My parents came back to the Bay Area in September, but before we got to see them much, they left again for 3 weeks of traveling to Puerto Rico, Colombia, and Panama Canal. It’s hard to spend quality time together these days, as they spend most of the year in Hong Kong, and whenever they are back in the Bay Area, their social calendar is busier than mine. So, I thought it’d be nice to meet them in New York, since they’d have to transit there anyways on their way back from Puerto Rico.
I invited my in laws to join us. I know that may seem odd to a lot of people, but fortunately for Alan and I, our parents have always gotten along. They even traveled by themselves to Thailand once. When my parents still lived in the Bay Area, we never had to worry about our time being split for holidays, birthdays, and special occasions because we’d just have both sides of the families together. A real blessing!
The last time Alan and I were in New York was pre-Bridgette, so nearly 10 years ago. We went in August, and I distinctively remember the heat and humidity. Fortunately for us this time, October was a beautiful month to visit. The leaves were changing colors and Central Park was an awe-inspiring sea of oranges and reds.
Since this was the first visit to NYC for both parents, we basically hit landmark after landmark. I had to be strategic in how I planned this trip, since we were traveling with a wide spectrum of ages and personalities! I knew my dad would want to see all the major landmarks, but that he’d also want adequate time to rest in between. My father in law wouldn’t be as interested in all the touristy spots so we needed to stay in a centralized hotel that would allow him to easily go back for a nap if he chose to. The two moms were more flexible, but I knew they’d want a tasty selection of food. As for Bridgette, though she was absolutely elated to have 4 whole days with both grandparents, I also knew she’d want to do things outside of visiting buildings and museums. Luckily, Alan was a great partner in crime and there were times where we split up to keep all parties happy…
On one of the evenings, Bridgette and I had a mommy-daughter date to watch the Broadway hit Wicked. I had seen it with Alan 10 years ago and we both loved it, so we knew Bridgette would enjoy it as well. We had so much fun that night! After the show was over, it was nearly 11pm, but wild as we were, we continued to stroll around Times Square and even ate hot dogs for our late night snack! 🙂
Side note: We took Uber everywhere on this trip, and it was really convenient. We requested for XL cars to fit all 7 of us and more often than not, they were easily available. Traffic was horrible, ofcourse, but staying at a centrally located hotel meant shorter drives all around, so we saved ourselves a lot of time!
