Fowlington Buzz: Day 5-6: New York City

Part of the reason for our trip to the Northeast was a scouting mission. We are approaching the end of Doc’s 7 years of medical training here in Tulsa. We have a year left and it is time to think about the future. Our plans include the possibility of graduate school for me and a desire to live somewhere different for a few years.

One of the strengths of living in the Northeast is their transit system. Amtrak is awesome. Metro railways are awesome. The prospect of living a life that was not automobile dependent is intriguing.

So we decided to try it out authentically. We woke up early Thursday. We took the Metro to Union Station. We boarded a train on a platform (and I quelled my impulse to yell Harry Potter lines while dragging Little Bird along the train). Train travel is amazing. You can get up and move around. There is a food car. There is no take off and landing. Also, you don’t have to show up two hours early for your train. In fact, I was shocked at the lack of formality in train travel. We didn’t have to pass through security. We didn’t check our luggage (we loaded it on the train car with us) and the only do random ID checks. This type of travel with a child was fun. Extremely fun.

Once we arrived at Penn Station in New York (which was icky…compared to Grand Central), we took the Subway to our hotel in Times Square. Luggage on the Subway in NYC is NOT luggage on the Metro in DC. We will take cabs with luggage in the future, despite the extra cost.

We met our friend, Amanda, at our hotel and spent the rest of the day with her, and later her husband, Pat.

Suffice it to say, Little Bird and Amanda are now #1 best friends.

Let me say, that I am extremely happy we went to New York last fall without our daughter. Even though we had an amazing guide, we were far more comfortable in the city with her since we knew our way around a bit better than first timers.