Her trip to the Big Apple began by navigating the public transit system to get to our apartment. She rode the subway system like a pro!
We stayed at a friend's place in Upper Manhattan, right along Wall Street. It was a cute place, and saved us about $300 a night! She had the kitchen full of snacks for us, too!
Since we were in the financial district, I took her on a quick walk to show some iconic sites like the New York Stock Exchange and the bull.
We were only in NYC for two full days, so we got up early the next morning to hit all her highlights. After looking unsuccessfully for a bagel bakery, we settled for Starbucks.
We took the subway into midtown, then walked to the Museum of Mathematics.
It was a little more juvenile than she wanted, but it was still fun. She rode a square-wheeled tricycle....
Powered a magnetic car...
Twisted strings by twirling in a chair...
And used her brainpower to solve tricky wooden puzzles.
The most advanced math at her level was the display of fractals. This is the concept of never-ending patterns of the same shape, but different scales, like in a mirror maze.
After the Museum of Math, we decided to walk down Broadway towards our Times Square. When we passed the Empire State Building she said, "It doesn't look that tall." Ha ha. I went to the top with child #2, and yes, it's tall!
We saw a pizza place and decided to grab a bite. Something about a NY-style pizza heated in a brick oven that you just can beat!
At Times Square, she liked seeing all the TVs on buildings and the people walking around. No Naked Cowboy or Toys R Us store, though. That was the experience here with child #1.
Another item on her Must-do list was a Broadway Musical. She picked "Come From Away", a play about 9/11 from the perspective of passengers who on a flight from Paris to Dallas that morning, but were diverted to land on an island in Newfoundland, Canada in a town called Gander.
This small town of 12,000 people were host to nearly 6,700 travelers and 17 animals from 38 planes who were forced to land due to the terror attacks in the US. Passengers were not allowed to access their luggage or pets during the 4-day grounding.
The play was AMAZING! It made you laugh, cry, feel humbled, and hopeful. Great choice! We had front-row seats, like only 12" from the stage, and sat next to residents of Newfoundland who flew down just to see this play and visit the 9/11 Memorial. They had their country's flags with them, so the cast kept coming stage forward to our area throughout the play and giving a special acknowledgement with a nod, gesture, or song dedication.
We wrapped up the evening with an over-the-top decorated Christmas-themed restaurant called Rolf's.
Our little one loved the atmosphere, but wasn't a fan of their ham, sausage, potatoes, and sauerkraut. Basically, she doesn't like German food, and this was a German restaurant. I thought it was delicious!
