I Heart New York!

It's almost that time, again. P is heading to NYC.

That's right, the Big Apple. La Grande Pomme.

My love affair with New York goes all the way back to pig tails and knee socks. My dad had fam in Brooklyn and it was nothing for he and my mother to go all spontaneous and pack the car up and head to New York. Mind you, it's a five-hour car ride all day long. Maybe four.

Either way, if that were me, spontaneity would run out somewhere around Western Maryland, 'cause that alone is about two hours away from where we lived.

Thank God my parents were so wild and crazy, because their spur-of-the-moment jaunts exposed me to the hustle and bustle that is New York City. And I've had a special place in my heart for it since.

Instead of heading to the beach after prom, me and my now husband went to New York. I'd post pictures, but I swear I have on this one outfit that I have yet to figure out the origins. Either I was still very hung over from prom night or the 80's was just whack!

Unfortunately, I am not nearly as free-spirited as my parents.

Yikes! Did I actually write that?

What I meant was, the thought of driving somewhere for five hours is about as appealing as having someone stuff bamboo shoots under my nails. Still, any chance I get I'll head to New York. So me and Amtrak got a little special thing going on.

In two weeks, we're packing up the girls and heading to the bright lights of Midtown. It's part business and part P's obsessh with New York City.

I finally get to meet my wonderful eddy (Hi Stacey!)and she'll get to see I'm not nearly as insane as my emails portray me.

Now, this is going to make me seem really un-spontaneous. But I'm sitting here trying to map out an itinerary for the trip.

Wait. Before you roll your eyes. I'm not usually an itinerary person. Honest!

When we go on vacation, the schedule is strictly: eat, sleep, relax, start over! We end up where we end up and there are no mentions of scheduling or being somewhere at a certain time.

But NYC is not Myrtle Beach. And since we're only there a few days - a portion of which I'll be doing book biz - I feel strongly that I need to map out the best way to get some sites seen.

I'm a firm believer that the best way to see New York is with a New Yorker. But since my schedule is a bit bizarro, two meetings stuck in the middle of the afternoon, I may have to resort to a...::sigh::: guided tour!

I know, I know. It's so not New York to do that.

But I want my daughter and my cousin, who we're bringing along for Princess A's company, to see some of the things they only hear about on television. Yeah, yeah to some that's not the real New York. But to two 11 year-olds it is. And I'm happy to indulge their vision of New York. A tour may be the only way.

I no longer have family there. And it would be an imposition to ask someone to remain on stand-by just to show us around. So I'm seriously considering one of the Hop on/Hop off type tours.

Meh, we'll see.

Last time I was there, Princess A and I went for a little walk to Central Park, in the rain, then had coffee at Trump Plaza. She was thrilled. So it doesn't take much. The mere sight of the sky scrapers and the MTV building is fascinating to her. So, you know, we'll wing it...as long as it falls in line with the itinerary.

Ha!