Little Family in the Big City

We took a 5 month old to New York City! Plus Grandparents! Plus one *excited* Mommy!

This year Honey celebrates his 10-year college graduation anniversary! Ten Years, wow. He went to the United States Military Academy at West Point, in the Hudson Valley, New York. So when he mentioned going back for the 10-year reunion I was *ecstatic* about the chance to go along! I have been to New York many times but always Manhattan. So of course I was *thrilled* to get off the island and see some of the northern parts of the state! Plus I couldn’t wait to see the school and hear about Honey’s time spent there.

We decided to make a mini-vacation out of the trip and squeeze in some time in the city before heading up for the reunion. Of course! Because let’s face it, you can’t take a girl thatclose to one of her favorite cities in the world and then not spend some *time* there right?! Fortunately Honey was just as excited as I was to visit the city since he had not been back in quite some time.

So we agreed on *two days* in New York City and then *three days* in the Hudson Valley visiting and touring the West Point campus and of course catching a game.

In addition to looking forward to the exciting places we were going, there were two other *wonderful* parts of this trip. One: 24-hour together time for Honey, Parker and me. With the way our schedules have been lately that is *rare*! And Two, taking along my parents!

Like me, my parents had never been to West Point. And since we gave each set of parents as their wedding Thank You gift a *trip* with us somewhere, this was also my parents Thank You present! They were *thrilled*!! Fortunately this also gave them the opportunity to baby sit since Honey and I were attending a reunion shindig on Friday night.

So off we went! To the Big Apple!

Parker Bear arriving at the airport ready for his first flight!

On the plane

I should note that Honey decided to rent a car at the airport and *drive* us to our hotel. He was very confident about driving in the crazy New York traffic. I was not sure our marriage would survive it. But much to my surprise, Honey did great! I was very impressed, to say the least. We only used the car to drive to our hotel and then to drive out of the city. Once we were in the city we *of course* used the subway and cabs!

In the Big Apple Honey booked a great hotel in a fabulous location! Right on the eastern border of Tribeca and the Village. How perfect is that? With our two days there we went to Little Italy for dinner and snagged some fabulous Italian desserts, we had dim sum in China Town, we visited the new memorial at Ground Zero, we walked around some of the local neighborhood and we had a fabulous time!

Little Family in Little Italy

Famous Ferrara's Bakery - gelato, pastries, coffee, YUM!

Two Mommy's on a Subway train

Men on a train

Yum Yum Dim Sum

Parker was not impressed with China Town!

Even though they ate it, I don't think the men were pleased with their Dim Sum. As this picture clearly illustrates!

The 911 Memorial was … beautiful… heartbreaking… perfect. The fountains in the buildings footprints and the names etched forever in stone were *breathtaking*. We took a walking tour led by *survivors* and hearing their firsthand accounts of the day was certainly something I’ll never forget.

Ready for the tour

Pictures at the Memorial

After our two fabulous days in the city we headed north to the Hudson Valley. The drive out of the city was *beautiful*. I loved seeing the Meat Packing District from the car and pointing out to my husband some of my *favorite* shops. Then as we continued north with the river on one side and beautiful neighborhood parks on the other I just couldn’t believe we were only minutes from the hustle and bustle of the city center.

I loved having an opportunity to share with Honey and Baby Parker some of my favorite things about New York City. And having my parents along was just the cherry on top! Now as we headed north to West Point, it was Honey’s turn to show me a place that made quite an impact on his life.

Stay tuned for my next post about our visit to West Point and the very *quaint* Pill Hill Inn.