Lady Liberty meets Dr. Jeckyll

7-11-07

Dude, New Yorkers have a bad rap. Maybe it was just my charming personality, but everyone we met today was incredibly helpful and nice. We had people giving us directions and helping carry the wheelchair down subway steps, etc. Or maybe the real reason is that they saw us running around New York City with an eight-year old, a six-year old, an eighteen-month old in a stroller, and a seventy-four year old in a wheelchair. It was an experience, but we had a great time. It kind of reminded me of when Beck and I bummed around Europe one summer (oh yeah, except that was with no kids or mother-in-law, but it was basically the same thing).

We got up and out early, left the RV for a couple of days in a regional train station (I sure hope it’s there when we get back), and took a train into the big city. We went to see the Statue of Liberty first, and that was very cool. The kids loved it, and Kit was doing well until the just near the very end. You can take a elevator up the pedestal most of the way, but you have to walk the last 24 steps. She made it, and she’s glad she did, but she was pretty much wiped out afterward.

We went to check into our hotel room that we had already gotten a great deal on as a last minute rate, but we were supposed to have tiny rooms with only a double bed in each room. We had told the kids that they would have to sleep on the floor, and we brought sleeping bags and pillows for them, but I think the lady felt sorry for us when she saw me pushing Kit in the wheelchair. She wanted to make sure we were all on the same floor so she upgraded Kit to a room with a king bed, and she upgraded us to large corner room with two queen beds. It ended up being an exceptional deal right in the middle of downtown NYC.

Kit stayed at the hotel to rest, but we ran right away to go to dinner at Jeckyll and Hyde’s, a haunted-themed restaurant. Since I had booked a pre-paid party ahead of time and sent in an info sheet about us but kept it a secret from the kids, they were very surprised when a lot of the entertainment was customized to us. It was very cool and perfect for the kids (yes, I am including myself here). A werewolf even tried to eat Zac! Some people might think it a bit corny, but the kids and I loved it. I would recommend it especially with kids. I have a few new ideas for my annual Halloween party (if I recover enough from this trip to put it on this year).