Fall Break 2024. Both of my boys had the same time off and our exchange student J is still here, so off we went to The Big Apple for a quick holiday.

NYC is a bucket list city for almost every person I have ever met. I’m no exception. I love to go to NYC. Every time I go, I feel like I’m experiencing the city for the first time. The city is always changing and even visiting the same areas or points of interest is different every time.

My husband and I try to do something different every time we go to NYC. I remember our first trip to Ellis Island. One year we took the boys to the Tenament Museum. One year we went to the Morgan Library. Once we found the Highline though, we have never missed a quick jaunt to Chelsea Market and Hudson Yards.

Our one new thing this trip—a bike tour (a very McDaniel thing to do). An e-bike tour of the city bridges: Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg, Queensboro, and Kosciuszko was the perfect activity for teenaged boys with boundless energy. It was fantastic. Shout out to Rick, our guide. Truly, even for a non-biker with a bad hip like me, it was an unforgettable day!

For those of us who were alive that day, one cannot mention NYC without thinking of 9/11. We visited the Memorial Grounds and walked around the pools. Museum tickets were sold out so we couldn’t visit the museum. J said he had seen several documentaries about 9/11. He didn’t ask any questions. It was the quietest part of our trip.

No trip to NYC is complete without seeing a Broadway Show. I love musical theater. It’s my jam. Some kids play sports. Some kids play instruments. I sing and dance.

I remember my first show in New York. My life was never the same after that night! I left the big city lights determined to go to Julliard and become a theater star or a Rockette. Ofcourse this dream did not happen, but I love a good show and I sing and dance in my kitchen all the time!

This visit was so very special to me because we took J. I loved every minute watching him discover the city. We went everywhere and did as much as we could in 3.5 days. Hopefully, J left the Big Apple with an “Empire State of Mind”.

In New York,
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of,
Theres nothing you can’t do,
Now you’re in New York,
these streets will make you feel brand new,
the lights will inspire you,
lets hear it for New York…. Alicia Keys

If you’ve never been to NYC, go! If you have been, go again! “Start spreading the news…I wanna be a part of it, New York, New York…[if you] make it there, you make it anywhere.” Frank Sinatra

Love y’all, Marla