The first time I went to NYC I was in high school and went with my parents the week of Thanksgiving. We saw Guys and Dolls with the legendary Faith Prince and Nathan Lane, we watched the ice skating at Rockefeller Plaza, we had our Thanksgiving dinner in Chinatown, and we even saw Jay Leno and a young George Clooney exiting The Tonight Show. And of course we watched the Macy's Day parade - in person! Being in that crowded of a setting I couldn't see anything, so we found a hand rail to a basement and I stood on top of it so I could see with my Dad tightly holding on to me. That was the last trip I had to NYC with my Dad until recently.
Once I had the appointment in NYC it was figuring out the best way to get there. As many times as I've been to the city, I had only travelled a few times alone, and those few times I always had a friend waiting on the other side. So I was a little anxious about making the trip by myself and making it to the appointment on time. The appointment was at 12:30 and the train takes about 3 and a half hours which didn't leave me a lot of time so I was planning on going up the day before then coming back after my appointment. Then one day while I was at my parents we were talking about it and my Dad said he would go with me. Now my Dad has spent most of his left travelling all around the world, but I'm pretty sure he had not left the state of Virginia in the past ten years. To say I was surprised is an understatement, but I was also relieved to have someone come with me. Then I thought may as well bring M and make the best of it.
And that we did! I wasn't sure what was to come, so I wanted to make this a fun memory for M, but also an easy trip. This was also her first trip with my Dad! So I got to planning!
First, I got train tickets. I'll probably do a separate or continuing post(s) on travelling with a disability, but overall the train worked out well for us. Although we barely made it, we enjoyed the ride and seeing the cities we passed through. M enjoyed the ability to spread out and get out of her seat when needed. Then I booked our hotel, and picked a hotel that was central in location and a brand I knew. I also wanted a hotel with an onsite restaurant to minimize going out for meals.
The whole morning of the trip I had so much anxiety, anxiety about travelling, and anxiety about the appointment. I was determined not to let my anxiety ruin anything and B gave me a little pep talk before I got in the car.
Once we got to the city, we headed straight for the hotel, we only brought backpacks with us, but I was ready to be free of it. I prayed for an early check in and it was answered. The hotel was beautiful, we were blown away by the floor to ceiling windows, and M liked to sit against the windows looking out at everything below. From our floor we had a view of the Empire State Building so we took a look each time we passed the window.
I was starving by that point and on the way up we debated Chinese or pizza. It was interesting as I looked up places to eat I found many restaurants are now counter shops, with no place to sit and eat, and riding around we saw lots of restaurants that still had outdoor tents. We found a restaurant, M wanted soup dumplings, Dad wanted noodles, and I wanted everything. All of it was wonderful and we had so much leftover which broke my heart as we had nowhere to keep it.
DC has great museums, so I gave M an option to pick one of the more unusual "only in New York" museums to go to. She picked The Museum of Ice Cream. The museum wasn't so much a museum, but an indoor playground with ice cream and photo opportunities. Even with the timed entry the museum was busy and it was hard to enjoy the "experiences", at least for me, M had a blast. Throughout the museum they give you ice cream and after two servings my Dad and I were done, however M enjoyed it all. I think the highlights of the museum are the three story slide and the sprinkle pool, I didn't do either, but it was fun to watch M.
After the museum we headed back to the hotel and we lucked out as it was happy hour (and free!) and we found a perfect spot in a corner to sit and people watch. It was the perfect place to unwind after all of the stimulation of the Museum of Ice Cream. The hotel had three restaurants; Skirt Steak, L'Amico, and The Vine. Skirt Steak already had a line down the block, L'Amico had an hour wait, but we were able to walk right into The Vine. It was fantastic and it checked all of our boxes, I had a chopped salad, M had salmon, and Dad had steak tartare. The restaurant also had a secret speakeasy at the back of it, so it was fun watching the people going in and out of it. It was at dinner where my Dad started to think that he could live in New York, have an apartment, and walk to the same restaurant every day and eat the same thing. I will never ever let him forget that he said that.
The Vine was so good we returned for breakfast and spent the morning relaxing in the hotel room before the appointment. I asked the Uber I booked to take us to the hospital to go through Times Square and he gave us a great tour all from the comfort of his car. We even got to see the famous Macy's (where B once dropped a pizza inside of it).
I wrote about the appointment separately, and after it we headed back to the train station and back to DC. I know someone who claims to get anxiety anytime they leave the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and I think my Dad's boundaries are much smaller, so his relief was visible once we got off of 66.
It was a great trip and just like on my first trip to NYC, my Dad was there to keep me propped up. We did a lot of walking, and when it became hard he took my backpack. Or when it was hard climbing up the steps to the train or getting in the back of an Uber he gave me support or a boost. Despite the purpose of the trip, I'm so glad we got to do it together and so thankful for his support. And that M got to experience an adventure with her Papa! Perhaps it will renew his sense of adventure and he'll expand his boundaries. I have to go back for a follow up so we shall see :)
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