A Christmas Visit from Mom and Dad

My parents arrived in New York the day after Christmas with a suitcase full of gifts, but perhaps the best present they gave me was the gift of sleep.

Edith is usually a good sleeper at night, but on Saturday night -- the last night my parents were here -- she wasn't having any of it. She wasn't hungry, but she wouldn't go to sleep. Mom heard the fussing from the spare room and offered to rock Edith to sleep. They were in the recliner from about 4 to 8:30 a.m., and I got a glorious four and a half hours of sleep without worries.

That probably wasn't the highlight of their visit, but it was a nice bonus for me! Either way, having my parents visit during the same days that Paul and I would normally be staying with them almost made it feel like we were home for Christmas after all.

In addition to spending plenty of quality time with Edith, my parents did me two huge favors. The first was pretty conventional: they babysat Edith while Paul was at work and I had a doctor's appointment. The second was just as helpful: They got me out of the house.

Paul watched Edith on Friday night while I went to Manhattan (for the first time since her birth), both to see the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree and to eat at Junior's with my parents. The next day, Paul and Edith stayed home again while Mom, Dad and I made a quick trip to Century 21.

Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree 2012

Mom and Dad brought plenty of clothes, toys and books for Edith, and, of course, Paul and I got some nice presents, too. But I'd take a few hours of sleep, a few hours out of the house and the visit from my parents themselves over and above them all.

By Plane, Train and Automobile

After my parents' four-day visit last week, I can now say I've met friends and family in New York through all means of travel: plane, train and automobile.

This year, my parents decided to forgo the annual car trip and travel by Amtrak instead. The train leaves just 15 minutes or so from their home, but it's still a 17-hour trip once you're on the tracks. Sure, they were tired when they arrived, although you'd think it was me who made the trip instead. Maybe that's why I took a nap when they left Sunday afternoon instead of writing a blog post for Monday.

(Speaking of which, expect periodic blog post delays in the near future as I catch up from the illness that threw me under a bus a few weeks ago. I generally have posts written in reserve, but I'm pretty much day-to-day right now.)

Paul and I have picked up and/or dropped off friends and relatives at all three of the metropolitan area's major airports -- LaGuardia, JFK and Newark -- and met several by car. I've even been to the PATH station both to catch my own Greyhound to Ohio and meet friends on their own buses. But this was my first time at Penn Station.

I was a little disappointed. I was hoping to at least see the tracks, scanning the train windows until I saw a face I recognized. Or have a train-side goodbye, with final hugs as the whistle blows in the background, like in old World War II flicks. Instead, I met my parents in the middle of a huge waiting room crowded with strangers, and their departure was even more of a let-down. Their ticket was taken at a door leading immediately to an escalator, so my last glimpse was of their heads, going down.

Still, it was an interesting experience. And still, I'm glad I was on the receiving end instead of being the one on the train for nearly a full day.

Atlantic City Memories, 10 Years Later

It might have been the worst vacation I've ever taken.

Ten years ago this summer I had just finished my first year at Ohio State and was about to begin a summer job in my hometown. But the week before I was scheduled to start, I went to Atlantic City with my parents, grandparents and younger sister, Katie.

I was only 18, and Katie was 16, so we couldn't even step foot in the casinos, let alone gamble. I expected to split my time between the boardwalk and the beach. But then it rained. And it rained the next day. And the next. It rained each day except the last day we were there, which I believe is the exact day a seagull decided to crap in my hair.

Like I said, it wasn't a great vacation.

Boardwalk and beach aside, the real reason I wanted to go to Atlantic City was its proximity to New York. I begged Mom and Dad to drive me to the city -- even just to the Statue of Liberty. I scoured the internet for day trips to New York that I could take by myself while they tried their luck at the slots. No luck for me. I was disappointed but not devastated. I was more upset at that damn seagull.

It's funny to look back on that summer now. I certainly never thought I'd be living in New York a decade later. And that summer was also the last I lived at home. I subleased a slightly ghetto apartment in Columbus the next year, met Paul and the rest is history.

I've never been to Atlantic City since.

An Out-of-Towner at Heart

Manhattan from the Brooklyn Bridge

Paul and I see our families far less now that we've moved 500 miles away. I take each visit -- both of us to them and of them to us -- far less for granted than I did when we measured the distance between us in minutes rather than states.

I'm always happy to see my mom and dad, and nowadays it happens far less often than I would like. And now I have yet another reason to look forward to their visits: Seeing the city through their eyes.

I would never pretend to be a New York native: I have far too much to learn. But I can hold my own. I can debate the best way to get from point A to B by public transportation, I know that a $1,000 apartment is unreasonable in Manhattan, and I've even set myself up as something of an expert at work on the cupcakes of New York City.

I can't match the disappointment of long-time New Yorkers who regret the Disneyfication of Times Square, but I no longer stare in awe at the skyscrapers, the people or the sheer variety of activities in the five boroughs.

So I enjoy sharing what I've learned in the last two and a half years with my parents. The out-of-the-way spots for a good view or a nice rest in the middle of the city. Or getting from here to there by subway in the shortest about of time with the least number of steps. What's more, I like hearing about their own discoveries, like when they stumbled upon Bryant Park one afternoon last year while I was at work.

But despite all of this, there are still a few "touristy" things that we all can enjoy together. First among these is a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. "True" New Yorkers would probably complain about the crowds, but I'm still enough of an out-of-towner to admit that the stroll still hasn't grown old.

A Carriage Ride Through Central Park

It's not quite what they make it out to be in the movies, but a carriage ride through Central Park is one of the quintessential New York experiences. It was certainly fun once, but I'm not sure I would ever do it again.

May 5 was my parents' 31st wedding anniversary, so last Saturday's carriage ride was officially in their honor. The ride wasn't long enough to be romantic, but it had to do.

We boarded the carriage near Tavern on the Green, and the 15-minute trot made a circle along Central Park West, Strawberry Fields and back to the restaurant. The carriage was comfy, the ride was smooth and the pictures were great. My only complaint? Way too short!

A Night (Err ... Afternoon) at the Museum

It's taken me three trips, but I finally feel like I'm starting to know my way around the American Museum of Natural History.

Mom and Dad suggested a visit last weekend, and Paul and I were more than happy to oblige. We saw all of the museum's main attractions -- the animal panoramas, the dinosaurs, the astronomy displays -- and even managed to find one exhibit that Paul and I had always inadvertently skipped before. Please don't ask me how we were never able to find the giant blue whale hanging from the ceiling during our previous visits.

And yet I still haven't explored the entire museum. I think that'll take another three visits, at least.

Pastrami, Stars & Sweet, Sweet Knishes

I tried to take Mom and Dad to my favorite restaurant in New York -- Clinton Street Bakery -- but a 90 minute wait convinced us to change our plans. Instead we ended up a few blocks away at Katz's Delicatessen. It was a good choice.

You might know Katz's for the famous scene set there in "When Harry Met Sally," but it's had more than its fair share of star turns as one look at the wall confirms. Pictures of dozens of famous customers cram every available space.


After a bite or two you start to understand why Katz's remains a New York institution. Paul said his sandwich contained the best pastrami he'd every had. My sweet potato knish tasted more like pumpkin pie, and that's certainly no complaint.

It was an experience, and not just because of the food.

Walk in the door and you are handed a green ticket. When you order from one of the many meat-shearers, soup-scoopers or burger-cookers, that person takes your ticket and marks the price. As you leave, you hand the cashier your tickets and pay -- cash only.



Clinton Street's still my favorite restaurant, but when I want a knish that tastes like dessert, I now know where to go.

A Gray Afternoon at Coney Island

My parents left early this morning after paying us a visit since Wednesday afternoon. They know two or three subway lines well enough that they can easily get to most of the tourist attractions while I'm at work, but I wasn't so sure about the one thing they actually requested to see: Coney Island. Specifically, they wanted a real Nathan's hot dog.

So Mom, Dad and I took our umbrellas and appetites to the boardwalk Friday afternoon. We got the hot dogs out of the way first thing. Mom and Dad opted for chili cheese dogs and a bacon and cheese dog, but I got a plain one doused in ketchup and mustard. I liked it much better than the only other one I'd ever had- a chili cheese dog last Memorial Day. It was a lot cleaner, too.

Last Memorial Dad the place was packed, but it was also sunny and a holiday. On a gray Friday afternoon, Coney Island was nearly empty. We saw two people ride the Cyclone, but few of the other rides were even running.


A group of friends were at a table on the boardwalk, but it was mostly bare. Some of the food stands looked like they were still boarded up.


We snapped quite a few pictures, but we still spent only about an hour there. Makes you wonder about the glory days.

Heat wave & more visitors

When I haven't been too busy to write this month, it was too hot. But mostly I've just been lazy.

For four straight days two weeks ago, the temperature hovered around 100. It made me very glad that Paul installed our air conditioner the weekend before, but very sad that we bought only one. It's in our bedroom for two reasons: (1) to give us a cool night's sleep and (2) to drown out the patrons of the bar downstairs who are sure to loiter on the sidewalk on warm nights.

Buying a second air conditioner wasn't really an option. It's not that an a/c is expensive-- it's not-- but we don't have a place to store it this winter. I'm not even sure where we're going to put the one we have. Of course, if Paul got rid of his homebrewing supplies, we would have room for three air conditioners. Somehow, I don't think he's going to go for that.

In any case, I miss my Ohio central air. And garage.

Mom and Dad luckily missed the heat wave when they visited Wednesday through Sunday. Dad, Paul and I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge on Thursday night, and the weather was perfect. We arrived after the sun had set, so we didn't get many good pictures. We walked a bit through Brooklyn Heights, taking a look at the promenade along the East River and peaking into the popular restaurants.

Mom and Dad visited the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island while Paul and I were at work Friday. I met them after work at Federal Hall, where George Washington took the oath of office. Early that evening I led Dad on a long walk to Bay Ridge's own promenade along the bay, and of course we stopped at Little Cupcake on the way back for treats later that night.

On Saturday we went to the Whitney Museum of American Art, followed by a quick jaunt through Central Park, followed by a downpour before we could make it to St. Patrick's Cathedral. We parked ourselves under construction scaffolding, walking a few blocks at a time during the lulls in rain until we made it to the church.

This weekend we have more visitors, although I'm not sure they're staying with us. Bill and Leslie are coming into town and we're all going to a Yankees-Reds baseball game Sunday, and I'm very excited. Bill and Leslie visited in February, and it was a great weekend. Add a Reds game, and how could it get much better?

Miscellaneous with Mom and Dad

Despite the day-long Saturday rain that visited at the same time as Mom and Dad, we did a lot last Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

In addition to the TV shows, we saw "Chicago" on Broadway, walked around Times Square, visited Rockefeller Center, took the Staten Island Ferry and did probably half a dozen other things I've already forgotten. And of course, we visited Little Cupcake! Here's a few of the best pics:

No business like show business

My parents came for a long-weekend visit, and it was just as much a vacation for me as for them. I was able to show them some of Manhattan and Brooklyn, but we also did plenty of stuff that was new for me too.

We did so much that this will have to be a multi-day post, so stay tuned. And stay tuned (yes, I'm very punny today) to David Letterman on Friday night-- we got last minute tickets to the taping. The Late Show tapes Friday's show on Monday evening, and we were able to get tickets by stopping at the Ed Sullivan Theater on Sunday, filling out a form and proving we were fans by telling them about our favorite segments.

The guests were Jaime Pressly (from My Name is Earl) and a comedian. More interesting was seeing the set in-person. I watched Letterman with Dad from the time I was a little girl until I graduated from high school, and sporadically since then. Although I'm not a frequent viewer now, I have such good memories of watching it with Dad that I really wanted to see it in person.

Unfortunately, Paul and I got split up from Mom and Dad when we were seated, but the two of us were about nine rows back directly in front of where Dave does his monologue at the beginning. It was a neat experience, but probably one I won't repeat soon- we had to be there by 5:30 to pick up the tickets, return at 6 to get in line, wait a bit longer to be seated and then wait some more until the one-hour taping started at 7. I'm glad we did it though.

The next day we went to a completely different taping-- The View. A relative of a relative is a stage manager there and was able to get us tickets (Paul went to work). The handful of us who got tickets this way were seated first, in the front-- we were in the second row and I think we almost could have reached out and patted Barbara Walters on the shoulder. I was amazed how small the set was! I think I heard it holds only 200 audience members.

Unlike at Letterman, we could take pictures inside the studio during the commercial breaks. A couple of the hosts even came out and talked to the audience. The woman sitting next to me spoke to Sherri Shepherd for a bit.

The breaks were the most interesting. I always thought it was a large stage, with the table at one end and the couch where they do the interviews in another. Nope. The crew moves everything out of the way and sets everything up in the 2- or 3-minute breaks.

The woman who got us our tickets chatted with us for a bit and was extremely nice. It was also fun to see her name in the credits at the end of the show. Of course, I taped that day's show on the DVR and we watched it when we returned to the apartment that night. The back of our heads were shown quite a bit!