The Big Apple vs.The Stomach Flu

My zoo and I recently had a chance to tag along on Joy's business trip to NYC -- free hotel, expense account and mileage reimbursement, yep, we're there!!  In the weeks preceeding our trip I spent a lot of time glued to the computer researching the best places to eat.  The tragedy of the trip was that I had the stomach flu for 3 of the 4 days that we were there.

We began our trip at the Bronx Zoo where there were exactly 10 visitors all day, including the 6 of us!  It was a bit surreal walking around the zoo and not seeing any other people -- we felt like we were VIPs and the zoo had been closed to "ordinary people" for the day!  Before we left, I received calls from both my mother and my sister warning me not to lose my children in NYC,  so I had given the kids a stern warning during the car ride about staying together so they would not get lost in the hustle & bustle -- the ghost town zoo did not exactly reinforce my scare tactic!

The snow did not stop us from enjoying everything that the zoo had to offer, in fact, the snow was quite beautiful.

Want to ride the bug carrousel? ... come right on up and choose your favorite bug & ride as many times as you like!

How about watching the 4D movie? ... come on in and take your seats, the movie will begin when you are ready, no waiting!

It was great to have front row viewing spots to see all the animals, and to interact with all the displays!  The only pushing and shoving was from my own kids!!

After the zoo, we drove to our Times Square hotel where we promptly parked the car, never to be driven again until our departure!  We headed out for dinner, and then quickly back to the room for bed!

We (well, by "we", I mean the kids and Joy) ate dinner at Ellen's Stardust Diner where the waiters sang broadway tunes to entertain the diners.  I got to watch as the kids ate their $14.00 mac 'n cheese while I nursed some ice water and immodium.

Big Apple: 0

Stomach Flu: 1

We had tickets for tne NY Water Taxi which allowed us to hop on and off all day.  After a scenic trip down the Hudson, we got off the boat to visit the 9/11 Memorial.

There really are no words to describe the beautiful memorial pools made in the footprints of the fallen Twin Towers.  It was heartbreaking to read the names of the fallen etched along the walls of the pools, and equally hard explaining what happened to Charlie and Olivia who had not learned about it in school yet.  As I looked at the stunning blue sky and the tall building surrounding us that day, it was simply unimaginable the horror of what happened.

After the memorial, we went back to the boat for a quick trip under the Brooklyn Bridge, and a stop in Brooklyn for some lunch and exploring.

One of the places that I had been anxious to visit was Grimaldi's Pizza, a coal-fired brick oven pizzeria with amazing pizzas.  After standing in line for about 35 minutes, we made it into the restaurant and we (and by "we" I mean the kids & Joy!) ate the best pizza ever!

Big Apple: 0, Stomach Flu: 2 

The best part of the day was our walk across the iconic Brooklyn Bridge from Brooklyn to Manhattan -- the views were fantastic, the steel-wire suspension architecture was magnificent, and the soft pretzel at the end of the trip was pure New York!

Look out for the bikes!!!

The last part of our boat ride took us up close to the Statue of Liberty.

After the day on the boat, we headed down to Times Square for some sightseeing, and then dinner at Guy Fieri's American Kitchen (I ate a small piece of Charlie's chicken nugget, but I am still giving the win to the Stomach Flu!)

Minnie Mouse in front of the giant Disney Store

Charlie dancing with Michael Jackson??

Our last stop of the night was at the World of M&M's, where each kid got to fill their very own bag with m&m's of their choice!!

The following day began with special Sunday brunch reservations at Norma's for Joy and I, something I had been really looking forward to.  With menu items ranging from $9.00 OJ, to $1000 scrambled eggs with caviar, I loaded up on the Immodium and threw caution to the wind!

Joy had the Chocolate decadence French Toast and I had the Light and Lemony Griddle Cakes with Devonshire Cream!  YUM
Big Apple:1
Stomach Flu 2

After breakfast, we took a sightseeing bus to the Empire State Building, where the kids were less than impressed -- they were impatiently awaiting the second part of the day, a trip up 5th Avenue with stops at The Lego, Nintendo and American Girl stores!

the kids had the best seats in the bus! 

We made it safely down the 86 floors and took our bus to Rockefeller Center where we (well,  back to the kids & Joy -- no need to take chances on a hot dog!!) had a quick lunch, and began shopping!
Big Apple:1
Stomach Flu: 3

The Lego bins were almost as exciting as bins of candy ... almost!

After shopping, we continued up 5th Avenue to Central Park, where the kids had a chance to run around and play, we even saw Big Bird (he asked us to tell him how to get to Sesame Street!), and we snacked on amazing waffles from the waffle cart that beat Bobby Flay in a Food Network throwdown.

So, so so good!!!!

We ended the day with a trip to Dylan's Candy Bar, and our first ride on the subway!

The kids posing with the Mamma Mia poster!!

Our last day in New York, Joy had to actually work, so I took the kids to the Museum of Natural History.  We made sure to watch  Night at the Museum before we left, so the kids were excited to find the characters from the movie, although they found out that some of their favorites did not really exist at the museum. Afterwards we stopped at a playground in Central Park (which they may have enjoyed more than the museum)!

dum dum, give me gum gum!!

Yep, I'm moving to a Red Giant Star ASAP!!

$40.00 lunch from the Food Truck

We met Joy and had an awesome dinner (ALL of us!!) at Virgil's BBQ (well, I had soup while everyone else had the most delicious looking BBQ ever!).  Hannah, of course, was true to form using some kind of media during the meal!

Big Apple: 1.5

Stomach Flu: 3.5

Hannah on her DS at dinner

Hannah on an important phone call

Hannah texting her friends 

Our last day was rainy & windy, but that did not stop us from exploring Chinatown, and eating at another coal-fired pizza shop -- now that we were leaving New York, I was almost feeling better, so I ate 2 slices of the pizza!!
Big Apple: 2.5
Stomach Flu: 3.5

Um .... lunch????

ewwwwww... it STINKS!

mmmmmmm

We ended the trip by stopping at Carlo's Bakery in Hoboken, NJ, made famous on TLC's show Cake Boss.   Ethan finally got to meet a famous person -- his goal of the trip (of course, he was hoping it would be Lady GaGa, but he was fine with Maddalena!)

which one to choose?????

clearly, we didn't choose ... we bought out the store!

New York City is, quite possibly, the only place that is more chaotic than my home!  We had a great mini-vacation -- hopefully Joy will have another opportunity to go to this conference again when I do not have the stomach flu!