Neither Keith nor I had ever been to New York City. It was on our list of places to go and when Keith heard that Yankee Stadium was going to be torn down, he wanted to go sooner than later to see the stadium before a new one popped up in its place.
We had heard about the craziness of New York. How people were gruff. How we needed to be careful so we weren't pickpocketed or flat-out mugged. How we didn't want to look like tourists. And just how many people there were. When you hear all of that, you don't want to take your 1-year-old daughter with you. Hence, part of the reason for her to stay home with Grandma and Papa. Plus, there were things we wanted to do that weren't entirely kid-friendly. We wanted to go see a show. We wanted to go on a higher-end dinner cruise on our anniversary. We wanted to go on a "Sex and the City" tour. This time, our trip wasn't kid-friendly. And that was OK.
But what we discovered while we were there is that a lot of people take kids to the city. A lot of people have kids in the city. There are strollers pushed around Times Square. Kids playing on playgrounds in Greenwich Village and Central Park. Little girls carrying dolls purchased at the American Girls store. A HUGE Toys R Us with a ferris wheel inside. FAO Schwartz and its piano keys on the floor a la "Big." Kiddie rides at Coney Island (and a beach, too). And Autumn would love a ride on the Staten Island Ferry -- a boat on water, two things she loves. Plus there's aquariums and zoos.
What we also discovered is that yes, the city is busy. But it's not totally crazy like so many of our perceptions think it is. It's not hard to get around 90 percent of Manhattan. It's not that dirty. And the people are friendly. Except for Times Square at night (or if you find yourselves in the midst of Dominican Pride day as we did), you won't be totally overwhelmed crowds of people.
So I think that next time we go (and I would love to go back), it would be fun to take Autumn, too. It would be a whole different set of experiences, but still fun, just in a different way. It might be a long way into the future, but I'm looking forward to it already.