Back Home

Everything went very smoothly all the way home today.  The cars picked us up at the hotel at 9am and we were in the air heading South by 10:45am.  We enjoyed clear skies, a smooth ride, and a tail-wind all the way down the East coast.  We stopped for fuel & food in Fayetteville again and were home just before sunset.  Another fun trip in the books!

Central Park, Rockettes, Lightning Game

We made the most of our last, full day in NYC today.  After breakfast, we decided to head over to Central Park to let the kids run & play for a while.  I didn't realize how cold and windy it was until after the cab dropped us off and we started walking into the park.  Were we crazy to have the kids out in this weather?  The kids didn't seem to mind at all.  The boys enjoyed running up & down a big, grassy hill, playing in a big leaf-pile, trying to climb a big tree, sword fighting with sticks, etc.  Our general idea was to walk to the big pond in the middle of the park, but after 45 minutes of strolling, we threw in the towel --it was just too cold!

We made our way back toward 5th Ave and soon found a cab.  We sent Michele, Megan, Roland, & Sandy ahead to our next destination:  Time Square.  The boys & I continued toward the main road and found a very nice playground.  I decided to let the kids play for 15 minutes while I returned a few phone calls, then we caught a cab and headed over to Time Square to meet up with the rest of the family.  The traffic was heavy and poor Justin was feeling quite carsick by the time we got there.  We walked around Time Square for a while and took some photos, then we had lunch at Ruby Foo's (chinese).  After lunch, we walked around the corner to Radio City Music Hall for the 2pm Christmas Spectacular Show, which was great, as usual.

After the show, we had just enough time to walk back to the hotel and rest a few minutes before heading out on our next adventure:  Lightning -vs- Rangers at Madison Square Garden!  We had trouble getting a cab to the game, but luckily the hotel had an SUV standing by that was able to take us to the game.  The traffic was awful, but we finally made it.  We had dinner in the club before the game, which was pretty good.  Megan slept the whole time, so at least it was relaxing.  We were all wearing our Lightning gear, so we got a little good-natured ribbing from the Ranger fans, but nobody was really rude.

The game was tied when we left after the 2nd period so we could get packed up and rest for the trip home tomorrow.  We watched the dramatic ending on TV in the hotel room:  Lightning win in a shootout (11th round)!

Breakfast w Santa, Skating at Rock Center

This morning, we had Breakfast with Santa and then ice skating at Rockefeller Center.  We left the hotel around 8:30 and walked about 10 minutes to Rockefeller Center.  We took the elevator downstairs, checked in at the restaurant, and were soon seated.  Instead of going up to a breakfast buffet, or ordering off the menu, they do a hybrid of the two:  They bring the buffet to us!  They set down giant plates of scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, sweet rolls, French toast, breakfast burritos, etc.  YUMMY!

After breakfast, we enjoyed another cup of coffee and waited for Santa came by our table for a few photos.  He asked Cameron what he wanted for Christmas and Cam replied “I don’t know yet”.  Santa reminded him that it was only a few days away and he better give it some thought.  It was a funny exchange!

After visiting with Santa, it was time to head out to the ice.  The best part about Breakfast with Santa is that you can get right out on the ice afterwards and bypass the huge line waiting to skate.  I am all about bypassing lines!  We brought our own skates (except Michele), so we were able to start lacing up right away.  They ran the Zamboni while we got our skates on, so the timing worked out perfectly!

Michele had to rent skates, which took about 30 minutes, but she soon joined us on the ice.  We skated a while and took a bunch of photos.  It was a fun morning!  We also bumped into one of our neighbors (Julia Prince), which was quite a coincidence.  After an hour or so, our fingers & toes were getting cold, so we left the ice, changed back into our shoes, and walked back to the hotel to drop off the giant bag of skates.

We didn’t have anything specific planned for the afternoon, so we walked to a pizzeria for lunch (it was delicious!) and then came back to the room for some quiet time.  I slept for about an hour or so.  When I got up, everyone else was still sleeping, so I grabbed my camera and went for a walk.  I wanted to take some photos of Time Square just after sunset.  I stopped by Rock Center on the way, but it was WAY too crowded, so I kept moving.  I really enjoy strolling around a city shooting photos! 

After it got completely dark, I turned the camera off and strolled back to the hotel to meet up with the rest of the family for dinner.  We had reservations at Benjamin’s Steakhouse.  I was a little disappointed when we found Benjamin’s.  It was very crowded, very noisy, a little warm, and the service started out a bit slow.  I was ready to get up & leave, but Michele convinced me to stay –I’m so glad she did!  After the first 10 – 15 minutes, the waiter got it in gear and provided great service and the steak was one of the best I have every had!  Justin & I split a filet that was so tender & juicy, you could almost cut it with the side of your fork.

FAO Schwartz, Empire State Building, The Addam's Family

I purposely left the morning & day pretty open, just in case we had travel delays on the way into NYC.  After breakfast, we decided to head over to one of the kid’s favorite spots:  FAO Schwartz.  But first, I called the airport, told them where my secret key was stashed, and asked them to look for the missing suitcase.  I was so relieved when they called back a short time later and said they had found it!  The manager arranged a car service to bring it out to the hotel and Sandy & Megan stayed behind to receive it.

It was in the low 30’s outside and it took us about 20 minutes to walk to FAO Schwartz, so we were all eager to get inside and warm up!  It was busy, but not as bad as we’ve seen it in prior years.  We let the kids lead us around the store, only prodding them along when they stopped in one place too long.  Our idea was to have them look over the whole store and then pick one item.  Maybe Brandon & Justin weren’t in the mood, because they didn’t find anything that they wanted.  Or maybe they have everything already?   However, Cameron got in the spirit and picked out two items (one for his birthday):  A giant stuffed dog like Justin’s, and an R/C monster truck.

Aftwards, we grabbed a cab back to the hotel, met up with Sandy, dropped Cam’s stuff in the room, and then had lunch in the hotel restaurant.  After lunch, we decided to head over to the Empire State Building.  We have done this a couple times before, but Justin really wanted to get his picture taken at the top to show the kids at school.  Sandy wasn’t feeling up to it, so she stayed in the room again with Megan.

I bought express passes on-line, so we really didn’t have to wait around much.  After walking 20-30 minutes to get there, we were able to bypass all the lines and go right up to the observation deck.  As you would expect, it was very cold & windy, but one side of the building was protected from the wind and bathed in sunshine, so we spent some time taking photos and looking around.  Soon, we were ready to head back down (after buying the photo & souveneirs, of course!).   We got lucky outside and hailed an SUV taxi that was willing to take all 6 of us back to the hotel.

We had tickets to the Addams Family broadway show at 7pm with dinner reservations near the theater at 5pm, so we had a few minutes to relax until the babysitter showed up at 4pm.  After saying hello and getting her familiar with the supplies, etc., we all headed out. 

We walked about 20 minutes to the restaurant, Bond 45, and enjoyed a great surf & turf dinner.  Afterwards, we walked about 5 minutes across Time Square to the theater and arrived just as the opened the doors –I love it when a plan comes together!  We had great seats and really enjoyed the show, which starred Nathan Lane and “Lilith” from the old Cheers / Frasier shows.  Cameron laughed & laughed and the grandma character!

After the show, we stopped in the M&M store for a few minutes and then walked back to the hotel.

Getting There

The Bailey's are off to New York City!  My goal was to land at Teterboro, NJ before it got dark and we just barely made it.  I was hoping to avoid the evening rush hour as well, but that didn’t work out so well.

Michele did a great job getting the kids all packed up.  I almost forgot our ice skates (again) and had to pack those at the last minute.  We left the house around 7am, had breakfast at Firrst Watch downtown, and then headed to Peter O Knight airport for departure.  We took off around 8:45am. The good news is that the weather was great –sunshine and clear skies.  The bad news:  We fought a very strong headwind all the way up the east coast, which added over an hour to our total flight time. 

We stopped in Fayetteville, NC to get fuel.  It was COLD outside!  Michele & her parents hustled the kids into the FBO to relax while I cleaned out the potty and the line crew fueled up the plane.   After we were finished, we grabbed the catering and were soon on our way North again. 

The temperatures dropped and the headwind strengthened as we worked our way North.  I had the heater on in the plane and there were ice crystals forming on the cabin windows in the back.  It was just above 0F outside (-20C).  As we approached Philly (still over an hour from our destination), ATC asked us descend to 5,000 feet.  Despite my protests, they wouldn't allow us to remain higher any longer.  We were in & out of the clouds and it was very bumpy for the last hour of the flight.  We touched down in strong, gusty winds just in time to avoid a cabin full of airsick passengers.

It was REALLY cold (about 30 degrees F) & windy (15-20mph) outside and it was starting to get dark as we unloaded the plane.  The line crew was great and helped me get the plane secured while everyone waited in the nice, warm bus.  There were two vehicles waiting to take us into the city:  Brandon, Justin, & I rode in the mini-van with all the luggage and everyone else rode in an SUV.

It took a little over an hour in bumper to bumper traffic to get through the Lincoln tunnel and to our hotel, the Intercontinental Barclay.  I made the mistake of checking my e-mail on my iPhone enroute and was soon feeling carsick.  We pulled up to the hotel around 6:30pm.  Michele’s driver was stopped by the police on the way over, so they were delayed a few minutes (warning, no ticket).  Meanwhile, I got us checked in and had all the luggage brought up to the rooms.

Michele & crew soon arrived and we decided to freshen up in the rooms a few minutes before heading down to the hotel restaurant for dinner.  However, we soon discovered that one of Roland & Sandy’s bags was missing.  And, worse:  It was the bag containing his medicine (11 RX’s) and his breathing machine which helps him sleep.  Sandy went down & double-checked with the bellman, Roland called the car company, but they had no luck.

We were happy to be in NYC, but we didn’t feel very festive at dinner, because we were all worried about Roland’s case.  We finally decided that we must have left it on the plane and decided to follow up on it in the morning.  We’ve done all we can do for tonight.