Backpacks: NYC is an extremely backpack friendly city!
Public Restrooms: Public restrooms are not everywhere. Most restaurants you go through kitchen as a paying patron.
General Travelling Tips:
Hotels: Find a hotel chain you like and can utilize. We have a Marriott credit card and run our monthly budget payments through it. In return, we earn ‘free rooms’. What is great about Marriott for our family is they have rooms large enough for our family. Also, there is a substantial continental breakfast which is an additional cost savings for our family.
Packing: It can be daunting when you are traveling for multiple days and multiple people. On trips like this, we have found it easier to pack each day’s clothes in a reusable grocery bag. The bag is then labeled for what day they are needed. After those clothes are used, they go back in the same bag and are a dirty clothes bag now. After all of our bags are packed, they are put in a tote or laundry basket. That makes it easier to carry everything and packs easier in the vehicle.
Food: If we don’t plan ahead on food, this can become a quick money pit. Eating out, gas station snacks, drive through drinks, $! Yikes! We pack snacks, plan meals we can make, pack some on-the-road meals (sandwich level), everyone has a reusable cup and we have a water jug, we also make a carafe of coffee or hot tea for the adults. With that said, we do plan for fun meals out. One part of travelling is exploring the local eatery. So we plan for some of our meals out in our travel budget. Also, we love a London Fog, so finding a local coffee shop to see who has the best London Fog is a fun adventure too. What do we use to pack food? Cooler(s) for the cold food. Any food that can be frozen, we freeze it to double as an ice pack and then pack down with ice. Non-refrigerated food goes in a tote to keep it from being crushed. Snacks go in a bag in the front to easily pass out.
Car Ride Entertainment: This might shock people, but… we pack san handheld electronics. I know! I know! Even for our 12 hours trips… we make it work. How???? A few things. Each trip it is common for the kids to get new paper sketch pads, a lined notebook, colored pencils (ONLY COLORED PENCILS IN THE CAR!), and pencils. This gives them something to do for a lot of the trip. We listen to a lot of podcasts, audio books, and music. Speaking of music, sometimes listening to a broadway soundtrack gives a story versus just song after song and it makes time go by smoother. We let each kid pack a backpack and in the backpack they can put books, small toys, games, etc.
Inexpensive Site Entertainment: For the last several years we have held a Terre Haute Children’s Museum pass. Our museum is part of the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC) Program. There is an extensive list with partnering programs in each state. When we prepare to travel we look at that list and see if there are any sites we can visit with our pass.
If there are other places we want to visit that are not on our pass program, I call the site and ask about a discount. This discount might be a ‘homeschool’ discount, it might be a ‘group rate’ discount, or it might simply be a discount they offer because I asked. There isn’t always a discount, but it never hurts to ask!