Just like at home - everybody likes to cuddle the mommy
One of the reasons for getting this hotel was because of the pool, but this was the only time we used it. The hot tub sure felt good on our tired bodies.
Helen calls her mom while Adam relaxes a little before heading out for the day
Renting bikes to ride around Central Park - one of the favorite things we did on our trip
Plenty of reasons to get off the bikes and explore
Wish we were eating at Tavern On The Green, but just a bathroom break
Strawberry Fields memorial to John Lennon
The Dakota building across the street where John lived - Yoko still lives there
Neat ironwork around The Dakota building
The Dakota building from Central Park
Adam kept stopping to climb all the rocks
Wollman Skating Rink in Central Park
Mailing post cards to the grandparents
Stopping to get our bearings. Maybe one day I'll finally get a smartphone and ditch the binder.
Lunch at Carnegie Deli
I forgot to take a picture of my pastrami sandwich before I started eating it - too eager
Derek really wanted to eat at Burger Joint, but it was small and too crowded. He was disappointed about eating at Carnegie Deli until he found out they have good cheeseburgers too.
Back in Central Park after lunch
FAO Schwarz...this time it was open
The big piano made famous in the movie "Big" 
The workers give performances sometimes and, man, are they terrific! They played some complicated stuff and were exhausted when they finished.
Our dogs were barking. There's a nice plaza in front of FAO Schwarz facing the Plaza Hotel where we relaxed and rubbed each other's feet.
Helen points out some nice baubles in Tiffany
We finished the night with the Billy Elliot broadway show and thought it was fabulous - another one of the favorite experiences on our tripTuesday November 23, 2010
When I was researching the trip I looked for hotels in Manhattan with a pool and I never found one so that's kind of what led me to Secaucus. I thought we would use the pool more but I should have known we would be too busy. We decided that we would have to go to the pool in the morning if we were ever going to go because it was always too late when we returned each evening. On Tuesday morning Adam was reluctant to get up but popped out of bed when we told him we were going to the pool. The hot tub felt so good on our tired bodies.
With the NY Pass we got free 3 hour bike rentals in Central Park. Riding bikes through Central Park was one of our favorite experiences on the trip. The weather was nice and the leaves were still colorful. There were no security lines, it wasn't overcrowded, and it just felt so liberating to glide along on the bikes. The kids would agree that riding the bikes was one of their favorite experiences... for the first half of the ride. I wanted to go all the way around the park and we had to hustle coming back around in order to meet the 3 hour deadline, which probably would have been alright except that there were more hills to climb on the backside and we were already tired. By the time we reached the bike shop we were all ready to be done with the bikes.
We were hungry and decided on the Carnegie Deli. The problem with kids is that they start talking. Derek started complaining that he wanted to go to the Burger Joint instead. We went by the Burger Joint to check it out. All the burgers cooking on the grill looked good and it was a neat dive of a place, but there were no open tables. Derek reluctantly accepted the Carnegie Deli choice and was pleased that they had good cheeseburgers also. We were seated right away which was nice. The menu was big and overwhelming but we finally made our choices. It's definitely got a touristy feel to the place and it was more expensive than it should have been but it was good.
After lunch we went back to Central Park. We tried to go ice skating but there was a huge crowd of kids waiting so we walked around and then found the zoo just before it closed. It was starting to get dark and we walked south along 5th avenue to FAO Schwarz. Unlike the previous evening, it was open and we enjoyed walking around the store. It's a big store with lots of neat toys. We loved the workers playing the big piano.
We were exhausted and our feet were so tired. There's a nice plaza outside of FAO Schwarz where we sat, rested some, and watched all the people.
We had tickets for Billy Elliot that evening and started to walk towards Broadway. Helen wanted to stop in Tiffany on the way and look around and then we stopped to look at some holiday windows.
On Sunday night we were so tired during the Lion King and we weren't sure what the Billy Elliot broadway show would be like, but we've seen the movie a couple times and it was a little slow so we started looking for some caffeine. I was worried that after running around all day we would all crash during the show when we sat down and they turned down the lights.
It seemed like there was a Starbucks on every corner - except when we needed one. We stopped by a food cart and they had plenty of Sprite but the only Mountain Dew was a display can. Derek started to take the Sprite, but I told the guy we would take the display can of Mountain Dew because we needed the caffiene.
We found a dessert shop and stopped in for some dessert and coffee. Helen drinks coffee and I don't, but I figured I better drink some before the show. We even tried to give the kids some but they didn't really like it. We were packing up at the dessert shop and I was looking for the ticket voucher when I realized my huge personal failure. All day I had in my mind that we were trying to get to the theater at 7:00 for the 7:30 show, but there it was on the voucher: 7:00 Show Time.
I yelled some profanity and made some gutteral sounds and headed out the door of the dessert shop. Helen knew something was wrong and gathered the kids and followed. I told her about my unforgivable personal failure. Thankfully the theater was nearby and we quickly redeemed our ticket voucher. I had purchased the tickets on Orbitz when I booked the hotel and had only received a ticket voucher that didn't mention where the seats were located. The usher led us into the theater. We were hoping to slip into our seats as inconspicuously as possible, but the usher kept going and going until we were right there at the stage - 2nd row. I profusely apologized to the couple that had to get up to let us into our seats.
The show was so powerful and we were so close to the action that it wasn't long before we calmed down and were immersed in the moment. At intermission I apologized again to the couple and had a nice conversation with them. They reassured us that we had only missed the opening song - about 5 minutes of the show. Still irritating but it made me feel better. The couple were from Connecticut and were treating their grandchildren to the show. They wondered how far in advance we bought our tickets to get such good seats. I told them I bought the tickets through Orbitz a couple months before but had no idea what seats I would be given.
We all loved the show. It's different being so close. I would like to see it from different vantage points in theater, but it was a great experience. You could really feel the power. It was a little too much for Derek. He sometimes gets migraines and all the bright lights and loud music in addition to being exhausted gave him a pretty good headache.
We would have loved to have gone to Juniors again for some cheesecake, but we were so tired. We ended up stopping by the same Dunkin Donuts in the Rockefeller Center subway station, that we had gone to the previous night, for some donuts before heading back for the bus to our hotel.
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