How to Survive 6 Hours in Central Park with Two Small Kids

Labor Day weekend took some surprising turns. I visited a friend with my two kids (5 and 8) in New Jersey. She lived across the river from midtown Manhattan, so it was our plan to visit the city for a large part of the weekend. The first two day were spent in the city as planned, but by the third day we were dead tired. I had very little incentive to continue our exploration when Monday morning rolled around, until apparently we over stayed our welcome when my friend discovered that her nice Pottery Barn chair was damaged by one of the boys. That wasn't the only chair they ruined over the weekend. Another pristine white chair inherited a gray foot print, and my friend's best attempt at cleaning the fabric only made it worse.

So long story short, my friend who is not used to children, who whole heartedly opened her home to me and my two rowdy elementary aged boys finally reached her boiling point and decided that we should spend the day in the city without her. I obliged even though I was feeling a little apprehensive about how to entertain the kids for a whole day in the heat (our train was not until 8PM). So as I do with all unexpected situations, I chose to tough it out and did the following.

1. Stuck in Jersey? Uber.

Our trip into the city wasn't a smooth one. My friend dropped us off at a bus stop in Hoboken where they tend to have regular shuttles in and out of the city, except the shuttles refused to take my kids since there's only standing room. So after waiting for an empty shuttle in the heat to no avail, I decided to Uber. The easiest destination that popped into my mind was the Central Park zoo. The ride cost me $30, not too shabby considering toll into the city was $14.

2. When in doubt sit on a park bench and eat ice cream

The zoo turned out to be tiny, but fun. The kids thoroughly enjoyed the sample variety of sea lions, penguins, birds and monkeys, minus all the big animals you remember from the movie Madagascar because they got relocated to the Bronx Zoo for a better life. However, after no more than an hour we were done. When I had no other game plan, I turned to the park benches and the myriad of food and ice cream trucks ready to save me from the abyss in exchange for my wallet. First it was Dippin' Dots, and then the popcorns. And so the patten goes whenever I wanted to get the boys to agree to my plan or lack there of, we sit on a park bench and ate ice cream. It worked like charm. If it felt like we ate ice cream all day, it's is probably what happened, but my memory is a blur.

3. Survey your situation because it's never hopeless

Central Park is big and daunting when you're on foot, with two little kids. I remember walking past an amusement park, and some big rocks the boys found exciting to climb on the previous days but could not fathom how to get to those places on foot. Low and behold there were the horse drawn carriages and the cycle rickshaws passing by. As it turned out the heat was too much for the horses in those early afternoon hours so I decided to take a cycle rickshaw ride with the boys. These rides aren't cheap. I was offered $75 for a one hour ride, and could only negotiate it down to $70. I was told that the guided tours on the cycle rickshaws are better since the guide will talk to you and make lots of stops. For the lack of better options I went for it. It turned out to be a great decision because the guided tour gave me lots of photo ops, and allowed me to survey all famous spots in the park including the biggest playground, the biggest rock, and the historic carousel which gave me some ideas of how to spend the rest of the afternoon. 

4. Stop at the Plaza Food Hall for some yummy treats

The rickshaw drops you back off at the end of the park, which is also where the Plaza Food Hall is located. By this time we were ready to find some air-conditioned shelter and rest our feet, so in we went. If you've never been there, it's a pretty pricey eatery made up of around ten food stalls serving anything from lobster rolls to sushi. There was a really famous pastry station built in the shape of a circle called Lady M. where we grabbed a couple of amazing cake slices to go. Luke's Losbster is another famous stall, too famous to have a decent line I could wait in with two little kids :(

5. Pick a couple of targets and execute

After recharging at the Food Hall, my job got a little easier since the survey work was done. The boys clearly wanted to see the biggest playground in central park and ride on the carousel, so off we went. The inefficient ticket line at the carousel allowed me to kill some more time; I knew we had to go on twice, but strategically decided to stand in line twice anyway -- the boys couldn't tell I was being inefficient. The Heckscher playground turned out to be the best decision I made all day. It was huge and it had water, just enough water that you could have fun in without getting soaked. There was also the biggest rocks in Central park, which were connected to the water works somehow by design. It made for some interesting visuals, a nice departure from the modern plastic primary colored playgrounds I'm used to seeing in Maryland. We ended up spending the rest of the day there. If you've got kids, when in Central Park, you must stop at the Heckscher playground. 

As daunting as the day had started, we managed to see Central Park, partly on foot, and partly with a guided tour like I've never seen the park before. The day would have been very different and a lot more predictable had my friend who was much more familiar with the city and park had come along with us. The guided tour probably wouldn't have happened since the rickshaw would not have fitted the four of us. On the other hand I may have been able to taste the famed lobster roll. But certainly we would not have spent a whopping two hours at the Heckscher playground. I've been to NYC many times in my life time, and this particular day will go down as the most memorable visit of all times. Sometimes the surprising turns in life take you to surprisingly beautiful places. You gotta embrace those moments.