I’m so impressed with us. We’re up and out the door exactly when I planned to be. We’re going to try one last time for that ridiculous singing restaurant (the line was two and a half city blocks yesterday afternoon as well) but I have two back ups on the way to our destination. And there is no rain.
We get to the block with the diner and the line’s only a half a block long. This is the best we’re going to do so we wait. I take the kids across the street to look in store windows and we do some calisthenics on the street much to the amusement of those passing by. Finally we’re about to be granted entry into, what I can only imagine, is the most impressive dining establishment midtown has to offer.
The volume in side is approximately a million decibels. And there are glittering lights. And 50 tvs. And people singing show tunes on tables. Ok. Not my ideal, but the kids will get a kick out of this. After a moment to take it all in we’re ushered upstairs into a dirty back booth where none of the visuals are visible and we are essentially listening to a radio on full blast.
We order the food and Derek takes Mouse to the bathroom. (The fact that our two year old is newly toilet trained might be the hardest part of the trip. We have to have a bathroom for him every 60-90 minutes an the bathrooms in NYC are truly glorious.) When he gets back he looks like he’s going to vomit and screams (because that’s the only way we can communicate in this place), “DON’T LET HIS SHOES TOUCH ANYTHING!” as Mouse is handed to me and put in the booth. I come to understand that the floor in the bathroom was a small lake of pee and other human effluence. And of course his shoes are all over our jackets and backpack almost immediately. Ok. time to get our food and get the fuck out.
The food is hilariously bad. But it comes with tater tots and regardless of how overcooked and over-oiled they are I have to eat them. The kids get a rainbow bagel and are over the moon (The bagel must have been shipped in from Indiana. It too, was awful. A true feat for a NYC restaurant.) The kiddos are also into the singing even if they can’t see any of the performers. We give no indication of how miserable we are so they can enjoy themselves. After waiting for 20min for our check (don’t they know they have a line outside) we can finally leave. I shake that experience off and vow to never again wait in a line outside a restaurant.
We walk uptown to the New York Historical Society where they have a Richard Scarry train show. It’s uncrowded, not sprawling, and has trains and structures for the kids to play on. We’re all happy. And after exploring all we can upstairs there’s a small children’s museum downstairs with a library. After the intensity of yesterday this is such a welcome surprise. We spend a leisurely morning here and then are off to enjoy Central Park.
We take a nice walk (while I’m on the GPS the entire time – I will not be lead down the wrong path again) and the kids can get out of the strollers whenever they feel like it and we’re all enjoying ourselves. We get a quick croissant and fruit in lieu of an actual lunch because the adults are still sick to their stomachs from breakfast and we know carbs and sweeter carbs are all the kids want anyway. We meander (with the GPS) to the zoo and have a great time. Even though I’m pretty sure they were really only interested in the ducks, which we have a ton of at home and don’t have to pay to see.
We let the kids (and us) have a break at the hotel before heading to dinner nice and early to avoid any New Year’s Eve shenanigans.
The whole of midtown has been setting up for this for days. I have absolutely no idea why anyone wants to do New Year’s Eve in Time Square. People begin to crowd around starting at 5/6pm. Some are even earlier. The hotel is close enough to TS that I’m psyching myself up for a real battle back to the hotel. But we take a longer route home and are pleasantly surprised that we are able to avoid the whole mess. The kids are tucked in and we’re in bed and asleep by 9:30pm. We’re kinda the definition of amazeballs.
Travels with Larson and Co 