NYC Trip 2021

Over the Thanksgiving break we took a few days off and went to NYC. Usually we would take off Thursday and Friday, but we decided to take off M-W and the previous Friday for a big break. This year has been really hectic. We've earned more than double our previous best year (2020) and hadn't been on vacation in two years so it felt like time. I was able to get work for the guys on Friday and Monday so they only missed two days plus the usual Thanksgiving days, so I felt better about that.

Our long-standing tradition/goal has been to go to the big college football rivalry games and we decided that we should keep that alive this time around. When we consulted our list of games we wanted to do we had Harvard at Yale as one of the options. I mentioned that it was close to NYC and so we should try to do that. Meryl found a website that predicts flight costs and it said that prices would be at their lowest a few weeks before Thanksgiving so we waited, but the prices kept going up to the point that it imperiled the possibility of a trip...upwards of $3k for round trip for the four of us. Luckily I was able to find something much better and it was only $1300 after all fees for all of us round trip. Meryl found a good deal in midtown for a hotel as well. I found general admission tickets online for a reasonable price as well so the trip was set. Meryl was very worried about the trip...10 days traveling with family, 11 hours of flying, etc....you know the drill.

Our first day was mostly about getting from SFO to NYC. Rented a car and drove a bit to a hotel. Next day was the game and we found good parking for free less than a mile from the stadium. Having been to many stadiums before with Meryl and my dad (we went to all the Pac-12 stadiums to see USC play) I've found that one mile is about the sweet spot for getting a spot for free. If you're willing to walk then you essentially never have to pay for parking. Just a couple blocks away people were paying $20 for a spot. In other towns there may be signs about parking on game day to dissuade you, but that usually disappears about a mile from the stadium. To me, it's a no brainer to walk, but some people have lazy families or money burning a hole in their pocket.

We wanted to go to Yale because we had spent the night outside of Harvard Stadium during the baseball roadtrip and had at least seen it before, whereas we had never seen Yale Bowl. The game day vibe was pretty laid back, as one would expect from an Ivy League game. The tailgate scene was relatively minimal, but they did have some mini golf things set up and a bouncy house and a few fair type games like that. Not a bunch of drinking that I saw. The game itself was a lot more laid back than the other games we've been to and I'd say that they knew the least about football. I came in thinking I would root for Yale because we usually default to the home team and I don't really care much about either team, but we soon decided that we didn't like Yale people so much so we rooted for Harvard. It was a back and forth game and fun for most of the game. It was cold, but the girls were champs and didn't complain. Army/Navy was definitely the coldest we've been to.

Other rivalry games we've been to: Sacramento State/UC Davis 2010, Penn State/Ohio State 2011, Oklahoma/Texas 2012, Oregon State/Oregon 2013, Army/Navy 2017, Arizona/Arizona State 2019, Harvard/Yale 2021

Meryl waited in line for some fries while I bought a kelp burger with vegan cheese and a surprisingly good, and good for you, soda called olipop.. It was surprisingly good. The fries were a bust because it was cash only (no sign) and Meryl never has cash. We waited in line for fries later in the game and Merritt loved raking up the leaves while we were in line. A woman came up to us and told us that she was impressed that Merritt started raking with her hands, but wasn't satisfied with the progress she was making so she found a rake and used that instead. She said she was a teacher and that Merritt showed great potential (or something like that). As we got towards the front of the line the lady said "cash only" (which we had learned the hard way two quarters ago) and a couple people around us groaned. The woman in front of me wanted me to hold her spot, but I said I could lend her cash (I always have a few hundred bucks in cash because I like to be prepared). She sent Meryl the cash via Venmo and then two people behind us repeated this transaction. So, I was a human ATM for a while there and that was funny. Maybe it's a generational thing, but I think people don't carry cash anymore. I hope that the conspiracy theorists on government-backed crypto are wrong. Briefly, they say that G will move us away from cash and towards crypto. It will be easier to make disbursements for SS and a pandemic, so you should love it! However, then they can track how you spend the money much more easily also. I like cash. After getting to the front, the fries lady took my order and asked if we lived close by because she wanted to give Merritt a job raking leaves. We were very popular in that line.

As the game went on we moved around to different seats...it was a fairly empty game for a rivalry...lots of empty seats so we could experience different areas. At one point we went to the Harvard side and they played "Proud to be an American" over the (crappy) loudspeakers. There was a group of a few people walking up the stairs who were singing the song while kind of riling up the crowd to sing along with them. If you're singing along to this song at a football game I generally assume you're a Republican. I guess that's where we are as a country, or maybe it's just me. Generally patriotism and obviously patriotic songs like this are reserved for those on the right, and that's a shame. At any rate, one of the guys at the top of the steps who was leading the song and singing every word very enthusiastically said something god bless Harvard and Yale fans. To which some other guy in the crowd added "...and (god bless) Donald Trump." To which the original guy replied, without missing a beat, "wellllll, he's an interesting guy..." I loved this. The whole interaction and the reaction. He didn't shut the Trump supporter down, but he also wasn't a Trump supporter himself (despite my assumption otherwise considering the zeal with which he was singing god bless the USA). It would be great if we could move toward this. People who love America and are proud of it without it having to be about a particular person or turning partisan. People being able to outwardly love America without the assumption being that they're Republican (again, maybe my fault, but I'm not so sure).

As the game neared its end Yale mounted a drive and went on top by 4 and it looked like it was over for Harvard with about 2 minutes to go. I said maybe we should head for the exit because Merritt wasn't loving the game at this point and it looked pretty bad, but Meryl and Zoe wanted to stay (thankfully). Harvard ended up getting a long pass play to get into the redzone near where we were sitting and then capped the drive off with a nice pass play to the back of the endzone for the win. The Yale Bowl was as silent as I've heard a stadium. I was kind of rubbing it in their faces a bit, which I feel bad about, but I like being a contrarian and it was a great ending to the game. After it was officially over Harvard fans rushed the field. Zoe asked if we could go on the field and I said let's do it so, for the second time in my life, I went onto the field after a big win. Zoe talked to some of the Harvard football players and it was all very fun and adorable. At first she was very tentative and just kind of tapping them on their pads. I pointed out to her that everyone else there was banging them on their shoulder pads and smacking their backs hard. I told her to be aggressive and not worry about hurting them - speak up and hit them harder. So that's what she did and she really liked interacting with them and going on the field. When asked later Zoe said this was her favorite part of the trip and the cold was the worst. Merritt said the leaves were her favorite and the cold was the worst. That said, they really didn't complain about the cold much and I there was plenty more that they liked.

Yale played a lot of white music.

In addition to the kelp burger they had some good soda that wasn't too bad for you - Olipop.

That night we went to RI so that Meryl could notch the last state in the union that she hadn't visited yet. She has now been to all 50 states. The girls have been to at least 11 states. I hadn't been to 11 states until I was 21.

The next day we went to an aquarium in CT, but it wasn't much to write about. Pretty small and nothing compared to Monterey Bay or even the one in Phoenix. Later in the trip we went to the one in Brooklyn and it, too, wasn't much to write home about.

We also made a small tirp to Weir Farm which is an NHP site so the girls got a stamp in their National Park Service passport and we did a little hike around the lake there.

After that we went onto the main part of the trip which was our time in NYC.

Within hours of getting to NYC we were on the subway and looking for a good place to eat. After eating at a fancy restaurant we were looking for a nice place to get some dessert and somehow lost Merritt. In NYC. In reality, it was only about 30 seconds. We were standing in place while looking at our phones for a place to eat dessert and then started walking away, but Merritt didn't come with us. After less than a minute Zoe asked where Merritt was. I turned around and didn't see here so I yelled "Merritt" without thinking about it too much. My only thought was that I didn't want her to be going farther away from us so hopefully by calling out she'd stop and find us. We quickly turned back around the corner where we had been standing and there she was crying because we had left her. It was a little bit of a scare, but she did great. So did Zoe, considering she's the one who first alerted us. After a few tears all was good again and we got cookies from Levain Bakery. I was pretty happy with our family after dealing with this little bump in the road.

After the bakery we walked around some more and went to Strand, which is one of the biggest bookstores you'll see and is famous for this fact. The girls liked it. That was it for Sunday.

On Monday our first stop was the world's smallest shop...at least according to the internet. And it was closed, so I guess it doesn't even count anymore. Basically the size of a closet and the girls thought it was cool.

Next we went to Chelsea Market which was nice enough. Then visited the USS Intrepid. Chelsea is pretty far from the Intrepid so we actually took a Lyft there. Turns out that was the first time the girls got a Lyft so they were asking a lot of questions and were very hesitant to get into a stranger's car. They were giving us weird looks the whole time, so that was pretty funny.

USS Intrepid made me think a lot about WW2 and America at its best. It's bittersweet because we're definitely not there anymore, but maybe we'll get it together and figure things out like we did then.

Next stop was Times Square which is an obligatory stop in NYC. The girls thought it was amazing. Doesn't do much for me, but it's fun to see their eyes get wide. One of the "monks" came up to us and tried to give us some jewelry. I said no thanks and he insisted. I said no thanks and he insisted. I said no thanks and he turned to the girls. They took the jewelry that he handed them and then he turned to me and asked for money. I said no and then he took the jewelry off the girls. They were more confused than anything else. I had seen the scam before, but it was funny to explain to the girls what a scam is and how the various scammers in Times Square operate. The super heroes who take pictures with you and then ask for money, is another classic.

During these trips we usually make a list of stuff that we have to see, would like to see, and could see if there's time. One of the like to see places was the Lego store and we were nearby so we walked there. Lots of cool Lego assemblies there. The girls spent a lot of time looking at everything and playing with the various free play setups they have.

Later that night we went to Rockefeller Center. They had started putting up the Christmas tree, but it wasn't done yet. After that we walked to the Empire State Building. The 3 other times I went to NYC I never had the money to go to the top of any of the buildings. I was in NYC in August of 2001 and wished then (and even more after 9/11) that I could go to the top of the World Trade Center, but, alas, I was broke. So, this time we went to the top of the Empire State Building at night. For some reason that I can't explain I felt a really profound feeling being up there. Seeing all the buildings in the city, and being at the top of a building that was built in the 30s, and thinking that all those buildings were built by other men in the trades....I guess I felt some sense of pride, but also a sadness because it was a time when America could erect a building like that in 13 months. These days it takes 5 years to plan and 7+ years to build an equivalent building (One World Trade Center)...not to mention the cost difference. In that moment I felt both the immense potential of human engineering and collective action as well as the great disappointment of gridlock and bureaucracy.

The omelet at Friedman's was a highlight. Not sure what day it was, but it was great. Lots of great meals throughout the trip. Some nights we would do two dinners just to capitalize on our time there. Fun times.

Tuesday we visited the 9/11 memorial. I had been once before and it was a great and profound experience going there early in the morning with snow on the ground. This time was different. We didn't do the 9/11 tour, but we did go to the top of the building to see the view and I think we all agreed that there's something nicer about the Empire State Building. Those two buildings tell the tale of the country in some ways. Sure, the new one is bigger and nicer by some standards. It's got bells and whistles and a faster elevator and it's sleek and all that. But the old one has a lot more personality and charm.

One goal we had was to see the Statue of Liberty and also to go to all the five boroughs. So we got two birds with one stone by taking the State Island Ferry to SI. Along the way you get about as close to Lady Liberty as you get can without visiting so that was nice. We didn't do much of anything in SI. It was cold and the transit is limited so we just hung around where the ferry building is and then went back on the next ferry.

In lower Battery there's an old building which claims to be one of the oldest restaurants in the US. Fraunces Tavern. We had some dinner there and I left my hat there. Oops.

Next stop was Grand Central Station, which was beautiful to see and another reminder of what the country once was capable of building when we were on the forefront of the world's innovation. We did the whispering gallery thing and the girls thought that it was cool.

We had dinner at a nice sushi place where the girls got a kids meal that came on a little boat and included all sorts of good Japanese food. Good meal.

Our last stop for the night was the NY public library. Zoe loves books and it's a well known place so we figured a stop was in order. Zoe wanted to see some of the books so she went to an employee and asked where she could see some books and the librarian said you have to make a special request for books and then they're brought over to you....so basically she wasn't going to see rows and rows of books that she could pick through, like she had wanted. Merritt heard this news and almost immediately said "So it's a scam library?" Having learned about the scammers in Times Square, she was on high alert this time.

Wednesday we went to the American Museum of Natural History. One of the best museums in the country. There was a bit of a line to get in. Part of this was made worse by the fact that the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was in its setup stage adjacent to the museum. Outside the museum they have a statue of Teddy Roosevelt on horseback with a Native American and African by his side. Apparently they will most likely be removing this statue in the future. To their credit, they had a little display with people debating what should be done with the statue - leave, leave with some contextualization (my preference), remove.

After spending hours there we took a subway up to Harlem to visit there. We saw the Apollo Theater and Langston Hughes' house. His house is just a random house and I don't remember if it even has a plaque outside. We walked a ways to get there and when we saw it was just another row house, Merritt sighed "we came all that way just for a house?!"

We went back south to Central Park and stopped by Columbia University. Zoe says she wants to go there. It's a nice little campus in a great city so I guess it's a desirable place. I think RBG went there.

Next we surprised the girls with a horse ride through Central Park. This definitely wasn't a budget vacation. We talked with the guy who led us on the tour and he was nice and told us about all the sites and the usual stuff. We enjoyed the clip clop. Thankfully he didn't feed Rusty any beans from Costco. Afterwards he took our pictures and we had another guy take a picture of us with him. He said that was the first time anyone had done that. He was a nice guy so it seemed like a nice thing to have his picture to remember him.

The next day was Thanksgiving so we went to see the Macy's parade. Tough to get a good spot unless you get there early, but we stood inside an adjacent building to watch for a while. The girls liked it more than I did.

After that we went to the NY Aquarium, which I don't remember that much. It was open on Thanksgiving so that was a plus. We had chocolate from the parade for breakfast and Dunkin for lunch. Not much was open on Thanksgiving and we're not great parents, I guess. haha

We walked around Coney Island a bit and then walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. It's a nice bridge, but I think I like the Manhattan Bridge more. Lots of people on the bridge taking elaborate selfies.

We did Thanksgiving dinner at some fancy place where we had reservations and then walked through Chinatown afterwards. The girls negotiated on a lower price for some pop it purses they bought with their own money. A true Chinatown experience.

Friday we went to the Museum of Math in the morning. Nice lesser known place.

We walked over to Chelsea where we saw the High Line and the newer Hudson Yards development over there. Pretty nice overall. The Vessel was neat. Dylan's Candy Bar was nice.

We went over to the new Yankee Stadium since we hadn't seen the new one. Couldn't get inside, but we walked around it. Again, the new stuff just doesn't have the charm of the older stuff. We've lost our soul.

Bronx Zoo was the next stop and something that Meryl had purchased tickets for prior to the vacation. They do a zoo lights display. It was pretty good, but honestly the Oakland version is even better, which is surprising.

On a whim we decided to ditch the rest of the zoo lights and book it down to Penn Station and watch a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden. We purchased tickets online and ran to catch the subway down there. Made it only a few minutes late. Fun game against the Suns. Crowd was into it and it's a pretty good venue. People go there (mostly) to watch the game, not to be seen and buy $15 beers. Took a while to get up to the top where our seats were. I was singing "All the Way Up" (Fat Joe) while we went up the never-ending stairs.

Saturday was our last full day in NYC. It started with Meryl feeling unappreciated and deciding that she was going to spend the day by herself. So we had a little argument in the middle of the street about that. Not fun.

Went to Brooklyn to see Adam Yauch (of the Beastie Boys) Park. After his death the park got named after him so it was nice to see that and think about his life for a bit. We also made up from our fight around here so I'd like to think his Buddhist healing was working its magic on us. Good guy.

Next we went to the old Ebbets Field, which is now housing projects. They have a plaque where home plate used to be. Pretty sad state of affairs. Housing projects are hardly ever fun places to be.

Had some great pizza slices at a classic Brooklyn pizza place. Two very Brooklyn guys worked there and they liked the girls. They had regulars coming and going and it was exactly like the movies.

Brooklyn Children's Museum was next and a pretty good place. Brooklyn Museum was after that. We did a lot of walking as things are a lot more spread out over there.

Our last stop of the day was at the Brooklyn Nets game. This is definitely more where the hipsters hang out to see each other and been seen. Fans are less into the game.

Sunday we flew back home.

This is one of the best vacations ever.

They say that if you have a flat tire on the side of the road an East Coast person will come over and tell you all the ways that you're fucking up changing the tire and give you a hard time about how you should have had more air in the tires and will grumble the whole time while helping you change your tire. A West Coast person will see you and tell you how sorry they are and how much it sucks that this happened to you and then say "hope your day gets better" as they walk away. I'm not sure if it's quite that simple, but there's some truth in that. And, in this way, I'm much more of an East Coast guy. I will definitely help people out, but I'm also not going to smile about it and I'm definitely going to think about the ways in which they should have done this or that to not have this be an issue in the first fucking place.