Raising Riebesehls: 24 hours in the Big Apple

Will and I took a quick business trip up to New York City earlier this week. It was his third trip (the first was our weekend in Rehoboth Beach followed by our journey home to Wisconsin for Christmas) and he did great! I decided to go super last minute and was really nervous about taking the train by myself and navigating the city alone with a stroller and suitcase but thankfully my co-worker, Abby, agreed to travel with us (props to Abby - we owe you BIG time!). Will was a trooper and proved once again that he is a great traveller.

About to board the train in Washington DC

Unfortunately we didn't get to see much of Gotham City since a snow storm struck while we were there forcing us to stay inside and stick close to the hotel. It's hard to push a stroller on snowy sidewalks! We caught up with old friends, did a little shopping, had breakfast at the Bouchon Bakery and stared at Central Park thru the windows of Columbus Circle. Thankfully I felt right at home the minute we stepped out of Penn Station. I guess that's what four years in the city will do to you. One of the highlights was attending a going away party for my boss. Will got to meet all of my co-workers. He was a big hit.

One thing I've learned is that there is always some amount of drama when traveling and there were no exceptions on this trip. I knew when we left for NYC that a huge snow storm was expected to hit the east coast but the forecast called for a minimal amount of snow in DC (or so I thought). Our train ride home was pretty uneventful, but the moment we arrived at Union Station things took a turn for the worse. I realized as soon as we stepped outside that we had arrived in the middle of a blizzard and if you haven't heard, much to this Wisconsin girls surprise (or ignorance), DC doesn't handle snow very well. Thankfully we went to the front of the horrendously long taxi line and hopped right in a cab (thank you Red Cap Service by Amtrak). Two hours later, however, Will and I were still in that cab and had only traveled five blocks - that's how bad the roads and traffic were. I decided to bite the bullet and asked the driver to take us to the closest metro station. It ended up being the best decision I've made all year. We made it home from the station in about three hours - which is about two hours and forty-five minutes longer than it should take, but better than the four, five and even ten hours it took for some people to get home that night. It was definitely an eventful 24 hours I'll never forget.