This year, we did a quick jump to New York City for Christmas. This was a short trip to enjoy a few Broadway shows. It all started with a 4am alarm to head to the airport. We thought we had plenty of time to get to the airport and relax. Instead, we barely made it in time through airport security.

Arriving through JFK, we were happy to get early check-in at the Renaissance New York Time Square. Then, it’s off to enjoy the Times Square area. For lunch, we shared an italian sausage and roasted chestnuts. We were either very hungry from the travel or that was one amazing sausage. Maybe both.

Later that evening, we enjoyed dinner at Bobby Flay’s Bar Americain. Dai is a big fan of the Food Channel. Unfortunately, Bobby was no where to be seen that day. Fortunately, his menu rocked!

Then it was off to see Mamma Mia! at the Winter Garden Theatre. Having seen the movie, I was afraid I might not enjoy it. But it was an amazing show.

Surprisingly, we frequent the nearby Saigon 48 for a few meals. It was Vietnamese/Chinese/Thai food all in one restaurant. The Pad Thai was pretty good, but the $1 Thai Ice Tea was a favorite.

We took a quick subway ride down to the Ground Zero area. There was a certain souvenir that we were looking for, one of the Wall Street Bull. I thought the following photo was neat as I caught the American flag flying by.

For our final broadway show, we saw The Radio City Christmas Spectacular at the Radio City Music Hall. Having seen the Rockettes before, we still thoroughly enjoy the show.

Our last stop before heading back home was to have dinner at Tao.

We woke up early at 5am trying to get to Philly by lunchtime.

Here’s the Liberty Bell.

And a view of Philadelphia from the top steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. This is the famous “Rocky” steps.

In New York City, our first stop was B&H Photo. I’m impressed with its size and how packed it is with customers.

Later that day, we arrived at the Apple Store on 5th Ave. Here’s a view of it from the elevator going down.

And here’s Times Square, the location of the New Years Big Apple drop.

The next day, we visited the Statue of Liberty.

And Ellis Island.

Here’s a view of New York City coming back from Ellis Island.

And Walls Street where it’s blocked off from tourists.

We ended the day eating at Big Wong. Not bad, except the portion size was kinda small.

Then, we’re off to Boston. First off was the tour of Harvard University. This was one of the best campus tours I’ve ever had. Here’s a view inside the Memorial Hall.

Then, we walked The Freedom Trail. Boston is such a walk-able city, and this is a great walk.

The location of the Boston Massacre.

Paul Revere’s house.

And the Bunker Hill Monument. I just want to note that Amber climbed up and down this monument twice. That’s 1,176 steps in all.

Fast forward to today, I have a new appreciation for Cypress Garden. There are lots of rides the kids really loved. The park isn’t packed to the point of waiting in line for an hour. In fact, a five minute line was more typical. That allow us to accomplish many things during the day.

The dark black ring below are the kids getting spun around in the air!

The first part of the day trip started with a quick run to the Hoover Dam.

Then, down Las Vegas Blvd to the Stratosphere.

One of the neat thing about this visit is that we were able to arrive at the top of the Stratosphere Hotel just before sunset. Here’s a view from atop the Stratosphere minutes before sunset.

One of the craziest rides I can imagine is the X-Scream atop the Stratosphere. Imagine a ride hanging over the edge of the top of the  Stratoshpere.

Here’s another view of the sunset atop the Stratosphere

After a quick dinner delivery, we visited Fremont Street.

The next day, we took a quick walk around the Bellagio Casino. Here’s the Paris Casino from the Bellagio.

And returning back to the Bellagio, the sunset view of Paris.

Before we left town, the weather forecast was pretty bleak… rain all week down in Destin. With nothing else to do for spring break, we decided to chance it. We got there late in the afternoon after catching down during the travel down. Things were clearing up just a bit. After meeting up with Jeff, we were determine that we were going to at least see the beach, even if it’s double red flag warning level and no one else was on the beach.

All we could do was to just head out to a nice dinner. The next morning started out the same, a very isolated and quiet beach.

It would only be hours later when mass chaos would appear.

But let’s not get too far ahead here. The beach was still under double red flag warning. So, the kids decided to just start digging a hole in the beach.

and dig….

and dig…

and even the little ones were digging…

In between digging, they decided to take a little dip in the waters.

In the evening, we did more beach things.

like hunting for sand crabs. The kids found a few, but it must not be crab season.

By the end of our trip, the kids dug a big hole.

But others that gave up on digging, just decided to enjoy the day under the umbrella.