Explore Refresh

January 2025

We had been living in Cleveland, Ohio and exploring some awesome places, when I discovered that it’s only a 7 hour drive to New York City. Road trip baby! Since we have lived most of our lives in the Midwest, 7 hours is nothing!

You see, Midwesterners love to drive long distances. To them, it’s right down the road. They also love saying long goodbyes. When we are leaving a gathering, for example, we take forever to say goodbye, with a primary, secondary and sometimes multiple goodbyes before actually leaving. There are hugs, more stories told, more food, maybe more hugs, etc. It’s called the “Midwestern Goodbye.” It’s in our blood. I digress, though. Of course, if we flew it would’ve taken us 2 hours, but why do that when you can have your cozy car with blankets, music and snacks, and skip the whole airport scene. The kids had a long Christmas break and so that’s when we went. We listened to Bob Dylan who lived in NYC when starting his career in the 1960’s. The drive wasn’t too bad, but we did get some snow and it was a very cold winter. The snowy landscape was pretty outside of my passenger seat window.

We rolled into the city through the Lincoln Tunnel to check into our hotel located near the Empire State Building. The traffic was, of course, busy and navigating the one way streets was a little tricky even with GPS. Once we unloaded our belongings and checked in with the valet, we didn’t see the car again until it was time to leave.

We had a few days there and wanted to make the most of our time, so I did a lot of research, but left it open for different possibilities. After checking into our boutique hotel, The Hyatt Herald Square New York, we settled into our room. It was great. It had updated, inviting decor and friendly customer service. Our room was clean and comfortable, and the location was perfect for us. It also had a small restaurant and bar beyond the lobby, and a rooftop balcony with an incredible view of the Empire State Building. Once we were rested, we went for dinner at a restaurant that looked intriguing just down the street. There was a little wooden sign hanging out front that said “oysters.” My husband loves oysters and he had read a book called “The Big Oyster- History on the Half Shell” by Mark Kurlansky. New York City was once abundant with oysters and there was a long history of them being eaten and sold in carts on the streets. They were more of a commoner’s food, whereas now, they are considered a delicacy. The name of the restaurant is Osamil, a Korean restaurant that had a chic, cool vibe. It was warm, inviting, dimly lit and had great customer service. We had oysters, surprise! Excellent entrees, that my daughter still talks about. She had the Mushroom Japchae and has asked if we can go back to NYC just to eat there again!

Afterwards, we we walked to Herald’s Square to the flagship Macy’s store and H&M. Everything was shining with sparkly Christmas lights, garlands and wreaths. The Empire State Building was lit up with holiday colors towering above us in the night sky. People were bustling around everywhere. This Macy’s location is a city icon built in 1902 and was the first to have an escalator, which we rode on. The classic movie Miracle on 34th Street was filmed here, as well, which we would watch every holiday time when I was a kid and we still do today. Macy’s also holds significance for me because my grandmother worked at the downtown Kansas City location, that is no longer there, in the jewelry department from the 1950’s-1980’s. I adored my grandma. In her honor we bought a necklace for our daughter. Our son is a huge Spider Man fan, who has seen every movie, so we bought him a Spider Man sweatshirt at H&M. Because, you know, Spider Man is from New York.

The next day we were up early, had good coffee and breakfast downstairs at The Den, and then walked nearby to the subway station to go to the American Museum of Natural History. It took us a little time to navigate the underground subway tunnels, but we asked workers for guidance and they were helpful. From our subway exit at 79th St. Station, we walked up a neighborhood street to the museum. We knew we were going the right way by the other families with kids heading the same direction. Along the walk we saw Banksy’s “Hammer Boy” mural on the side of a building. It was a delightful surprise! Once we were there, because I had purchased our tickets ahead of time, we didn’t have to wait for entry. We spent hours wandering the various rooms and displays of the museum. A docent gave us a map to guide us to different scenes from the movie “Night at the Museum,” one of our favorites. It was a great experience and we could’ve spent much more time there, but we were getting sensory overload and hungry, so it was time to go. From there we crossed the street into Central Park.

We bought a wonderful drawing by a street artist, wandered the tree-lined paths, and got crepes and hot coffee from a food cart. We sat on a bench in the sun while we ate and took in the beautiful park and surroundings. It was very cold so people were bundled up in coats, scarves, hats and gloves. Even so, there were lots of people out and about, jogging, strolling, riding horse drawn carriages and bicycle rickshaws. We saw ice skaters on the skating rink as we made our way to 5th Avenue. Past the designer stores with their elaborate displays, we ducked into St. Patricks’s Cathedral where we lit candles and sat quietly in the wooden pews, listening to carols playing, and warming up from the bitter cold. Gazing at the gorgeous stained glass windows, the towering ceilings with buttresses and columns, I was in awe.

We made our way through the masses to catch a glimpse of the Rockefeller tree, and then because it was just so cold and crowded, we started to head back to the hotel for a rest. We were glad to relax in our cozy room. There was a fridge and we brought snacks which is important when traveling with kids. After we had napped and felt refreshed, we cleaned up and got ready for dinner, and to see Aladdin on Broadway. We had a little time before we needed to go and so we had drinks and an appetizer at happy hour downstairs at The Den. Our dinner reservation was for an Italian trattoria near the theatre, called Lazzara’s Pizza Cafe. We loved the characterful, intimate space, the service was great and we enjoyed the pizza so much that we ordered another one! We also had a salad, pasta and dessert. It was exactly what we wanted.

The New Amsterdam Theatre opened its doors in 1903 and is the oldest theatre still in operation on Broadway. The architecture is stunning. We found our seats and the theatre filled up. The performance was incredible. It was vibrant, fun and just spectacular. After the show we walked through Times Square and then back to our comfortable beds.

The next day we had a leisurely morning because we were checking out of the hotel and then heading to see the Statue of Liberty at Liberty State Park in Jersey City. We got a box of donuts from Bear Donut next door that we’d been eyeballing the whole time, and hit the road. The huge park had incredible views of the New York City skyline, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We took about 1,000 pictures and because it was so bitterly cold and the wind was whipping by the water, we were ready to go. Actually, I was having a hard time saying goodbye to this wonderfully exciting city, but the rest of my family was ready to get in the warm car and start our journey home. I think what I needed was a good old “Midwestern Goodbye!”

Bye! I’m going to miss you NYC. I had an awesome time and hope to see you again soon! Thank you.

XOXO, Kate