The first time I took my son to the city where he was old enough to absorb the atmosphere, he peered out the restaurant windows in Times Square.. stared long and hard at the scene, and proclaimed “THESE are my PEOPLE!” He loved the chaos, the hustle, the variety of different KINDS of people.. the artsy – noisy – food everywhere – TALL building vibe.
Wax Museum…
Central Park carriage ride…
where I wanted to rescue every carriage horse from the perils of city living.
Saturday he went with his girlfriend and another young couple for his first trip without the ‘rents. Well pass me the Xanax and I will survive! was my mantra for the day. They did too…. Taking the Metro North into Grand Central – about a two hour ride – where my son was in awe. It is a cathedral, if you’ve never been.
Then, as they headed out into the throng of PEOPLE… it was wall to wall. The walking was slow going, as the crowd was so thick it was more like a shuffle. Hailing a cab was an olympic event, impossible for those
still green behind the ears of city life and not accustomed to pushing people out of the way and whistling, hand waving, taxi cab saluting more vigorously than the 2000 other people also doing the same on the curb surrounding you. What they finally managed to do was grab a Bike Taxi… (ever been? It’s a little hairy, espcecially in NYC traffic) … and that driver was able to get them to the Empire State Building.
The view from the Empire State Building at night is amazing…
And then they were hungry. Very.
Back into the throng.
Two hour wait anywhere they went.
So, they found a vendor selling noodles and that’s what they had for dinner in the Big Apple.
Their initial plans to skate at Rock Center weren’t happening, as it would take too long
to GET there from where they were and they had a train to catch.
Turns out, they picked the most congested day of the year for tourists
visiting the city dressed in it’s holiday finery.
I’m still sad that they didn’t get to see the tree.
But hey, he got to see HIS PEOPLE!
A sleepy crew arrived at my door around midnight,
and I promptly fell asleep. We all survived 🙂
And while the boychild did NOT take many photos (and he’s my son!)
he did bring home an ornament for Mom.
It’s a beautiful thing.