There are practical reasons to visit a city in wintertime, as well. There are fewer crowds when it's cold, and hotels frequently offer attractive weekend rates. Museums, theaters, shops and restaurants are all indoors, anyway. Public, indoor athletic facilities are springing up like mushrooms, and you'll really make your kids happy if you choose a hotel with a pool. The bottom line is that cities are exciting and fun, no matter what the temperature. For an urban adventure that outshines them all, spend a weekend acquainting your family with their past, present and future in the bustling city of New York.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
My daughter, Victoria, and I recently ferried across the Hudson River, from Battery Park to Ellis Island. Here, between 1892 and 1924, more than 12 million immigrants (two of our own forebears among them) first set foot on American soil. Like them, we first sailed by the Statue of Liberty before docking in front of the meticulously restored beaux arts facade and polished copper domes of the Ellis Island Immigration Museum.In the cavernous Baggage Room entry hall, we scanned the registry of names inscribed on the American Immigrant Wall of Honor (the actual wall is out on the lawn). All of Europe seemed to be represented: There were DelPontes and O'Malleys, Goldfarbs and many Andersons.
A film called ISLAND OF HOPE/ISLAND OF TEARS showed footage of immigrants bidding farewell to their families and homes in the old country, and embarking on a journey where every inch of the way they were packed together like sardines.
To see the museum, you can wander at will among the exhibits, take an audio tour narrated by Tom Brokaw, or join a National Park Service ranger-led tour, which is what we did. We started outside and heard and saw what the new arrivals experienced. We wound up in the Board of Special Inquiry room, where immigrants who were not admitted after the first round of questioning could appeal their cases before three inspectors (about 98 percent of all Ellis Island arrivals did stay in the United States).
Victoria got a bit impatient at this point, but she rallied to push on to the exhibits where personal stories are chronicled in word and picture. We both loved THE WORD TREE, a stylized sculpture featuring a colorful ethnic Americanism such as filibuster (Dutch) or hoosegow (Spanish) on each "leaf." Even the cafeteria deserves a visit, more for its view of the Manhattan skyline than for great food; you can always bring your own picnic.
Back at Battery Park, we walked to the nearby sun-drenched Winter Garden at the World Financial Center. Victoria and I have been coming here since she was five to shop, eat and enjoy the free ongoing arts and entertainment programs—especially the annual children's book fair, where we've met some of our favorite authors.
Just outside the World Financial Center, you can catch a ferry over to the state-of-the-art Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, New Jersey. Victoria and her friends always want to crawl and grope their way through the pitch-black Touch Tunnel and then test their basketball skills on the big-screen Virtual Hoops.
Another excellent downtown family adventure is a visit to the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, in its handsome quarters in the old Customs House. The museum's collection of native arts and artifacts spans two continents, from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego. Victoria loved the cases of beaded clothing and feather work in the main exhibit halls, but her favorite part of the museum was the interactive Resource Center. She liked sitting at a computer, watching and listening to the great-great-granddaughter of Sitting Bull.
If your kids are younger, they'll love playing in the Monet Ball Pond at the Children's Museum of the Arts in nearby SoHo. Hands-on programs in the visual, performing and musical arts begin here for children as young as 10 months and up to 10 years. And for families with athletic kids, the Chelsea Piers Sports and Entertainment Complex, further north along the Hudson at 18th Street, has an indoor ice-skating rink, a driving range, batting cages, soccer, basketball, rock-climbing wall and more.
NEW YORK CONTACTS
New York Convention Visitors BureauTwo Columbus Circle
New York, NY 10019
212-484-1200/800-NYC-VISIT
Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island National Monument
New York, NY 10004
212-363-3206 (museum)/212-269-5755 (ferry information)
World Financial Center
200 Liberty Street
New York, NY 10281
212-945-0505
Liberty Science Center
251 Phillip Street
Jersey City, NJ 07305-4699
201-200-1000
National Museum of the American Indian
1 Bowling Green
New York, NY 10004
212-514-3700
Children's Museum of the Arts
72 Spring Street
New York, NY 10012
212-941-9198
Chelsea Piers Sports and Entertainment Complex
Pier 62, Suite 300
New York, NY 10011
Field House: 212-336-6500/Sky Rink: 212-336-6100/Golf Club: 212-336-6400
NEW YORK HOTEL
Best Western Seaport InnThis is a family-friendly hotel at South Street Seaport. Children ages 18 and under stay free when sharing a room with adults. Weekend rates run from about $139 to $159 per night. Call 212-766-6600 or 800-HOTEL-NY for reservations and current rate information.
NEW YORK FUN FACTS
The Chelsea Piers Sports Entertainment Complex has the world's longest indoor track.The Circle Line's eight boats are converted World War II Navy landing vessels. One ship, CIRCLE LINE X, a.k.a. LCI (L)-758, saw two years of combat and was awarded two battle stars.
The visibility from the 102nd floor of the Empire State Building is 80 miles on a clear day.
It takes 7 1/4 hours to swim around Manhattan under normal weather and tide conditions.
New York City has the largest Jewish community outside of Israel--about 1.75 million.
Travel writer Joy Anderson has been city-struck since her early childhood in New York City.
Please keep in mind that phone numbers, addresses, and prices are subject to change. Updated August 2005.
