Level 9 Side Quest : New York, New York

by Nikki Walton for CurlyNikki.com

A couple of weeks ago, I asked Max if he wanted a birthday party or a side quest for his 9th birthday. Being my child, without a second thought, he chose the side quest (our latest being a Thanksgiving Cruise, and a tour of Assisi and Rome, Italy- Gia’s bday side quest). He has actually been to NYC but wasn’t conscious yet, haha. He wanted to experience being a tourist in Times Square. He wanted to walk fast, with nowhere to go, to see snow. He wanted to fly in over the Statue of Liberty. I told him that we couldn’t make it snow for him, and I couldn’t promise that our flight path would take us over the iconic monument, but that we would have a GoOD time because we’d be there together! I also told him that the wind would make his face hurt and the tall buildings would create an unbearable wind tunnel, and the sun wouldn’t be able to reach and warm us lol. He wanted to do it anyway.

I reached out to our friend (and NYC expert) Rhonda Ross who told me to pack like we were going skiing (coming from Florida temps), and that we HAD to catch a show on Broadway (my oldest, Gia, is a musical fan), and that she and her son would take us on a tour to some of his favorite places on one of our days in town! Max proceeded to print out pics of her so he could secure autographs for all of his friends. He’s also met Rhonda… he wasn’t conscious yet lol.

Long story short, on our flight out of FL, the whole plane full of people told Max happy birthday, he was allowed into the cockpit and got to sit at the control panel, our seat mate on the flight was a new pilot named Brandon (who told him what all it would take for him to become one, since Max has gotten into aviation as of late- pray for Brandon with us, he has an interview coming up with a major airline next week!!!), we did indeed fly in over the Statue of Liberty, we got one of the best rooms in our hotel because our check in attendant loved him, we got to tour Yankee stadium (a surprise I kept from him!) and all the good stuff underground like press and locker rooms, we were allowed backstage and onstage on Broadway after Hamilton (thanks to Hamilton hisself, Edred!!! Another surprise I kept from both of them!) and we were able to meet the stars of the show (Gia lost her mind haha!), and as we exited the theatre… YES. IT WAS SNOWING.

Whole bucket list checked off. And that was only Friday.

It’s Saturday morning, and we are about to meet up with Rhonda, now! Will check back in soon! Here’s the view from yesterday!

We love you! Thanks for journeying with us! Thanks for listening to and reading GoOD Mornings!
nik

The Daughter of Motown. Actual Motown Royalty. My friend and sister, Rhonda Ross, came out of her house, on the coldest day of the year so far, with her son, Raif in tow, to take us to some of his favorite places in Chinatown. Max had heard a lot about the food and culture of that area and seeing as how Rafi speaks Mandarin (and French! and learning many others), he was our perfect guide! They grabbed the three of us from the hotel, Max got autographs for his friends back home, and we braved the cold on the way to the subway! We ate at 5 spots… like a legit NYC food tour, and my daughter (same age as Rafi, and same field of interest, she’s a graphic artist and he’s a filmmaker) caught a movie with his friends! EPIC EPIC and fully aligned. We witnessed Rhonda float through the city doing random acts of kindness, looking majestic. The two of us reminding each other, ‘only Love is here’, while trying to stay locked in on the place inside that wasn’t cold… that space aware of the piercing cold… that ‘no-pain’, aware of the pain on the face lol. It was a powerful Saturday.