I went on a much needed vacation to New York with my family. It was our 1st family vacation together in a very long time. Before we left , I was starting to get stressed out and feeling burdened. See, even though we have a live-in caregiver, my sister and I still go to our parents’ house everyday almost. My dad looks for us and worries if he doesn’t see us all the time. I can’t speak for my sister, but it’s hard for me to juggle our business, caring for my little girl and making sure that she has her time with me, and my husband too and then going over their home and making sure our caregiver is ok and everything is ok. I also run errands, go grocery shopping for them, etc. When we go to our parents’ house, we’re there for hours, not just 1 or 2 hours. So doing this day-in and day-out, and topping that with some personal drama that my other sister has introduced, as well as our caregiver (who we have gotten to know on a personal level), it was time for a much needed break.
We took 10 days to enjoy the city.
One of two Broadway shows we got to see
This was my first time in New York City, it was always a dream of mine to go and I finally did! I have a niece that moved there a couple of years ago and loves it. So, it was good to go somewhere and have someone give you tips and ideas about where to go. We went everywhere, but we’re still not done! We didn’t get to go see the Empire State building, but we did go see most of the major tourist attractions. Next time I go out there, I plan on spending more time in the neighborhoods. Next time, we will try the SOHO area, Tribeca, Little Italy and Chinatown. I’d also like to maybe go over to Harlem and check out the sites over there.
Manhattan is a big island! I didn’t realize how big it was until we took a tour bus and it took over 1 1/2 hours to get from Time Square to Battery Park (to take the ferry over to see Statue of Liberty). I guess I’m just used to a smaller scale city like San Francisco where I grew up. But I absolutely had a lot of fun in New York.
Lots of Entertainment
We saw 2 Broadway shows: The Lion King and Little Mermaid. If you haven’t seen Lion King, you absolutely have to. It is an amazing musical. The costumes, the set, the performances were top notch. The costumes were out of this world. We weren’t allowed to take pictures of the musical, but the imagination of the designers responsible were amazing. The talent was just as extraordinary. I can see why this musical won 4 Tonys I believe.
Little Mermaid was cute. It wasn’t as good as Lion King, but definitely beautiful. The set was so colorful and bright. The best part was watching my daughter watch the show. She had so much fun. She’s so spoiled. I don’t think I ever got to go see anything like that.
Little Mermaid Curtain on the Set
Our 2nd night, Josie, her friend, my husband and I watched Yanni Voices. She’s a member of KPBS here in San Diego, and scored some great seats. It was my husband’s first time going, and my 3rd? I’ve seen him in concert before, but this time he has new vocalists that he is promoting. All of them are very talented 20-somethings. Each has a different style of singing: opera, latin, and pop.
Leslie Mills - one of the singers. We were seated in row 5?
One of things I most enjoyed about going to New York was all the walking that we did. I don’t think that I’d ever walked so much in my life. I can see why city New Yorkers don’t drive. You don’t really need to with all of the available public transportation. I didn’t feel as guilty with all of the food we ate because we walked it off!
View from the restaurant @ the Mandarin Oriental Hotel by Central Park
one of the many beautiful scenes at Central Park
Brooklyn Bridge
Josie and I on the Tour Bus
At Time Square
Every day we were doing something. I think by the end of our trip, my niece and her boyfriend were glad to see us go! They had to juggle family activities with us with working and going to school. So, they ‘d literally be out 12 hours or longer every day with us! And I thought we did too much! Anyway, by the end of the trip, we were ready to come home. I’d have to say that NY is definitely a place I would have lived in if I were single and younger. But in the end, It was nice to get back home though to the quieter lifestyle of San Diego.
Storming at Statue of Liberty
