A Guide To Staycationing In New York
Pre-pandemic and pre-baby, free time equated to vacation time.
“Give children toys that are powered by their imagination, not by batteries.”
And when I talk vacation, I mean standing in the obnoxiously long TSA line, long enough to be able to race to the gate with hopes of making it there just before they call my section to board. I’m talking sitting wedged between two people I do not know and praying to God that my bladder doesn’t do that thing where it reminds me every 15 minutes how much water I have consumed in the name of staying hydrated.
Vacation.
Vacation time where I wave my key at the door to be let into my oasis for the next couple of days. I mean sitting out on a beach for hours on end where I take in nothing but the sounds of the ocean and gaze out at the point where the water meets the land. A vacation where my decision making consists of sleeping or reading on the beach; throwing on sneakers or water shoes because, which excursion fits my vibe?; a long flowy dress for dinner or jeans because I’m feeling casual?
I’m quickly snatched back into reality as I rack my brain to try and top, or even mimic those experiences at home …with a toddler. Raising a baby in a pandemic is interesting because I really want to give him ALL OF THE EXPERIENCES, but I want to do so safely. I never want to be put in a position where I am risking his health and, essentially, his life. A couple of weeks ago, however, we took the plunge and “staycated” on our own soil! Go ahead and enjoy this non-blurred photo-blog of our staycation experience.
Monday
I’m pretty sure I made it clear earlier on in this post that I LOVE the beach! I, typically, never go to the beach in New York because I hate them. Luckily enough however, I have a friend who lives deep out on Long Island where the communities, essentially, have private beaches. We were fortunate enough to be able to coordinate a beach day with her and her boys and it came very close to my beach experiences abroad.
Tuesday
I had never heard of the Lego Land Discovery Center until a week before our staycation. There were several bonuses to this experience: 1. It was TOTALLY FREE!!! August is Teacher Appreciation month there and my kid is under two so we both were honored to receive this freebie.
2. The ride up was only an hour long
3. It was small enough to tackle in a day without feeling like we’d need to go back and the rides and activities were all age appropriate for my one year old.
Wednesday
Wednesdays are free at the Bronx Zoo and my son is always intrigued by new animals. I figured it would be ideal to take, yet, another free trip out of Queens. The downsides to this experience were: (1) everything, in fact, is NOT free! Admission is free and they nickel and dime you for everything else. (2) I reserved my ticket for too late in the day so we did not get an opportunity to even max out on the free exhibits.
He was not interested in pictures so I got a shot of him behind the exhibit that I REALLY wanted to experience.
Thursday
We were scheduled to go whale watching on Nautical Mile but the weather had other plans in store. We were, however, able to celebrate Nas’ “big sister’s” birthday with lunch off of the water. That certainly gave off an heir of vacation as I felt as if we had transported out of the states for the moment. He enjoyed peering out at the water and the boats passing by.
Friday
By Friday I was EXHAUSTED so that day had been reserved for spontaneity. We spontaneously rested up, as he actually had a flight to catch the following Monday.
Honorable Mentions
The week was thoroughly enjoyable and I would have loved to extended it BUT I am grateful that we have been truly staycationing this entire summer with our Fun Friday series. Next week’s follow up Photo Blog will highlight the honorable mention. Stay tuned!
