I love New York. I’ve been to visit a few times as a teen and I’ve always wanted to go back. It’s been at the top of my favorite places and I finally had a chance to go back with the entire family last year during our epic east coast road trip. Andrew has never been a fan of larger cities so New York never appealed to him which made it hard to convince him to take a trip there. It was never on the radar until last year when our obsession with Hamilton hit. So did we really plan an entire 10 day long trip to the east coast soley because we scored tickets to Hamilton on Broadway? Yes, yes we did. That is exactly how this crazy trip idea started.

One of the views from the Brooklyn Bridge.

Our time in New York was pretty brief since we were trying to fit in as much as we could. New York was roughly 3 days of our itinerary, but we managed to take in all kinds of cuisine, family time, and tourist sights. It wasn’t nearly enough time to do everything we wanted to do, but we got a good overview and I’m glad we were able to fit in what we could.

Our group for the majority of the trip.

We did the 4 hour drive from Boston to New York in the morning and arrived at lunch time. Our first day there we managed to fit in Peruvian for lunch, ice cream at Taiyaki NYC (which was a trip highlight for the kids), a walk across the Brooklyn bridge, and South African for dinner. With my sister and cousin as our guides, we got in a ton of subway hopping and walking along the way which quickly helped us get a feel of the city.

Hamilton on Broadway!

And then the day we’d been waiting months for had come! We were off to see Hamilton! We purchased our tickets roughly 6 months ahead of our trip which was crazy, but it’s also what got us to visit the east cost in the first place. The tickets were more expensive than we would’ve liked, but at least it was at the box office prices and we were able to make it a family trip. In hindsight, we probably could’ve waited to see the show at a different venue, but I also wouldn’t trade this trip for anything. The best parts are still to come! (The posts are coming. I promise!)

We’re one of the crazy ones taking a bunch of pics before the show.

A full view of the stage.

Isabelle, likewise, had the perfect day with my cousin. She was the center of attention for much of the day and was able to take in some swimming, all the pet shops in Flushing, and drink boba tea while playing on her Kindle. (Oddly enough, she was the only one of us to have boba tea in New York even though we try to get boba everywhere we can.)

American Museum of Natural History

Our last day in New York was pretty relaxed compared to what we had been doing. Since it was a work day, we had already said our goodbyes to most of my family and we were on our own for much of the day. The weather was perfect for what we wanted to do that day: visit the American Museum of Natural History and Central Park.

Central Park is beautiful!

New York was full of firsts for the whole family and it was sad to say goodbye, but I’m really glad we saved some of the best for last. Andrew fell in love with the museum and Central Park immediately, which helped him appreciate New York a lot more. The kids had the best time at the museum and were sad that we had to pull them away so we could spend time at the park. We knew we wanted to make it home before dark so we had to cut our time at the park shorter than we would’ve liked too, but we know we’ll be back to visit again in the future.

Hanging out at Central Park.

We finished off our last night in New York with Italian takeout at my uncle’s house and more family time before turning in to get ready for the next stop on our road trip. I’m really glad we decided to do this trip, but we were pretty exhausted half way through this stop. I suggested that our next big trip be something super relaxing and Andrew was researching before I could change my mind. If anyone decides to do something like this, be sure to fit in some days of relaxation. You’ll be so happy you did.

The next stops on our epic trip are coming up and they’re some of our favorites! Stay tuned for more posts to finish off this crazy vacation.