Last March, I blew through New York with my kids on my way to a family cruise in the Bahamas.  Because they had never seen Manhattan, I decided we would spend a whirlwind day there on the way back.  It was my son’s 7th birthday, so my husband flew out to meet us.

With just 24 hours to see it all, we had to make some tough choices.  Wall Street, the Met, and the Brooklyn Bridge would have to wait.  We only had time for the highlights, and had to do some serious celebrating too.

We saw the Statue of Liberty from our cruise ship balcony, so that gave us a nice head start.  Here’s what we did next:

10:00 a.m. — Hotel check in

We pulled up at the Doubletree Guest Suites Times Square in a taxi, checked in, and gawked at the larger-than-life views.  After killing an hour opening gifts and eating warm chocolate chip cookies, it was time to go.

Before heading out, we picked up some complimentary New York CityPasses.  These allow you to visit six top attractions (all of which are family friendly) over a period of nine days at a savings of almost 50%.  They would have made more sense if we were on a leisurely itinerary, but were nice to have anyway.

11:00 a.m. — American Museum of Natural History

Maybe my kids had never been to New York in person, but they’d been plenty of times in the movies.  That’s why, thanks to Night at the Museum, our first stop was the American Museum of Natural History.

We happily ogled dinosaur bones and taxidermied bears for an hour, grabbed a surprisingly good lunch in the food court, and  watched a planetarium space show called Cosmic Collisions.  It scared the crap out of me, but my husband (who had taken the red eye) slept like a baby.

1:00 p.m. — Central Park

It was an unseasonably warm late winter day, but there was still snow on the ground from a big storm the previous weekend.  The park was packed with all kinds of dog walkers, soccer players, families, frisbee flingers, bird feeders, and people dancing on roller skates.  I think the entire city was there.

We ate hot dogs and pretzels, checked out horse-drawn carriages, and recognized scenes from Enchanted (where Prince Charming gets creamed by bicyclists) and Madagascar (the Central Park zoo).

4:00 p.m. — Toys R’ Us Times Square

My husband and I almost lost the will to live during the 90 minutes we spent in the world’s largest toy store.  Remember that freakishly warm weather?  Well no one bothered to turn down the heater at Toys R’ Us in Times Square.  Our son agonized over how to spend his birthday gift certificate from his grandfather, while the rest of us battled heatstroke.  Full-sized Ferris wheel inside the store?  Check.  Twenty-foot tall animatronic T-Rex?  Check.  110,000 square feet of toys?  Check.

7:00 p.m. — Ellen’s Stardust Diner

Since we were short on time, we decided against tickets to a Broadway musical.  As residents of San Francisco (and former residents of London), we’ve seen a fair amount of musical theater.

Instead we had dinner at the incomparable Ellen’s Stardust Diner where talented, but underemployed actors dressed in 1950s styles sing the Broadway standards in between serving burgers and milkshakes.  It.  Is.  So.  Damn.  Fun.  Our waitress sang “Happy Birthday” to Max in front of the whole restaurant, an experience he summed up as “creepy and embarrassing”.  Apparently seven is the new fourteen.

9:00 p.m. — Bedtime

We staggered back to the hotel, kicked off our shoes, and collapsed into our comfortable beds.  I’ve always wondered exactly how high up you’d have to be in New York to not hear sirens, alarms, and car horns all night.  I would have guessed that the 41st floor would be high enough.  I would have been wrong.

7:30 a.m. — Breakfast

Chewy bagels and coffee from some deli around the corner.

9:00 a.m. — The American Girl Store

Don’t ask.

10:00 a.m. — The Empire State Building

Having never seen King Kong, An Affair to Remember or even its lifeless remake Sleepless in Seattle, my kids had no real cinematic reference points for this New York landmark.  Still they enjoyed the multiple elevator rides, spectacular views, and ape-filled gift shop.  We were a little worried there would be long lines, but we breezed right up.  Sunday morning?  Crappy economy?  Probably both.

Once again the weather was balmy.  Also, I was able to point downtown and say, “Look kids, there’s Wall Street!  That’s where Mommy used to work.”  To which they replied, “What’s Wall Street?”.  Lucky thing we didn’t waste any time going there in person.

12:00 p.m. — John’s Pizzeria Times Square

No one was really hungry, but we weren’t leaving town without scarfing some pizza.  At the advice of a friend, we stopped into John’s Pizzeria.  Apparently this place is a New York institution, and the original Greenwich Village restaurant opened in the 1920s.  This location was formerly the Gospel Tabernacle Church, and has a five-story stained glass cupola, a cityscape mural, and great pizza too.

2:00 p.m. — Taxi to the airport

For the 2-hour wait and the 6-hour flight home.  Ugh.

Need more ideas about what to do and where to go in New York?  www.nycgo.com is a great place to start. Click the nyc life tab, choose kids, and you’ll be in the know in no time.

May 28th, 2009 | by Jamie Pearson 15 comments