{TEEN Trip} New York City - A Walk Down Memory Lane (NYC Style)

 Houston, we are about to have our very last TEENager!

How can it be? Our baby officially turns 13 in just over a month from now...

{January, 2023}

For some time, I've planned to take the children on a special, solo trip to NYC when each turned the big 13. We took B back in January 2019 and I took L just about a year ago in March 2022. Now, it's finally M's turn!

While M has been to NYC a handful of times before, it's always been with both her brother and sister in tow...

Over the years, we've visited a few sites here and there...

Fall 2010 - lunching at the American Girl Café, grabbing a cupcake (well, smiling while everyone else did) at the original Magnolia Bakery on Bleecker, taking her first subway ride, and visiting the American Museum of Natural History, while in town for the weekend to hear Aunt E preach...

Spring 2013 - playing in Riverside Park, paying respect at President Ulysses S. Grant's Tomb, lunching at the New York Junior League, touring President Theodore Roosevelt's birthplace, becoming a cab riding pro, exploring Central Park, and trying a proper cupcake from Magnolia Bakery...

Summer 2013 - ferrying over to Staten Island, visiting the Statue of Liberty from afar, taking in the view from atop the Little Red Lighthouse under the George Washington Bridge, riding the tram over to Roosevelt Island, exploring under the Queensboro Bridge, meeting Cousin A, and enjoying dinner at Ellen's Stardust Diner...

Summer 2015 - saying goodbye to the iconic FAO Schwarz store on Fifth Avenue with Cousin A and taking a late night taxi ride...

Spring 2019 - visiting both the real Winnie-the-Pooh and friends stuffed animals and the famous lions at the NYPL's iconic location on Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, hanging at Rockefeller Center, saying hello to the NEW FAO Schwarz store, now located at Rockefeller Center, 

walking through Times Square, enjoying dinner at Junior's, checking out the Today Show Plaza, taking in the views from the Top of the Rock, experiencing her first Uber ride, devouring milkshakes at Black Tap and cookie dough scoops at DO, and having fun on The High Line...

Summer 2021 - lunching at Gramercy Tavern, drinking fancy grape juice, checking out The Vessel (now closed), playing & shopping at Hudson Yards, snacking on some street food, visiting Alexander Hamilton, and grabbing dinner at El Vez...

most of them have been off the beaten path, and she's not really done a lot of the typical "tourist" things in the Big Apple...

So, this morning first thing, we hit the road ~ just the two of us!

We took our time, making a few favorite stops along the way...

We enjoyed a much anticipated lunch at The Village Coffee Shoppe at The Draper Mercantile in Draper, VA...

and grabbed dinner at another favorite, Isaac's, in Mechanicsburg, PA...

before stopping for the night...

Tomorrow, it's into the city we go!

{J-Term} Houston, TX - Part II

continued from {J-Term} Houston, TX - Part I...

Day 3 - Thursday, January 5 

After breakfast at the hotel, the group made a change and instead of visiting the Lone Star Flight Museum, they went back to Space Center Houston to explore some more!

I was so excited to hear that they were back since they didn't get the chance to take any tram tours during the first visit...

and I really wanted to get a recreation of this sweet picture from B's last visit...

{July 2012 - Apollo Mission Control}

Thankfully, the group was able to get on all 3 of the various tram tours and got to experience a good bit!

B shared this photo of the flag flying, representing that an astronaut is currently in space...

First up, the BLUE TRAM TOUR took them to the Astronaut Training Facility where NASA astronauts are currently training for the new manned moon missions called Artemis...

Next, the RED TRAM TOUR took them to George W.S. Abbey Rocket Park where they were able to view the tallest, heaviest, and most powerful rocket ever flown, Saturn V...

{July 2012 - hanging out with Saturn V}

Lastly, the WHITE TRAM TOUR took them to the much anticipated (maybe, just by me?!?!?) Apollo Mission Control from which NASA led both Gemini and Apollo missions, including the first lunar landing mission...

and, I got my recreation photo!

Again, they grabbed lunch at the space center before heading back to the hotel to rest up for a fun evening...

For dinner, they were given money to eat on their own at the Toyota Center...

ahead of the Houston Rockets game!

The Houston Rockets fell to the Utah Jazz, but B loved attending his first NBA game!

Day 4 - Friday, January 6

On their final day in Houston, they enjoyed breakfast at the hotel, and some down time...

before heading back to the airport to prepare for the return home...

What a wonderful experience for our B, but how happy my momma heart is now, having all my people back together again (post middle school dance, hence the girls' dressy attire for an airport pick up!) tonight...

{J-Term} Houston, TX - Part I

B's high school offers a J-Term over Christmas break each year where students can take a weeklong class in anything ranging from playing a selection of disc golf courses to learning to draw caricatures, as well as shadowing in local internships and taking educational trips. For the last couple of years, B has been on the interest list to take a dream trip to Australia over J-Term, but it has not come to fruition due to various closures and travel bans. Maybe, just maybe, it will pan out next year when he is a senior ~ fingers crossed!

This year, he chose to travel a little closer to home and took a STEM trip to Houston, TX. Though he's been to Houston a couple of times before (2012, 2018), this was his first time flying without family. He had to meet up with his school group at our home airport at 4:15am for his 6:00am flight...

Day 1 - Tuesday, January 3 

After a short layover in Atlanta, his group landed in Houston mid-morning and hit the ground running, grabbing lunch at Chick-fil-A.

After lunch, they walked the pier, checked out a sculpture made of found trash items from the gulf...

and visited the water for a foggy view...

before continuing on to the Ocean Star Museum & Education Center where they toured an offshore drilling rig that has since been decommissioned and turned into a museum.

 

They left the oil rig museum and made a stop at the famous Buc-ees...

before checking into their hotel.

They enjoyed dinner nearby at Village Pizza & Seafood...

and turned in early after a long, productive day!

Day 2 - Wednesday, January 4

After breakfast, the group made their way over to Space Center Houston...

Though we visited back in 2012, it has been over a DECADE since B has been there... WOW...

{July 2012}

They grabbed lunch at the space center and then headed over to iFly Houston for some hands-on physics lessons...

 

as they gave indoor skydiving a try!

They grabbed a classic, Texas BBQ dinner at Goode Company...

 

and knowing my love (I mean, loathe...really, just terror) of all things dead and stuffed, my dear son snapped this pic just for me...

Side Note: I made my entire family relocate after being seated directly underneath something dead on our Alaska trip once upon a time!

Bless...

After dinner, they headed back to the hotel to rest up for another day...

{J-Term} Houston, TX - Part II