So Much to Do

One of the best things about living in New York City is that I can never complain about not having anything to do.  There is so such much from Lincoln Center Performances to a walk in the park, the possibilities are endless.  What else is so great about living in New York is that there is so much to do in just a short driving span outside of the city as well.  Many of these places can be made into a day trip and some are excellent for a long weekend.  Thank you Christopher Columbus for sailing across the ocean blue and for this long weekend.

Right now, I am sitting in a hotel room in Mystic, Connecticut pooped out from enjoying the first of a three day trip with none other than my son.  I had such an awesome day today!  First off, I love fall.  I absolutely love it and today was a perfect fall day for the activities that I had planned.  We drove about 2 hours out of the city to Essex, CT where we took a 2 1/2 hour steam train and river boat ride.  It was awesome.  We sat in an open car located right behind the engine, which was really cool.  The scenery from both the train and boat was quintessential New England in the fall!

After that, we drove about 25 minutes to Oakdale, CT to The Dinosaur Place.  This was so much fun!  You basically walk through some trails in the woods and there are life size dinosaurs scattered throughout.  It was just... cool.  There are also some neat indoor activities to do like excavations and such, but we just stayed outside today and enjoyed the beautiful day.

That beautiful day lasted just until we reached the hotel and then the rain came.  It's supposed to stay and rain all day long tomorrow :( but clear up and be cool but clear on Monday.  Our plans are tainted a bit by the weather, but not ruined.  Tomorrow we are going to the Mystic Aquarium which is supposed to be wonderful and we will of course find and eat Mystic Pizza and think of Julia Roberts.  I'm hoping there will be a bit of a break in the rain so that we can atleast go to a cider mill and get apples and pumpkins.  On Monday, we will have to do a more rushed tour of the Seaport, as we were originally going to do that tomorrow.  But that should be great regardless.

I love finding these smaller scaled things to do, especially with my son.  I feel like these are the types of things that I did with him when we were in California as well and they have brought such a variety of different and interesting experiences for me and my son.  I feel like in planning these trips, I do think first of what I am going to do with my son to keep him happy and occupied, but I am also thinking of myself too.  It has been fun and enough for me to just go to these different places for the experience in viewing someplace new.  It has been equally fun finding activities in these places that will give my son an experience that I think is different and mind opening for my son.

There is so much to do, not just in New York City and its surrounding area.  But everywhere.  You just have to look and use a little imagination.  It is however the time spent together that is the best part.  My son was just wonderful today and we had a blast.  I am very much looking forward to the next couple of days, rain or shine.

The Steam Train

Swans in the Connecticut River

The Dinosaur Place!

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A little boys paradise...