Around this time last year, my husband and I were looking for a family trip to use up his last two weeks of paternity leave. (Yes, we are very blessed that he got 8 weeks of paternity leave to use throughout the year after our baby was born). We threw around Scotland, Japan, and Portugal, before deciding it was probably better to stick closer to home with a 9 month old. We asked my dad about trading his timeshare, and he found us an amazing swap to New York City the week of my birthday. We wanted to celebrate the Fourth of July in Boston as well, so we filled in our time between 7 days in New York, 3 days in Maine, and 2.5 days in Boston.
Our vision was to enjoy as much as we could with a baby in tow, focusing on good food and historical sites.
We sketched out a rough itinerary:
Sunday: Arrive, settle in, Sunday roast at Hawksmoor NYC, Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral
Monday: Wander around, shop
Tuesday: The Met
Wednesday (my birthday): Brunch, MoMA to see Van Gogh’s Starry Night, Dinner out at Gayle’s Broadway Rose, where the waitstaff would sing us the Broadway tunes we wouldn’t see in person this trip with a baby
Thursday: Central Park, Dinner with friends
Friday: Brooklyn, Summit One Vanderbilt
Saturday: Shopping, last minute sightseeing, harbor trip
Sunday: Take the train to Boston, rent a car and drive to Ogunquit, Maine
Monday-Tuesday: Explore southern Maine, eat ALL the lobster
Wednesday: Back to Boston, Fireworks
Thursday: Explore Boston, especially the Duck Boats!
Friday: 4th of July in Boston!
Saturday: Fly home
What we didn’t count on was the hottest week in New York City in 13 years, or a baby with the sniffles. Both of these things meant a lot more rest, a lot more pivots, and a lot more air conditioning.
Our hotel was in a great place to walk from to explore much of Central Park and Midtown Manhattan, but with the heat, we ended up taking a lot of taxis!
It would have been easy to write off the trip or be disappointed, but we tried to make the most of it anyway, and I’ll share more in upcoming weeks about what we did end up doing and what I would have done differently.
Today’s main thought though: It is totally possible to travel with a 9 month old and eat great food in iconic cities; it just may require a lot of takeaway!
One thing I would recommend that I had seen a lot of other moms suggest was new toys that the kiddos don’t get until the airplane or part of the way through the trip. This was a lifesaver for us, as our son was sick and fussy for the first few days. A new toy helped distract him from his discomfort for a few minutes anyway!
I also will never travel via air without a snot sucker with a young child again. We left ours at home because I had lost a piece, and ended up trying to doordash one at 6am without luck. So Solomon had to go to downtown Manhattan to pick one up from a Target down there, because evidently, loads of babies needed them that weekend!
I will share a more detailed packing list in an upcoming post as well.
travel nostalgic 