Taking a little bite out of the Big Apple

We are back at my parents home in Pennsylvania after a few days in New York. The girls asked to go six months ago and have been talking about it ever since, and I think it definitely lived up to their expectations. They rode in several taxi cabs, saw the Statue of Liberty and the city lights from the harbor, visited Chinatown and a Chinese celebration in Columbus Park, and made new friends at an awesome playground located right next to the Hudson River in Battery Park. The giggles during the first cab ride were my favorite part....they were truly thrilled! I had forgotten how much I love being in Manhattan....the energy, the views, and knowing that ANYTHING you want or need is someplace close by and can probably be delivered. Our hotel had a very cool rooftop bar from which we could see the new One World Trade Center building rising above all the other skyscrapers. They had just added the tower to the top the previous week. Of course my mind wandered back to a visit in September 2001, six days before the 11th. John had business on Sixth Avenue, as he often did in those days, and I tagged along for a day alone in Midtown. I headed past Central Park, stopped in the Plaza, drooled over the opulence at Bergdorf's, and then walked the whole way up to Bloomingdale's for some shopping. I chatted with a bunch of different people that day, and I was still buzzing with the city's energy many hours later when me and my shopping bags met up with John at the end of the day. I talked non-stop the whole way back to Frederick....I had so much fun. Less than one week later as I watched the planes tear into the Twin Towers I was crushed. We visited again in May 2002 for several nights in Tribeca. We were literally welcomed with open arms.....the lower end of Manhattan was still reeling, and business and restaurant owners were thrilled to see customers from out of town. Over the years, before the girls came into our lives, we spent many weekends exploring the city's neighborhoods. Chelsea Market and the hotel where Sid killed Nancy. Union Square Green Market and tiny Gramercy Park. Irish pubs filled with ex-pats, Murray's Cheese, Zarela's for Mexican, and Home on Cornelia Street in the Village, probably my favorite restaurant visit ever. Great, great memories. The pace of this 'vacation' from Key West is starting to take its toll, but I am really glad we got the girls to NYC so they can start building memories of their own.