New York City with family | Part I

Who followed my instagram a few weeks ago, we spent almost 1 week in New York, in the company of Diego's sister, her husband and our goddaughter / nephew beautiful.

New York City is that thing, as much as you go there multiple times over the years, there are always things to do, explore and revisit. Spring leaves the city super beautiful (and super full – say in passing). See our tours there in 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2012.

We rented a car and drove, the four of us, from Ottawa to Secaucus, where our hotel was. By the way, we always stay on the outskirts of Manhattan, in the state of New Jersey, to find hotels with more affordable prices (;and only us or someone else finds a dread the prices of hotels in Manhattan people?!), after all, for us, the hotel only serves even to sleep and take bath, because we want to use the days to visit Manhattan and not be enjoying the hotel (in this case).

We chose the Meadowlands River Inn, which provided us with what we were looking for: interesting price, clean room with two beds, bathroom with bathtub, breakfast included and easy access to New York. Also bonus, the rooms in front of the hotel had a beautiful view of the big apple, point for them!

It took us almost 9 hours to arrive, basically because of the numerous stops hehehhe, but it was all quiet. We rented a mini-van, because on the way back we would be bringing the family together, so we needed a bigger car (with 3 child seats!).

On the first full day, in addition to picking up the family's share at JFK airport, coming straight from Brazil, we chose to visit woodbury premium outlets (without Diego, who went to Toronto for work), which is approximately 1 h from where we were in Secaucus (and we were very close to Manhattan). It's very quiet to drive there, with a lot of traffic, but no traffic jams (or maybe we got lucky that day, I don't know?!).

On the other days, many tours, strategic stops to meet the little ones and lots of things seen.

 One of the attractions at the top of our list was the Central Park Zoo. We figured the kids would love it and they really liked it. It's a good ride, not too long and with several options of stops. Admission includes access to the attached Tisch Children's Zoo, and the girls loved it and you can save 10% if you buy online in advance.

Mandatory pass in Times Square. I should add that after 5 years without visiting, I found the amount of screens incredibly larger… what a surreal place!!

*Some areas are in the works, which bothers a little, but the lights only grow… Hehe

The next day, the first stop was at the Empire State Building. We bought the New York City Pass which entitles you to some attractions, including the Empire State. We didn't get long lines, which was great.

The visuals upstairs are always exciting, I can't deny it.