New York

New York! Wow! We had such a special time!

We were so lucky to stay with our dear friends Amy, Joe, Phillip and Mary Grace (and their sweet doggie Holly) in the beautiful village of Greenwood Lake in upstate New York. Amy and I met when we did our Masters in Marine Science in Dunedin 20-something years ago. Since then, we have visited Amy and Joe twice in New York and once in California but had not seen each other for 16 years and had never met each other’s kids. This amazing family opened their hearts and their home to us, and made every part of our visit perfect.

Our first day in New York City was spent in Midtown Manhattan, and began at the Intrepid Museum. The entire museum is aboard the WWII aircraft carrier USS Intrepid. As we walked towards the museum and Lucas could see both the Intrepid and the rows of military aircraft lined up on the flight deck, his face lit up with excitement! We spent nearly 4 hours exploring the different levels of the Intrepid, including the space shuttle Enterprise (NASA’s original orbiter that paved the way for the US shuttle program, currently located on the flight deck), and the submarine Growler, which is tethered alongside the aircraft carrier. Lucas and Logan also harnessed their inner Maverick as they tried their skills at air-to-air combat whilst piloting a supersonic aircraft!

Our next stop was the M&M Store in Times Square. It was exciting for the kids to see 3 floors dedicated entirely to M&Ms and we all had fun picking out a few of our favourite colours that are not usually available in a packet. But at $8.99 per ½ pound, it was a pricey way to buy M&Ms!

The next few hours were spent exploring Times Square, Rockefeller Center and its beautiful Christmas tree, St Patrick’s Cathedral, and the American Girl and Lego stores. Amy and Joe had recommended John’s Pizzeria and Junior’s Cheesecake for dinner, a delicious end to a wonderful day in the city!

Monday 15th January was Martin Luther King Day so Amy’s family and 2 other families had organised their annual 4 day skiing trip to Wilmington, Vermont – and invited us to join them. There were 17 of us (9 kids aged 9-16 and 8 adults) all in one house.

Lucas and Zara were instantly buddies with the other kids, and with a foosball table, ping pong table and hot tub, we hardly saw the kids.

To say that the others took care of us Kiwis would be a total understatement – they were all so kind, welcoming and generous, and we felt like we were part of their crew right from the start.

Logan bravely put an entry into the “Chili Cook Off” (with no prior experience) and after secret voting (and I suspect a little creative vote counting) he was pronounced the 2024 winner!

It was pouring with rain on Saturday, so despite arriving at Mount Snow for some of the first chairlifts at 8am, we called it early. Instead the day was spent playing and chatting with our new friends.

It snowed again overnight and Sunday was a super-fun day at Mount Snow! The runs were long with varying terrain, the views were lovely, and kids LOVED having other kids to ski with! A National Weather Service Emergency Alert pinged all of our phones in the afternoon with a snow squall warning, which eliminated the lift lines but the lifts were still turning so the brave kept skiing! Skiing in a snow squall was another new experience to add to our adventure!

It was a marvelous 4 days filled with fun, laughter, games, delicious food, friendship, and so much joy! Gargiulos, Robersons and Schlichtings – we look forward to seeing you in New Zealand one day! xxx

Tuesday was a “snow day” for Amy, Phillip and Mary Grace, so our kids were thrilled to have mid-week playmates at home – a bonus day to take it easy after our 4 days away. The day was filled with playing in the snow and sledding in the backyard, making bracelets, playing games, chilling out, and catching up on the things that need doing even when you’re travelling (washing, grocery shopping, emails…).

The long-range forecast for Wednesday had been for totally clear skies but freezing cold, so we’d taken a punt and booked tickets the week before to the Statue of Liberty and the One World Observatory. Wow – did we ever get the perfect day to spend Downtown Manhattan! Freeeeeezing but perfect!

The previous times we have been to New York, the Statue of Liberty hasn’t been open to go inside her so we were delighted to be able to climb the 192 stairs to her pedestal and then a further 162 spiral stairs into her crown.

We timed being in the One World Observatory for late afternoon so that we could see the city in the daylight, at sunset, and at night. The One World Trade Center is a striking feature of the New York City skyline – the design is elegant, the elevator rises 102 floors in 47 seconds, and the view was breathtaking!

We finished off our evening with a trip over on the Staten Island ferry to get a final view of NYC at night.

Thursday Lucas and Phillip weren’t feeling 100% so we chilled at home again. It was so wonderful to be based at the Gargiulo’s for 2 weeks – a chance for us to catch up on rest, eat lots of delicious home-cooked meals, and for the kids to get both an insight into living somewhere that is snowy right through the winter and an appreciation that New York is so much more than just New York City.

Friday was another “snow day” (it was becoming a bit of a joke as to whether the kids even went to school as in 8 school days, they’d had 2 snow days, 2 late starts, 1 day off to go to Vermont, and 1 public holiday!). I’m fascinated by the Appalachian Trail and really wanted a view looking down on Greenwood Lake so although it was snowy, grey and cold, it was a perfect day for a hike! It was an ‘out and back’ trail that ended up taking 3 hours as the path was completely snowed over, but it was funny to think that we’d only covered 0.1% of the Appalachian Trail!

The weekend was filled with more snowy fun in New York state – Walkway Over the Hudson (the world’s longest elevated pedestrian bridge), Hudson Tacos, and tubing at Holiday Mountain…and a Kiwi pavlova whipped up for our American friends!

We are leaving New York for Costa Rica today (let’s go sunshine!) but will be back to NY for 2 days so it’s not goodbye for now. We have had the most wonderful relaxing time here and will be forever grateful for the love and kindness shown to us by Amy, Joe, Phillip, Mary Grace, and Holly.