We’re in staycation mode this summer (more interesting trips to come later: Catskills, LA again, and Istanbul 2011!). We’re not native New Yorkers, so we haven’t taken all that there is to do here for granted. We’re out strolling through Central Park or visiting Trump Towers or dining in the West Village with residents and tourists alike. I hope when Anna is grown up and living somewhere awesome, a place her mom and dad would enjoy visiting, like, say Hawaii or Nepal, she’ll fondly remember her childhood in the Big Apple. In fact, I credit Anna with getting Mike and I out and about more and trying all that there is to do here. We’re lucky and we know it.
I strongly recommend SweetiePie for anyone who is visiting New York and has a young lady in tow. Here, you can gorge on giant crushed lollipops chunks over sundaes while sitting inside a giant gilded birdcage. No one would glance twice if you walked in wearing a hot pink boa and a glittery tiara. I’m tempted to celebrate my 40th birthday there. It’s a great girlie getaway with overpriced salads and sandwiches, which is typical for many restaurants in Greenwich Village. The fish -n- chips were surprisingly tasty and our glasses of pink lemonade came with safari animal-themed drink charms! Walk off your overpriced lunch with a stroll to nearby Washington Square Park, the perfect setting for people-watching, reading a book, and observing the behaviors of small dogs wearing sweaters and barrettes.
Typically people escape the city for the Hamptons, but the summer can be an ideal time to enjoy all that New York City has to offer. True the subway stations feel like ovens during the summer (and then you step into the train and it feels like a refrigerator), and the skyscrapers trap every molecule of heat and humidity that passes through, but there are plenty of cool places to unwind, such as inside MoMA enjoying Warhol and air conditioning, along the river looking at the Statue of Liberty or outside Rockefeller Center’s new LegoLand.
