The 8,000 Words (Or Less)

I've been trying to think of the best way to discuss and describe our fabulous 24-hour Times Square mini-vacation. And the best thing I've come up with are the lists of our favorite things, made at various times of the trip, in no particular order.

Before that quickly, the whole raison d'etre of our trip. When Mama mentioned going outside in Times Square at night, one of the kids asked, "Will we need to take our flashlights?" As a native New Yorker, Mama felt negligent and embarrassed that her own kids had no concept of Times Square!

From the kids, gathered by Mama during breakfast (my explanations in parantheses):

• Fun
• Harry Potter exhibition
• Ball drop (at the NYC Visitor's Center--the real ball is lit and "Auld Lang Syne" sung regularly)
• 1,000 taxi cabs (and Bud actually counted, out our 33rd -story hotel window)
• Lots of Broadway theatres (they liked spotting shows they knew, like Rent and Lion King)
• Lots of little shops and stores
• Love the fast fast elevators (we were at the Marriott Marquis and the computerized elevators are impressively fast)
• Makes you want to sleep (so tired after walking everywhere and staying up late to see the lights)
• The Amy before she was mine (Sis found a new, white bunny at Toys R Us, where Mama bought the original)
• Hot dogs (eaten at the TKTS bleachers, during the earthquake we didn't feel)
• New York City
• Times square
• Lots of people
• Ton of people
• Big big buildings
• Our giant hotel (they liked going up to the 48th floor to see the revolving restaurant, though we didn't stay)
• Makes you tired
• New wiggle penguin (Bud's NYC souvenir, with a tail you pull to make it dance)

My list, written when the kids were wandering around with Mama while I was resting:

• I liked seeing the GWB and Intrepid on the way in
• Early check in--our hotel let us in at noon!
• Fancy fast elevators...computerized now. . . I remember when they weren't and guests stood around pushing each other out of the way to get to the rare arriving elevator
• Best view ever--all of Times Square, from end to end, from our corner room on the 33rd floor
• Chocolate stores--the kids loved the colored M&M wall (Hershey wasn't nearly as impressive, though it smelled more chocolatey)
• We were in a little independent film being made behind us when the kids were eating those hot dogs near the bleachers during the earthquake which no one noticed--we only knew where we were when it hit because we have a photo timestamped two minutes later
• I really enjoyed the NYC Visitor Center, which I swear is in an old theater where I saw Hunchback of Notre Dame years ago. I liked the colorful ball drop, the elaborate old theater, and the costumes from Into the Woods and Phantom of the Opera on view. And the shop is great, with a book called Only in New York which I devoured in my downtime. (Do you know why the NYPD caps have 8 points? The original 17th-century police force, the Rattle Brigade, had 8 members!). They also had smoosh-a-pennies!
• Juniors Cheesecake . . . and egg cream . . . and strawberry blintzes . . . and black and white cookie. Mmmmmmmmmm.
• Cel-ray soda--Mama got it and Bud liked it, bubbles and all!
• I liked walking around what I consider my old neighborhood (I lived at 44th near 6th). My old grad school building is now the swanky Euro Hotel Mela. They let us go up to my floor and it looks the same! Better carpet but same exact layout. Hope the leaky windows and mice are gone (but the grandfathered-in SRO tenants are still there!). In the area, the old pizza place (Belizzi's) and Thai place are gone, as is the old standby Ollie's, but the Belasco and Cafe Un Deux Trois are still there. And of course, Virgil's, where we got take out for dinner--mmmm, hush puppies with maple butter, sweet tea, greens, cheese grits, and all the rest (I know, BBQ in Times Square seems just wrong, but it made me less homesick when I lived there). I'm not used to those pedestrian zones, though it sure makes for more room on the sidewalk. The pre-theater rush just wasn't that elbow-to-elbow anymore. (And I'm not sure I heard the familiar pre-theater bell carillon.)
• Theater shop--Mama loves the little shop in Shubert Alley, with its posters and libretti and programs
• 5 fire trucks--it was like that kids' game of Rush Hour as the cars moved to make room for the trucks responding to what looked like nothing across the street
• Cartwheels down the hall--Bud learned cartwheels at kung fu camp and he loved doing them in the big, empty hotel hallway
• Times Square at night--no, you don't need a flashlight! You almost need sunglasses. At night.
• Not much to do in Times Square but shop--they liked Toys R Us and the Disney Store and their long hike to Legoland.
• Bright reflections like an urban aurora borealis on our ceiling at their very late 10 pm bedtime.
• Swatch watch--Mama bought a fancy one. Sorta an anniversary present.
• The Harry Potter Exhibition (the real reason for our trip!) was fantastic. The kids were a bit scared of the movie clips, especially the Death Eaters etc., and anything to do with the dark side (to use their Star Wars term). But they were fascinated by the sorting hat bit in the beginning, though neither volunteered. Since we'd just started the book, they were familiar enough with the characters and the culture and enjoyed seeing both film clips and movie props. Mama and I loved the costumes--especially those of Prof. McGonagall, Prof. Trelawney, and Prof. Dumbledore--and the props like the wands, Marauder's Map, canopied beds, trunks with personal belongings, Hagrid's hut, the Hogwarts Express engine, the candy like chocolate frogs, well, really all of it! And of course, the exhibition store. The kids now have wands and Quidditch brooms, which they've played with almost constantly since then.
• Late check-out--we didn't have to leave until 1, which means we were in NYC for 24 hours and 40 minutes.

As Sis and Bud agreed, "Don't you just love traveling?"