Last week I went on a mother/daughter trip to New York City. I’ve already written lengthy posts about the ecstatic joy of seeing Hamilton (and meeting the cast) as well as the surprise opportunity to attend Seth Meyer’s monologue rehearsal. Although I don’t have quite as much to say about everything else that happened, I still want to share what a December trip to Manhattan can look like. So in lieu of words, I will mostly rely on pictures!
DAY 1
Our flight arrived in La Guardia at midnight, so we stayed in a cheap motel near the airport on Tuesday night. We caught the subway into Manhattan early Wednesday morning, and for a couple beautiful minutes, we had the train car to ourselves!Our Manhattan hotel (Row NYC) was one block from Times Square, so naturally, we went there first!
We hit up the M&M’s store, like the classy tourists we are, and bought a pound of candy.Much like in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Times Square is full of people dressed as Almost Famous Characters, and it’s super creepy. The rest of the day was pretty much devoted to all things Hamilton. Go read about it here if you haven’t already!
DAY 2
We walked a couple blocks to the Rockefeller Center and its famous Christmas tree.Maybe this is bad form, but neither mom or I were hugely impressed by the tree…perhaps because it simply doesn’t look that big next to a massive skyscraper.But later we saw it lit up at night, and the experience was much more magical.NBC headquarters are in Rockefeller Center, including their gift shop, where someone might stop and ask you if you’d like to participate in a show!While waiting for the rehearsal time, we took a stroll through Central Park and said hello to Balto.Check out my blog post about attending Seth Meyer’s monologue rehearsal if you haven’t already!We went back to the hotel early Thursday night because I was exhausted from the previous day’s fangirling over Hamilton.
DAY 3
We went with a one-hour informational ferry that took us around most of the river sites without letting us off. There just wasn’t enough time for everything!It had great (though overcast) views of the NYC skyline, including the new One World Trade Center, which is 1,776 feet high.We passed Ellis Island – I’d like to go back there and tour the place if I learn more about my family history.In light of all the controversy about refugees and immigrants, it was pretty powerful to see the Statue of Liberty and think about what she represents.The ferry ended by taking us under and around the Brooklyn Bridge!We then walked down to the World Trade Center memorial. There are two of these monuments where each of the towers used to stand. The names of those who died are inscribed around the edge. Water falls continuously down two levels into a pit of an unseeable depth. It’s a pretty phenomenal representation of the towers’ absence.A couple blocks away was Trinity Church, where Alexander Hamilton is buried. Without a doubt, it was so meaningful to see Hamilton in the city where he lived, worked, and died.Eliza was buried next to him. We looked for Angelica’s grave, but the internet said it had fallen into disrepair and was illegible.Then we went uptown to The Strand, one of the coolest used book stores I’ve ever seen. I found Volumes 2-6 of Hamilton’s writing…he really did write like he was running out of time. (I bought the black book next to these, which is a compilation of SOME of his writings.)Mom wanted to see the Macy’s windows, which were Charlie Brown themed and impressively detailed.We rode these wooden (original?) escalators to the 8th floor where an incredibly long line snaked back and forth to see Santa….in another room, sheltered from unpaying eyes! Rude.
DAY 4
We left New York City Saturday morning, with so much more to do! Watch a Stephen Colbert show! Venture north of Central Park! Go to The Strand again! See fifty more Broadway shows! Tour Ellis Island! etc etc forever and ever.
