Monday, April 5, 2010

A Carriage Ride ...NYC part 3 (part 1 and 2 to come later)

In all of my many, many trips to NYC over the years
I have never taken a carriage ride through Central Park.
Maybe it was too touristy.
Growing up just an hour north of the city,
 I never wanted to be considered a tourist while I was there.
Of course, when I was a teenager, not being a tourist was a matter of survival.
Since then, NY has cleaned up pretty well!

Now that I'm a camera toting, sensible-shoe wearing mom, 
I've just given up any hope of looking like anything other than a tourist.
I happily point up at the buildings to show the kids the wonderful architecture.
And... apparently, I take carriage rides around Central Park.

The carriage ride wasn't in our "plan for the day",
but things changed and we ended up wingin' it.
I left the kids with my sister in front of FAO Schwartz
and sneaked off to see just how much these rides were.
I didn't want to promise something that I wasn't willing to pay for.

Keeping kids in the dark about plans is one of my favorite pastimes, 
but not one of their favorites,
so, as I marched them across 5th Ave,
there was a lot of whining going on.
I'm not exactly sure what they thought I was going to make them do,
but you'd think I was taking them on the Bataan Death march.
Seriously!
 Once my plans became clear to them there were a lot of "oh's!"
and "why didn't you tell us."
Mean mom turned into hero in no time flat!
Oh, yeah!
I'm awesome.

I just loved the looks on their faces.  
So excited, so amazed, so thrilled with the whole experience.

Mitchie was hoping that we could take the carriage all the way home.
Unfortunately, we thought that might be a bit slower than the train.

The ride through the park was lovely and peaceful,
but one of our favorite parts was the dancing man.
I wish I had thought to take a picture of him.  
He stood atop a large rock with headphones on 
and swirled and danced and generally boogied to the music in his head.
According to our driver, he's there and dancing everyday for hours and hours.
After watching the dancing man, Avery sighed a happy little sigh 
and said in an awed whisper, 
"I love the city."

Oh, Avery...
so do I,
and for just that reason.

Now, the teens got their very own carriage pulled by a horse named Charlie Brown.
We had passed them earlier and Julia called out that our horse was faster than their horse.
Julia, you had to throw down the gauntlet, didn't you?

Sure enough, Charlie Brown and his driver caught up and overtook us.
See that last shot?
That's the driver saying, "Who's horse is faster now!"
Charlie Brown, he's a clown,
and a fast one too.

Just look at that smug look on the driver's face.
Oh, yeah, Julia.. . he showed you!

14 comments:

Alita said...

That was such a cute post Colleen. I lived vicariously through your carriage ride. It looks like you ALL had fun. That look on the drivers face was smug. Perfect description!

I'm sad to say that I have NEVER (gasp) been to NYC. My sistah has been there numerous times and we're planning a girls weekend for my 35th birthday. Yup... that is 5 years from now. I'll be able to afford a trip just with Al by then. LOL! I'll probably NEED it, too.

Sabrina said...

What a wonderful post! I've been to NYC, but didn't get a chance to do the carriage ride. Given the chance, I will SO do it...who cares about being a tourist. I used to live in Baton Rouge and always took visiting friends and family on the carriage rides in New Orleans. Everyone loved it.
Glad you had such a wonderful trip!

Grammie/Mom said...

You are a great story teller! Great pictures. The looks on the kids faces(yes, you and your sister too)tell it all! fun, fun, fun!!!

Mrs. Bird said...

That looks like great fun! Someday maybe I'll make it to that side of the country :)

Julie said...

What a fun trip! I love the picture with the driver's hat in the center. Very cool :).

Elizabeth said...

I love this post! I miss visiting NYC. I like the part about mean mom turning into hero... haha u are too much. And the look on that driver's face is awesome. Nothing like a little competition! :D

Jama said...

Looks like everybody had such a fun day riding the carriage! We had something similar here in the zoo but it's just a short ride away, I rather walk to see the animals. Now riding through a big park is a different story, I would love to ride that!

Johnny Nutcase said...

aw, looks like fun! a little cold maybe, but fun :) Great post!

Leslie said...

i laughed through the whole post...because it was funny and because i was there for every minute and nuance of it!!! even kevin is smiling on the carriage ride!

T.J. said...

Oh how I love carriage rides in NYC! What a treat to give everyone Colleen (and you got to savor it too - hehe!) the faces and expressions you captures with that snazy new camera of yours say it all!!!! I love the big group shot of you all in the carriage- Seriously what awesome moments to share together :)

EG CameraGirl said...

That was such a fun post to read! And what a great adventure for everyone.

Doesn't it feel great to be a hero. You were smart to get photos...just in case they forget you can be a hero sometimes. :)

Jientje said...

What a fun ride! I would not mind being a tourist in NY!! I LOVE those smiling faces, they truly enjoyed it that's for sure!

Dan said...

I'd heard you tell this story, my dear, but you tell it so well in pictures. It was well worth the wait for this page to download on my oh-so-slow connection. I will definitely be there for the next Big Apple excursion!

Unknown said...

What a fun ride! I'm glad you decided to go! Looks like your family really enjoyed it too! Imagine the exercise dancing man gets if he's there everyday! Wow!