Backtime Road Trip Day 9: Another Day In The Park

New Yorkers call today "hot." While I still consider myself a New Yorker in my mind, my body lives in Savannah, and I've achieved Climate Conditioning Transformation.

Got a late start out this morning and it was the warmest and most humid since we got here. The Grandparents and I took the kids over to Central Park to the Victorian Gardens at Wollman Rink. It was the standard kiddie fun fair, for kids of all ages.

For 3-Year Old Daughter it was a chance to ride some "big kid" rides that she'd never been on before. For 6-Year Old Son, it was just another chance to get overheated and melt down after a couple of very active hours.

So the next stop was one of the playground/fountains, where the kids got their swimsuits on and got to cool off a little. But there were lots of camp groups and some pushy kids, so the Buddy System was in full effect.

Anyway, after 4 hours in the sun, my kids' nerves were frayed and my parents' energy was zapped. This is where my Climate Conditioning Transformation (CCT) comes in handy.

The rest of the day was indoor play in the AC, and after the usual practices, the kids had to invent their own entertainment.

Backtime Road Trip Day 8: Interlocked

I already live in Lego Land. I had no desire to visit there.

That's where Grandparents come in handy. They think your kids' quirkiest traits are just adorable. And there's plenty more I'm looking forward to do with my children in Gotham. For Legos, I can curb my enthusiasm.

For a while on the Central Park playground my kids bickered and partnered and were "interlocked like Legos" like a couple of my favorite HBO housemates.

But ultimately, the older child won the adventure competition taking on the park's giant rock structure. And for a brief moment, he was part of the skyline.

Backtime Road Trip Day 7: Eastbound and Downright Frustrated

I doubt there is a more depressing stretch of road in the eastern United States than the length of the state of Pennsylvania on I-80. 310 miles of nothingness, broken up only by tedious road construction and landmarked only by a couple of nuclear power facilities.

No wonder they call Penn State "Happy Valley." It's because people are so happy to have found civilization.

So we woke up this morning in Cleveland, Day 6 A.D. (After Decision). For the short time I was there, the city seemed no more or less depressed than it normally is. Cleveland is actually very nice - in July.

You'd think that losing LeBron is like any major city losing their #1 commodity, akin to Detroit losing GM. But basketball still wasn't "king" in this town.

There was a lot of local coverage on the death of Cleveland native George Steinbrenner, the American Shipbuilding magnate who tried to buy the Indians in the early 70s but was thwarted. The rest is history in two cities.

But baseball doesn't reign in this town or the state for that matter. You see, George Steinbrenner's role model and mentor was Woody Hayes. Everything in Ohio is football. LeBron's headline news cycle runs until the day Browns camp opens. Period.

As I was cruising the streets on the Baldwin-Wallace campus near my sister's house in Berea, there were football tributes on your average street corner.

So now came the single hardest leg of the trip (at least thus far), the one day trip from Cleveland to New York City. After four stops, a 45-minute construction crawl, and a ton of junk food, we arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's place 8+ hours later.

Now we get to stay in (generally) one spot for a whole week. And a pretty cool spot it is. Six stories up, overlooking Central Park. And tonight we were greeted by fireworks. Bastille Day! Who knew?

Now the hard part of the trip is over, and the real fun can begin. At least until the 13-hour drive home next week. But that's still a long way off. Bonne nuit!

I Like New York in June, How About You?

Central Park looks nice and lush because it's been raining forever. The US Open over on Long Island looked more like the British Open. The Yankees played Washington on Thursday afternoon...after a 5+ hour rain delay. This was a rare dry moment.

Second straight weekend a family event has the clan alive with wonder.

While dodging raindrops, the trip included a Broadway show, a few subway rides, pizza and bagels...and my wife's adrenaline got going in some Soho boutiques.

Caught some typical NY events like people lining up around the corner for the new iPhone. And some typical events happened to me like getting a summons for blocking the box. Outrageous fine but no points. What was I thinking driving from midtown to friends in New Rochelle on a Friday rush hour?

And the cops are out everywhere. Bloomberg's New York is different from the one I resided in. There is no shortage of manpower to ticket vehicles, provide police/security presence, or clean up the streets. Times Square is a family-friendly international mixing place...which obviously has its share of negatives. But NY hotels and theatres keep raking in the dough in an unbecoming economy.

But the trek was all about grandkids and great-grandkids who were there to see Oma celebrate her 90th Birthday.