Kyla and I had a great time in NYC together. Here's a little rundown..

Friday:

We waited at the train station in Saratoga, and the train was about 20 minutes late. No biggie. The train station here is really pretty nice. Once on the train we grabbed our seats, and Kyla plugged in her Nintendo DS. Luckily, there was a power strip all along the wall. The train down follows along the East side of the Hudson, and is a really nice trip (about 3.5 hours to Penn Station). The weather was sunny and warm, which made for nice views out the window. When we went to the food car to get a drink I met a guy named "Chin" (I think it was "Chin", he was sort of hard to understand). He was a very large black dude, dressed like... hmm.. very layered and very colorful. Sort of like a guy from Jamaica dressed for Winter with a huge staff/walking stick (think Mr. Ecko on Lost). And, that's kind of what he was. He told me of his houses in Vermont, and that he's originally from the islands. He also kept calling me "king". FINALLY! Someone recognizes my innate royalty. I talked to him for a bit, then he was getting off in Schenectady.

When we reached Penn Station, we made our way to the street. Penn was pretty crowded. We waited at the taxi stand for about 15 minutes, then hopped in a cab. At this point, Kyla was sort of wide-eyed at all the tall buildings. The cab ride was a typical crazy cab ride. About 30 near accidents, 4 red lights run, and 30 pedestrians almost hit. Kyla was looking out the windows, so I don't think she really noticed how crazy the drive actually was. After a few minutes, we pulled up in front of FAO Schwartz.

At FAO we met my aunt and uncle, as well as Suzannah and Kimberly. Suzannah is my cousins wife, and Kimberly is their daughter (I'm really not sure if there is a relation there, so let's just say my cousins). We walked around FAO for a while, which was fun. We got to play on the large floor piano (from the movie Big), which was cool. Kyla really wanted to do that. We also saw the toy trains, dolls and Lego's. Really cool stuff.

After FAO we walked around a little until we found somewhere where everyone wanted to eat. It ended up being a place called Burger Heaven. We had a nice dinner, some conversation, then headed to the car. The kids talked and stuff, and I mainly looked out the window trying to see the sights. Back at my aunt and uncles house, we watched a little TV, and hit the sack.

Saturday:
Woke up, chatted with my uncle and watched some TV. At FAO we got a Bedlam Cube, which I and Kyla were trying to solve. After a while, we headed out to the city again. Today, we went to the Museum of Natural History. It was great. We went to the butterfly conservatory, saw all the dinosaur bones, mammal exhibits and underwater life exhibits. Kyla really enjoyed it, and so did I.

After a few hours (not nearly enough) at the museum, we headed around the corner to eat. Since the weather was so great, we sat outside and had a really good dinner. Certainly the kind of place I wouldn't regularly go and eat (more fancy than I am), but it was really good. After dinner, we drove down Times Square, SoHo and the Villiage. We then went and parked in China Town, and walked over to Little Italy. Lots of people were out and about enjoying the weather. We found a pastry place, and got some sweets for dessert. YUM. After the sugar kicked in, we walked around China Town for a while, going into the stores, and enjoying the streets. I got myself a Mango Boba, which I discovered on my trip to LA. It wasn't as good as the one in LA, but it was a good treat. Can't find that around here. After a while, we headed back to the house. By then, it was about midnight, and Kyla passed out. I was soon to follow.

Sunday:
Breakfast, talking, good bye's and off to the train station. Kyla and I took the LIRR to Penn Station, then from Penn back up here. Another good train ride to finish off an excellent long weekend.

There is still so much to show Kyla in NYC, and so much I want to do that I haven't in years. It was wonderful spending time with my aunt and uncle, and I'm happy that Kyla and Kimberly got along well. NYC was pretty much how I remembered, with people moving about, lots of cars (and honking), and tons of things to see and do. Knowing the train ride is pretty good to get there, I'm sure we will head down more often.