We decided about five or six months ago that we were going to go to New Hampshire to visit Tony's parents serving a mission there. We have never taken our kids on a plane for vacation before, if we couldn't drive there, then we didn't go. So this was a really big deal for us. The cheapest flights were into New York City so that was quickly added to the itinerary. Then I realized Boston was only an hour from where they were serving, so of course we had to go there too. Then it has always been my desire to take the kids to Palmyra. I was 11 years old when I went and I had never forgotten the experience I had there. It wasn't that far of a drive, and who knew if we would ever get back there again. So before long we had a ten day/9 night trip scheduled for August. Now I am the kind of person that likes to really plan in advance. I like to know what there is to see, know all the history, comparison shop, find the best ways to get around and then plan a schedule so packed that you fall into bed exhausted each night. So for the past several months I have been doing just that. I love it! I love reading about the history of a place and then when you go there you can be transported back to another time as you think about what happened there. You might say I am a bit of a history nut, but my interests are varied. I love exploring nature, and I can thoroughly enjoy a relaxing vacation by a lake or ocean too. This just didn't happen to be one of those kind of trips.
In order to pack more into an already packed schedule, we decided to take the red-eye to NYC on Thursday night and spend Friday in NYC before driving to New Hampshire to spend Saturday and Sunday with Tony's parents. Our flight was scheduled to arrive at 6:15 am and then we were going to spend the day taking in a few sights in the city. So Thursday finally arrived. All the months of planning were finally over, and it was time to go. We were just about ready to go, just finishing up a few last minute things like putting together a 200 song playlist to listen to in the car while driving to our different destinations. As we were eating dinner we got a phone call from Delta saying that our flight had been delayed an hour and a half! So frustrating! Finally the hour arrived and we drove over to my parents house, and my Dad took us to the airport. Our flight ended up leaving at about 2:30 Friday morning. We finally arrived at JFK at 9:00 am. Tony's sister is living in New York right now and she picked us up at the airport. She drove us over to LaGuardia to pick up our rental car (saved us $400 to get the car there and the airports are only about 15 mile apart) and stored our luggage for the day. We are so grateful to her and her willingness to help us out while we were there. She and her husband made our trip so much easier and were so willing to inconvenience themselves to help us out.
We drove into the city and parked the car, and then set out on foot to do a little exploring. Since we were getting such a late start we had to modify our plans, but we still got to see quite a bit. The only problem was that we were all functioning on little or no sleep which leaves you with little energy. We kept trying to wake ourselves up with sugar infusions, but alas those do not last long. We got to see a lot of cool things, but I think we all enjoyed the rest of our days more when we were at least a little rested. (Personally I was ok. I get some kind of crazy travel energy that leaves me hopping the whole time I am on a trip, but I crash hard when I return home. We have been home for 4 1/2 days and I still feel a little hazy.)
Here's a brief run down of what we did the first day:
- Grand Central Station where we ate lunch and enjoyed some Junior's Red Velvet Cake and a divine Carrot Cake and Cheesecake combo.
- Went up to the upper west side to take a quick peek into the Natural History Museum.
- Walked by the Dakota and Strawberry Fields in Central Park ( our Beatles tribute-Tony has taught us all to love the Beatles)
- Walked by the Manhattan Temple, Julliard and Lincoln Center
- Steinway Hall and FAO Schwarz
- Tiffany's
- St. Patrick's Cathedral (disappointing as the outside was covered in scaffolding)
- Rockefeller Center
It was hot and humid with a few showers thrown in on Friday. Let me just make one thing perfectly clear-humidity and I are NOT friends. But I knew we would have to deal with it going in August, so what else can you do but buck up and sweat it out. After a few hours, we were all so exhausted and we still had a 4+ hour drive to make to our hotel in Billerica, Massachusetts. We drove back to Laura's, picked up our luggage and were off. We arrived safe and sound at the lovely Homewood Suites which we would call home for the next 4 nights.
States visited today-New York, Conneticut and Massachusetts
Tolls paid $25
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