April 21, 2006 1:36 PM
With Maddy in New York
Maddy and I got up at 4am Tuesday to drive into DC to catch the 7:30 train at Union Station. We arrived in New York at 10:30, took the subway to our hotel, dropped our bags, and left immediately to begin our adventure in the Big Apple
Here is Maddy in front of our hotel -
We hopped on the double decker bus and headed uptown. I love the double decker buses - especially with a good tour guide who has tons of facts plus humor. We were fortunate to have one! Plus it was a perfect day weather-wise. We rode and rode, then decided to get off at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I have been to New York once with Tripp and once with Sophia, but there is always more to see than we have time for, so this was my first visit to the Met.
It was so fabulous! Now I want to go back to spend a week just visiting everything there. Unfortunately, my pictures didn't turn out because flash is not allowed and since my camera is SLR/digital, the shutter speed was slow and the pictures are blurry.
Here is one of Maddy in front of a Monet:
How I wish the pictures had turned out! I so wanted to show you the amazing stuff we saw. I was really moved and inspired to see the original Van Goghs. Prints cannot convey the amazing work of Van Gogh - the heavy texture in the brush strokes he used to capture the subject matter in a more three-dimensional way. The sunflower pictures are just magnificent when you see them - and absolutely unforgettable.
The museum is acres and acres inside. Living in Washington DC with the Smithsonian, I thought we had the corner on museums. Not so. The Met is beyond what I could have imagined, with artifacts from every civilization and entire halls recreated with actual walls from the Assyrian Empire, for example.
There are huge halls of sculpture and of course countless paintings from every period. I wish we had had a few days to poke around. With closing time at 5, the Met has so much we have yet to see. Definitely someplace I will return to again and again.
Our trip home on the tour bus was interrupted by a strike staged to disrupt rush hour. Maddy took this picture from inside the bus:
We made it back to the hotel just in time to change and go to the theater, where we saw The Wedding Singer - a new musical based on the movie which is still in preview stage. We laughed a lot, and afterwards stumbled out into the huge mob of people pouring out of all the theaters.
This was a good thing for Maddy to experience as she says (at this point in her life) that she wants to be a Broadway actress. She seemed to thrive on all the energy and activity of the city, but by 1130 while we were eating dinner (pasta for her, chicken and broccoli for me), she looked like she was ready to fall asleep in her plate.
The next morning, we were out of our hotel at 7:15 and on our way to the double decker bus again - this time to go downtown. Since we were so early and since I had bought tickets in advance, we were able to breeze through to the top of the Empire State Building, which Tripp and I had visited last year.
Then on to Wall Street, where we saw the famous bull:
By the time we had lunch (the trouble with sightseeing with kids is that you have to stop and eat :) and got to Battery Park, the line for the ferry to the Statue of Liberty was a mile long. We were in it for over an hour, which made us grateful for any diversion, like the man who dresses up to pose with anyone who wants a picture with a living Statue of Liberty:
Since it was Maddy's birthday, I asked one of the musicians playing for the crowded line to sing Happy Birthday. Just when we thought we could not stand another minute in line, it was our time to go through security and finally board the ferry. With the fabulous weather, the ride was wonderful. Maddy - who had co-opted my camera early on - captured this image:
It was too late for us to get off at the island - as Tripp and I did last summer - so we just rode the ferry all the way around and back to Battery Park, where we picked up another double decker bus for more touring. When we got on, I secretly asked the tour guide to sing Happy Birthday to Maddy, so the upper level of the bus sang along for what I hope will be another wonderful memory of our trip.
Then back to the hotel with apples and oranges we picked up at a fruit stand. We went to Colony Music, which was like a dream for Maddy with every single conceivable Broadway show CD, DVD, sheet music. We bought some stuff for her birthday, then off to see Spelling Bee, which was so funny I laughed until I cried.
Then we ended up walking around for an hour and a half before settling on where to eat at midnight. Truly, New York is the city that never sleeps and everything is open and happening even that late. And I guess it's the atmosphere, but you feel so stimulated you don't even know you should be tired until you get back to your room and take off your shoes and fall in bed.
I let Maddy sleep late Thursday morning. We had The Talk. And then it was down to the subway and off to Penn Station to catch our train home. Here's Maddy waiting:
In the background, you can see a girl with an American Girl doll. This is something we saw all the time while we were there: Little girls reverently holding their American Girl dolls - all on a pilgrimage to the American Girl Store, which has somehow figured out how to turn a doll into a lifetime experience involving massive amounts of money - now including a trip to New York to spend more.
I was grateful Maddy loved music, museums and shows. And that she is just a great traveling companion.
How I wish we could all sing together: Happy Birthday, Maddy!
Posted in Art, Family, Mothering | Permalink
Comments
Glad your back! I missed your blog while you were gone. Sounds like a great tradition.
Posted by: Jane Payne | April 21, 2006 6:08 PM
lovely for you both! : ) From a mom who has done the AG NYC pilgrimmage, and who won my husband's heart atop the Empire by quoting the last line of King Kong on cue.
Barbara, how will (was?) "the Talk" be different for Jonny and DS brothers?
Posted by: floorplan | April 21, 2006 7:07 PM
Happy birthday to Maddy! Did she turn 13? Her birthday is very close to my own twin boys' 13th birthday (April 15).
Posted by: Mel | April 22, 2006 6:31 PM
ok, she is too cute. and obviously a great sport about posing for pics!
Posted by: HolyMama! | April 23, 2006 1:17 AM
Thanks everyone!
Deb - I will be posting more on the subject of The Talk. Right now we are feeling our way through the wilderness with Jonny (who is 14 and has Down syndrome, for new readers)
Mel - wonder if they share personality traits? Maddy is a born entertainer and if you came to our door, within 15 minutes she would ask if she could sing for you.
HolyMama - which is why she has no problem posing for pivtures!
Posted by: barbaracurtis | April 23, 2006 11:46 AM
What a wonderful story about your trip to New York. Happy Birthday Maddy-from Michigan! What a lucky girl you are to have such an amazing mommy-she is lucky to have you as well.
Posted by: Rebecca P. | April 23, 2006 12:07 PM
Happy birthday!
(And what a special and exciting trip!)
Posted by: TulipGirl | April 23, 2006 8:11 PM
