Summer '24 NYC & DC | FindPenguins

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Trip start
July 13, 2024
Summer '24 NYC & DC Traveler
2
Day 1 - Travel Day
July 13, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 90 °F
We hit the road for this trip on Saturday morning and made it to DC in time for dinner Saturday evening. Our hotel was in a great spot in Arlington. The boys played at a playground across the street from our hotel and in the pool for a while that night to get their energy out. And of course we got some ice cream at the park because what's a summer trip without daily ice cream?

Tomorrow we hop on the train to NYC!Read more
Nate’s got his game face on! [Julie Tumey]
7/15/24Reply
TravelerRoad Warrior Nate smiles for no one.
7/15/24Reply
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Summer '24 NYC & DC Traveler
Day 2 (pt 1) DC → NYC
July 14, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 90 °F
We started the morning off in DC. Since we had about 30 min to kill before heading to Union Station and it was a lazy Sunday morning with virtually no traffic, we drove through downtown DC on a mini-tour. The boys were excited to catch glimpses of the Washington Monument, White House, Capitol, Supreme Court and the legions of Smithsonians and as Holden said, "all those white buildings made with all that granite." It was a nice detour to whet our appetites for our official DC stops later in the week.

We easily made it to the station and onto our train. Yesterday it took us 9 hours of driving and only went through 2 states. This train ride was less than 4 hours and we'll traipse through 5 states, all of them new ones for the boys.

My favorite moment was when the train started coming into view of the NYC skyline. The boys lit up when they spotted 1 World Trade Center & the Empire State Building and Holden's eyes bugged out a few minutes later when I explained to him that yes, we were in a tunnel and that tunnel was going under the river.Read more
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Summer '24 NYC & DC Traveler
Day 2 (pt 2) - NYC
July 14, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F
From the train it was a straight shot up the subway to our hotel in Hell's Kitchen. We chose this spot for a few reasons - 1) close to Heather & Robbie's apartment, 2) close to Times Square & Central Park, both priorities for the boys, and 3) most importantly it's the only hotel I could find remotely within our budget that has rooms with 2 queen size beds - functional sleep is paramount for a happy Packers!

We checked in and promptly headed back out and to Heather & Rob's apartment a few blocks away. I didn't realize it had been over 2 years since we had last seen them at their wedding. It's safe to say the boys have gotten a smidgen bigger since our last reunion. The boys also loved playing with their cats and bonus dog.

We headed up to Central Park with Heather & Rob and of course E made a beeline for the Central Park boulders while Holden scouted the nearest food truck. We meandered through the park and wound up at the bar at Tavern on the Green where we shared some drinks & apps before saying our goodbyes for the night. We hopped back on the subway and headed south to meet one of Nate's best beds from college, Jon, & his family at their apartment in Soho.

Nate & Jon made the plan for us to meet there so they could watch the Copa America's Championship game. Argentina played Columbia and E sported his Messi jersey all day in preparation for the game. He did start getting a little nervous on the subway when he started getting unexpected - but good natured - attention from Columbian fans in their jerseys. He was relieved when they finally started walking in a different direction from us. There were LOADS of Columbian fans on the streets.

Jon's family welcomed us with open arms and we had a wonderful time catching up with them as the kids made fast friends. Jon also took us downstairs to his store's listening room which was a cool experience. It's a fully sound-proofed room that is slightly disorienting in its extreme quietness amidst the loudness of the city.

We finally headed home after 11p and we fulfilled Holden's NYC bucket list wish to ride in a NYC taxi cab.

Solid start to our first day in the city.Read more
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Summer '24 NYC & DC Traveler
Day 3 - NYC (pt 1)
July 15, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 84 °F
We went hard on our first full day in NYC. First stop after bagels & muffins was at the 9/11 Memorial. The boys both have some general knowledge about what happened on 9/11, but it was a different experience for all of us being there and trying to explain what happened to these kids who weren't even born for over a decade after the attacks occurred. This was my second visit to the memorial and it remains a sacred and truly moving place to stop and remember, or as we were doing today, educating our kids about what happened.

After the Memorial, we got lost in the Oculus for a while before finally finding our subway stop. From there we made our way to The Battery where we checked out the sea glass carousel and hopped on the Staten Island Ferry to catch some glimpses of the Statue of Liberty.Read more
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Summer '24 NYC & DC Traveler
Day 3 - NYC (pt. 2)
July 15, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 90 °F
After filling up in some great Chinese food for lunch we made our way over to one of the places that Holden was most excited about: The Ice Cream Museum.

Let's be clear. The Ice Cream Museum is light on the museum aspect, medium on the ice cream samples, but mega heavy on Sugar-fueled pink-fever-dream fun. Samples of ice cream abounded in a variety of different themed rooms. I personally love that right after the cotton candy room, the kids spilled into an indoor playground that would do well in Candyland.

At one point Holden said, "I am SO happy we came here. It's probably all the sugar that's making me so happy." Truer words were never spoken.

After the long morning of sightseeing and afternoon sugar rush we headed back to the hotel to crash, but not before getting sidetracked by the M&M Store. This was top on the boys' must-do list.

While Nate & the boys rested, I met Heather for a drink and we had some time to catch up one-on-one. Then we set out to meet the boys for dinner on the Upper West Side at Maison Pickle. Heather mentioned that they had the best French Dips and the boys were stoked to try, and also the 24-layer cake that we couldn't even finish between the 6 of us.Read more
TravelerThat cake is impressive!
7/16/24Reply
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Summer '24 NYC & DC Traveler
Day 4 - NYC - Empire State & More
July 16, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 90 °F
When we started planning this trip we did it primarily to introduce the boys to NYC. Their big requests were to go up the Empire State Building (ESB - or as it jokingly became known as the Eiffel Tower when E flubbed the name of it one time), Times Square & the M&M store, to see the Statue of Liberty & go to Central Park. We knocked the last two out in our first days and since we finally had a day of clear blue skies, we made our way over to 34th St.

Before we got to the ESB, we did a quick detour through Times Square, which wasn't too bad at 930a. Thankfully they weren't terribly interested in exploring more of it, so we hopped on the subway to 34th St.

I had been up to the top of the ESB one time when my Mom took me to NYC, but a lot has changed in the intervening 20 years. Instead of just cramming dozens of people into an elevator, now there's a whole museum and interactive element that was really well designed.

Once at the top, Holden made the most out of every viewfinder he could get his hands on. We were able to make out some landmarks and got some fun pictures while at it.Read more
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Summer '24 NYC & DC Traveler
Day 4 NYC - The Shops
July 16, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 91 °F
After the Empire State Building, the boys felt their hard-earned chore money burning a hole in their pockets, so we started making our way to the LEGO Store, unsurprisingly we got sidetracked along the way.

We came around a corner and E's eyes nearly bugged out of his head and he made a beeline when he saw the Manchester City Football Club store. This summer has been full of soccer - the Euros, Copa - so he was stoked to find this shop.

I was delighted that he made us go in because that store had the most amazing air conditioning in the entire city. We managed to schedule this trip during a NYC heatwave. It was definitely hot, not quite as oppressive as we are used to, but still steamy & sweaty. Walking into that ice box of a store was absolutely divine. I joked with the doorman that having the best AC in the city must be part of the club's marketing to get Americans into futból.

We meandered a bit more, stumbling onto Rockefeller Plaza & Radio City Music Hall. Eventually we found the LEGO Store. I didn't really see the allure of the store but was fine to go there for the boys. But walking in was like walking into a fantasy land, it was such fun. I'm very happy to report that their prices were reasonable so the boys dropped more of their chore money there.

We finished up the morning by meeting Heather for lunch - the best slice in NYC, as multiple people told us.Read more
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Summer '24 NYC & DC Traveler
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Day 4 - NYC - Park & Harry Potter
July 16, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 93 °F
After some downtime, we made our way down to The Little Island on the Hudson. Little Island was developed on the remnants of an old pier and has an amphitheater and loads of native plants. It's a beautifully designed park not far from the Highline. The boys complained about how there are buildings everywhere in NYC, but this was a great chance to show them how the city creates green spaces. It was still hot, but the breeze from the river felt amazing. We also found popsicles that helped cool us down.

No trip to NYC is complete without a show, and this trip we joined the masses at Harry Potter & The Cursed Child at The Lyric Theater. It was a fantastic production with a solid story and incredible special effects. I will be wondering how they did some of the special effects for a long time. The boys really loved it.

The production was 3.5 hours long, so we weren't heading back to the hotel until almost 11. As we walked back, E was most astounded that so many people were still out and so many shops and restaurants were still open. He now knows what it means by "The city that never sleeps."

After over 19,000+ steps, we all collapsed into bed to rest up for our last day in the city.Read more
Traveler ❤️
7/17/24Reply
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Summer '24 NYC & DC Traveler
NYC - Last Day & Natural History Museum
July 17, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 88 °F
After the late night at the play, we had a slow start to our last morning in NYC, but we made the most of it, starting off with a perfect diner breakfast.

From there we headed up to the American Museum of Natural History across from Central Park. The boys have watched all of the NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM movies, so had high expectations for this stop. Alas, they both lamented, "this looks NOTHING like the movie!" Despite that, they both had a great time exploring the museum. Holden was especially hooked right from the git go, spending at least 30 min in the reptile room and only seeing half of it before Nate finally got him to move on. The boys enjoyed seeing some of the artifacts/replicas that are characters in the movie along with loads more. Safe to say that Holden, especially, would be happy to go back and explore other areas again and again. I especially liked the Central/South and NW Americas sections.

Once we finished up at the museum we headed back to Hell's Kitchen for lunch, hugged Heather and Robbie goodbye and made our way to the train station to make our way back to DC.Read more
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Summer '24 NYC & DC Traveler
Day 5 - 1st Day in DC
July 18, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 84 °F
Our first night in DC was pretty much a total mess after we arrived at our Airbnb. Among other issues, the electricity was off in part of it, after hunting for a while we finally got it back on, but then the new washer/dryer didn't work right, so we spent that evening wringing out our mountain of clothes until about 11p. The next morning we woke up to loads of thundering footsteps at 630a, so we were tired and cranky and frustrated.

While I spent the morning hunting for a laundromat, I dropped Nate & the boys off at the Smithsonian National Zoo to run out their energy. (The boys' energy, not Nate's. He was wiped out like me.) The Zoo was a great experience for the boys. While they did that, I alternated between laundry and dealing with Airbnb to try and cancel our reservation.

After a couple of hours of dealing with laundry stuff, I picked the guys up and headed to our one scheduled event - the Air & Space Museum. Our favorite things to see at the Museum were the Wright Brothers' original plane that they flew at Kitty Hawk. There were great interactive exhibits throughout.

After Air & Space, we started exploring the Mall and monuments. Holden was quickly crumbling from fatigue, so we grabbed some scooters and he quickly perked up at the prospect of riding. The Washington Monument was much more impressive than I expected. E has been most excited to see the Lincoln Memorial because of what's he's studied at school. His only disappointment was that he thought it would be bigger. I appreciated reading the words of Lincoln's address after being inaugurated the second time.

From there we walked over to the Korean Veterans Memorial. When I visited DC 25 years ago I took pictures of that memorial to share with my Grandad who fought in that war and was able to share some of that with the boys. We walked down to the WWII Memorial then found some more scooters and made our way to the White House for a quick pic. There were so many folks there we didn't bother staying too long.

We eventually made our way back to the car and hit up a local spot called the Banana Leaf for some great pan-Asian bites before heading back for the night.

While the day got off to a rough start, we had a great time the rest of the day. I feel really lucky that we got to share these places with the boys and am especially thankful that a cool front came through just before we arrived so it was much nicer to be outdoors all afternoon than when we were in NYC.Read more
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Summer '24 NYC & DC Traveler
Day 7 - DC & Takoma Park
July 19, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 82 °F
After we saw the big landmarks on Wednesday, the boys declared the only thing they wanted to do the next day is go to the SPY MUSEUM and hang out with our friends, the Garners, who moved to the DC area last year.

The Garners met us at The Spy Museum and it was great for the boys to all get to run around and play their way through the museum. As an adult, I would now like to go through the museum WITHOUT kids and be able to spend more time with the exhibits. There were loads of interesting details about the broad range of tools & trades that encompass the espionage world.

After the Spy Museum we had lunch at a great Cuban place on the wharf, then Anabel took one for the team and took all the boys with her to a pool. With a few kid-free hours to ourselves, Nate and I visited the National Gallery. As a person who's been painting for a few years, viewing all that art by legends like Monet & Van Gogh was really inspiring. There were also a couple of enormous drawings of the Capitol, White House & Supreme Court that were incredible in detail and size.

From the gallery, Nate and I scooted our way down to a memorial for the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Thomas McKean of Delaware is believed to be on of Nate's ancestors, so he took some pictures of the signature that is etched into the memorial stones. Next we headed to the MLK Jr Memorial, which is so beautifully done and includes many of his most impactful quotes.

Once we saw everything we wanted to fit into the day, we headed up to the Garner's home in Takoma Park, MD. We spent the evening catching up with them and an early bday celebration for Griffin who turned 12 the next day.Read more
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Summer '24 NYC & DC Traveler
Day 8 - Heading Home!
July 20, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 81 °F
The boys lived it up on the last night of the trip with a sleepover with Griffin & Barrett. Saturday morning we grabbed donuts on the way to pick them up in the morning, said our goodbyes for now then started the drive home.

We got to see so many legendary sights on this trip, but we all agreed that getting to see some of our favorite people and the places they call home was the highlight for us all.Read more
TravelerBeen fun to follow your trip
7/20/24Reply
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Trip end
July 20, 2024