Home and Final Thoughts.

Without anything even remotely interesting happening on the flight home, I am forced to simply look back and reflect on our trip.

Top 3 surprises.

1) I had more fun at the musicals than I thought I would. I had forgotten how vibrant and engaging a live performance can be. While I didn’t get to chomp on popcorn and loudly sip a coke while watching it all, it was still a lot of fun.

2) How much the heat and humidity took it out of us. I could show pictures of how terrible we all looked at times, but then I’d disappear forever and The-Prettiest-Girl-in-the-World would shrug and say, “I dunno what happened to him, but the flowers seem to be growing nicely.”

3) How much I enjoyed seeing NY with my cousins, hearing THEIR stories, and connecting with them on a kinda deep level. As a self-proclaimed anti-social troglodyte, it amazes me when I have fun with others.

Top 5 Things To Do

1) Climb to the top of a tower, any tower, and take in the immensity of Manhattan, the glory of all the skyscrapers, and the majesty of a city so vibrant, that there should be a warning that it’ll make you want to go back.

2) Despite the less-than-successful trip to the Statue of Liberty, go see it. Seriously. Find a guide who was an immigrant – their story will be far more raw, more full of love and gratitude for being an American than, well, even a good Brooklyn boy. Take the tour that allows you inside the glorious old lady. Wait, that sounds wrong but seeing inside is a cool experience in itself.

3) See something on Broadway. Stand in line. Talk to someone. Get a photo with your favourite star. Jump up and down when they approach. Be that excited child, again. It’s ok. It’s New York. You will never be the weirdest one there.

4) Go on a night boat ride to see the Manhattan skyline. Even with the rain, the thunder, and howling winds, it was such an amazing thing to do. You could always just take a ferry across the water, but honestly, going under the Brooklyn Bridge, seeing the setting sun outline the Statue of Liberty or watching all the skyscrapers light up as darkness surrounds them, well, it’s simply incredible.

5) See the 9/11 Memorial. It’ll be hard. Maybe even painful. You may cry, or like me, sob over the dog story. But it’s more than a sight, it’s more than a tour, it’s as meaningful as Auschwitz or Pearl Harbour.

From everyone else, their recommendations…

The-Prettiest-Girl-in-the-World… Go to a place with cool cousins. (The trip wouldn’t have been as good without them.)

I would also had it doesn’t have to be cousins, so watch out my friends who live in other countries, we may be coming your way.

You have been warned.

The-Oldest…Check out a concert at Carnegie Hall. It’s very welcoming and the concerts look awesome. (There weren’t any concerts while we were there.)

The-Youngest…Walk around a lot and try any restaurants you haven’t heard of, and never, ever eat at a CHAIN!!! 

(To be fair, he’s young and fit so walking around is totally doable for him, but there was so much to see on every street, so he’s absolutely right about that.)

And that’s the trip done. Us 4. All together.

If we have another one with us all together, I’ll likely have a walker, The-Youngest will have a robot wife, The-Oldest will have to dodge groupies, and The-Prettiest-Girl-in-the-World will have grey hair and a tracker embedded in my skull so she can find me when I get lost.

It won’t be the same.

I’m so grateful to have had these experiences with the people I love most in the world.