Rachel Going Places

🗽🌃🧣🚖🍸✨

With colorful confetti still littered on the Time’s Square sidewalk from New Year’s celebrations the night before, my family made our way to our hotel located right in the heart of New York City. We were there to fulfill a Christmas wish of my mother’s; ever since she was a little girl she’s dreamed of seeing the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes. My dad surprised her for Christmas with tickets to their holiday program and a short family trip to the Big Apple. However, that wasn’t all we were there to do. In true Balts Family vacation style, we were aiming to cram as much touring of the city as we could into a short 3-day time period.

We started off our journey to “the city that never sleeps” with no sleep ourselves, catching a very early morning flight and arriving at our hotel before 9:30 am. As tired as we were, this allowed us to maximize the short amount of time we had so we set off to go sight-seeing right away. Our first stop was to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. While I have been before, this visit was extra special because my dad, who deployed right after 9/11 because of the attacks, was seeing it for the first time. This was my second time at this museum. My mom and I had visited New York City the summer after I graduated high school, so even though my parents’ wedding was almost cancelled because of my Dad’s immediate deployment, they had never seen it together.

Our next stop was the Tenement Museum. In my opinion, I believe a trip to the Big Apple would be incomplete without a stop at this museum. Visiting the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island is a necessity of course, but I don’t believe one can truly understand the spectrum of culture and society in New York City without apprieciating the immigrant experience behind it. Within this cramped, dim, sunken building lived hundreds of human beings, each with a vibrant background and their own mark to put on their New World. Here, the immigrant experience is encapsulated in a series of tours, each one showcasing a different family’s story. Guided tours lead you through this real tenement house and into each family’s living quarters. The museum offers almost a dozen different tours, each highlighting a different family from a different era of the house’s history. My family opted for the “Tenement Women: 1902” tour which brought us into the home of the Levine family; Russian Jews who operated a tailor shop out of their one-bedroom apartment. We really wanted to take the “Family Owned” tour about a German family who owned their own brewery on the premises, but they had sold out for the day. With so many options, we’ll definitely be able to come back for a unique experience every time.

We then made a quick stop at the New York Public Library on our way back to the hotel, strolling through Christmas markets still left up from the recent holiday festivities. I hadn’t been to the Public Library before, but I would definitely take my work here, or sit to read a book in these ornate halls if I lived in New York. It’s amazing to be so casually surrounded by so many beautiful things. In addition, the Library had an exhibit on cultural wonders of the world. We saw a Gutenberg Bible, one of Shakespeare’s original folios, and the real Winnie the Pooh stuffed animals.

After a quick nap at the hotel (ok maybe the city does sleep a little) it was time to head to THE Radio City Music Hall to see the Rockettes! Since the Hall is located right across the street, we first walked around Rockefeller Center before going into the performance. We saw the famous New York City Christmas tree and golden statue of Prometheus by the ice skating rink. We also saw the setting of where Kevin McAllister reunites with his mom in Home Alone 2: Escape to New York. My family wasn’t really a Home Alone family growing up but for whatever reason we watched them for Christmas this year, so it was special to see that scene in person.

The Rockettes Christmas Spectacular was so much more than I anticipated. I knew they kicked (and kicked high) but that’s about it. My dad scored second row seats to the show, so the only thing I was expecting was for a shoe to come flying off and hit us! But the 90 minute show was packed full of energy and Christmas joy with holiday classics, original songs, fun storylines and plot points, and of course, Santa Claus. The costumes and setting were so vibrant and colorful and the Rockettes themselves sported many costumes which were simply beautiful. While the target audience for the show was definitely a couple years our junior, I was still thoroughly entertained in wonder throughout the show. It really was a Christmas spectacular.

The next morning we walked out into the crisp city air and made our way to the Freedom Tower and the One World Observatory. This skyscraper sits on the lower tip of the Manhattan peninsula jutting into the New York Harbour and offers 360 degree views of the whole metropolitan area. On such a clear winter morning like today, you can see everything, from the Statue of Liberty to the Empire State Building to the Brooklyn Bridge. I will say, having been to the Empire State Building before, I prefer the Freedom Tower if you are looking for a bird’s eye view of the City. The Empire State Building is located right in the heart of the city, so there are many buildings blocking the views, whereas the Freedom Tower showcases the city as a whole.

We spent the rest of the day hitting some smaller stops in and around Central Park. The first one was to have lunch at McGee’s Pub, where the TV show “How I Met Your Mother” was set. We are all are avid HIMYM fans, and while McGee’s does not have quite the same exact layout as the show’s MacLaren’s Pub, the bar does do a good job of including many posters of the show throughout the restaurant and for having a themed drink menu following many of the show’s running jokes. Between my parents and I, we tried the Ducky Tie, Robin Sparkles, and the Wait for It…(yes that is the name of the drink no there is nothing else to wait for) cocktails. Although I did think for all of the TVs showing various sporting events in the bar, at least one should be dedicated to showing HIMYM episodes on loop.

We then went into Central Park just to walk around for a little. When I was here before we didn’t make it to Central Park like this so this was my first time. The trees were barren and the grass was a dull brown but there’s still so much to see and so much life happening inside of here. That being said, my dad and I did go to the spot within the park where John Lennon was shot. There was a live street musician playing acoustic versions of his songs from The Beatles at the spot.

That night we went to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway. I was a HUGE Harry Potter fan as a kid and while The Cursed Child book wasn’t as good as the original series, it was still cool to see on stage. Especially when this book was written as a screenplay for this purpose. I will say however, that the acting left much to be desired. The theme of this book is a lot darker and adult than the series, so I was expecting a more serious production. In contrast, the acting seemed juvenile and exaggerated. The best part of the production hands down was the magic. There were some incredible stunts and tricks which were even more remarkable considering this is a live performance.

Before we left for the airport the next day, we had some hours to kill so we went to The Met. Now, I could stay at The Met all day long. There is no amount of time long enough for me to spend in an art museum. The Met especially is one of my favorites. You can probably spend an hour a day for a year exploring new exhibits and never get bored. If I lived in New York, I would come here all. the. time. But alas, after only two short hours we left to grab a meal before heading to the airport. We got lunch at a very nice German restaurant nearby, called “Heidelberg Restaurant.” It was probably some of the best German food I’ve had (so far). But we’ll see how that changes after I go to Germany.

For such a short trip, we certainly packed a lot in. The first time I visited New York City was the summer before I went to college in 2021. So because of Covid and the cold winter months, I feel I have yet to do a big trip to New York to experience the full hustle and bustle of the city. But the good thing about a city like NYC is; there’s always so much more to do than what you did the last time you were here.

January 2, 2025-January 4, 2025