Weekend in New York City!

Three years ago, my middle, Parker,  asked me for an experience instead of a birthday gift for his 13th birthday.  That year, we spent the night in Chicago and went to a Bulls game.  Last year, we went to Indianapolis and saw the Pacers play.  It's now officially our unofficial tradition.  When we began discussing where we were going this year, I got all sappy thinking about the fact that he is fifteen, his brother turns 18 this summer and it all has just gone so fast.  While I was looking at NBA schedules around his birthday weekend, I saw that the New York Knicks were playing the Cleveland Cavaliers on the day of his birthday in Madison Square Garden.  I have always wanted to take the older boys to NYC, so I began planning an epic three day weekend!

Getting up at 2:21 AM is totally doable if you are headed off on a fun trip!

FRIDAY

Random fact...my in-flight beverages of choice, Starbucks and ginger ale with lime.  I hardly ever drink soda, but I always order this when flying. (I feel like you know me a little better now... :)

We flew into LaGuardia, met up with our friends who decided to join us last minute, and took an Uber to our hotel.  We stayed at the DoubleTree Suites in Times Square, which another friend had recommended.  The hotel was close to so many attractions and was nice and clean.  It was also a suite, which is a necessity when traveling with teen boys.  I love them, but momma needs her own space away from sweaty socks. :)

The lobby...

Our view from the room...

And who doesn't love free cookies?!

After we got settled (and ate our cookies), we walked to Shake Shack for lunch.  We were all starving by this point, so burgers and fries hit the spot.  After lunch, we walked to Rockefeller Center.  Such a beautiful building!  

Hello, Kathi Lee and Hoda!

Did I mention it was freezing?  And that we were so tired?  We went inside the NBC shop to warm up and Melissa and I found a comfy spot to hang out. ;)

Let me just tell you that our four teenage boys were such good sports with our selfie antics.  Melissa and I have known each other since second grade, so we have a lot of inside jokes, and we can be a bit much at times.  Even when we split up during this trip to do different things, we would randomly meet up with each other on the streets of New York.  One of her sons said we were like magnets who couldn't stay away from each other.  Ha! Our boys are all the same age, so it was so fun to share this trip with them.

After Rockefeller, we walked over to St. Patrick's Cathedral.  I have been here before, but each time I am amazed and overwhelmed by its beauty.

We then walked around and checked out some of the shopping.

When in New York...

Nike Town...

By this point, we were getting hungry again, so we made our way to Magnolia Bakery.  Cupcakes, Cheesecake, Banana Pudding...yes please!

Here we are back in Times Square.  We cleaned up a bit and then headed out to dinner...

 ...at Carmine's!  My cousin recommended this as a great place to take hungry teenage boys and was she spot on!  The pasta is served family style and is so delicious!

More selfie fun in Times Square after dinner.  Did I mention it was COLD?!  It was about 10PM at this point and we were tired and ready to rest up for day two.

SATURDAY

 Parker's 15th birthday!

We woke up bright and early on Saturday to head to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum for a 9AM tour.   I didn't take any pictures in the museum, because it just didn't feel right.  They have done an absolutely beautiful job with the sight and museum, but it bothered me in a way that words or pictures cannot explain.  I am so glad we saw this and that I got to see it with my children. I just kept thinking about how all of those people were just going about their workday and had no idea what was about to happen.  So sad and senseless.

Freedom Tower...

After the museum, we had planned to see the Statue of Liberty.  There was no way we were getting our freezing cold teenagers on a ferry boat, so we said hello to her from Battery Park.

Leaving Battery Park, we asked a security guard for a recommendation for lunch.  He pointed us toward Cucina Liberta, which was a convenience store/deli.  We felt like real New Yorkers in this place and the food was so good!  There was an upstairs with tables and chairs, so we all chose our food and met up there.  I love asking locals for recommendations when traveling.  

We took an Uber back to Times Square and then walked some more in the cold.

We had an afternoon tour scheduled at NBC Studios, so back to Rockefeller we went.

This was seriously one of the highlights of the trip.

We were able to tour several studios including Jimmy Fallon and Saturday Night Live.  Because it was Saturday afternoon, they warned us that the curtain may be pulled on the SNL stage because they were in rehearsals.  When we got up there, they were in rehearsals but the curtain was open!  We got to watch them rehearsing and see Kristen Stewart practicing her skits.  So fun!  My oldest, Peyton, would love to work in TV and movies someday, so I probably could have left him there at this point in the trip.  At the end of the tour, you get to enter a studio and perform a scripted show by reading cold from the monitors.  So fun but so much harder than it looks!  Yours truly was chosen to host and Melissa was my guest.  We had such a great time doing this and then they emailed us the video of the show.  We also managed to embarrass our children, so this was successful all the way around!

Here I am sitting at Jimmy Fallon's old desk...

After the tour, we ran back by Magnolia Bakery and picked up a birthday cheesecake for my now fifteen year old!

This night, we ate at John's Pizza in Times Square.  So yummy!

Then more walking to get to Parker's birthday present...Madison Square Garden!

The Empire State Building all lit up for the game...

There were so many famous people sitting courtside.  We sat a little higher than that. :)

SUNDAY

I love mornings spent in a hotel lobby.

On Sunday, we had an early evening flight to catch out of JFK.  That left us plenty of time to eat breakfast at a little diner and walk to Central Park.  We walked around, did some people watching and the boys ate hot dogs from a cart in the park. 

We rode the subway back to our hotel, got our luggage from the bellman, and called for our car to the airport.  We crashed once we got in the car.  We walked 18 miles throughout the weekend and made memories to last a lifetime.  Such a great weekend with friends to celebrate Parker's 15th birthday!