The Toronto Zoo

Usually when I review attractions or hotels, it is my first or second time visiting them. Before completing this review, I can attest I may have visited the zoo more than some volunteers who work there. Frankly, I love the Toronto Zoo and whether visiting with or without children I am sure you will too.

Let's begin with whether or not you should visit alone with your children. The answer is yes. No matter which time of year that you go, the zoo is an easy solo trip. The zoo is huge and there are many indoor and outdoor pavilions. It is easy to be caught up in a crowd in some areas like the children's zoo or the panda exhibit but in general there is enough space that you and your kids will feel comfortable and you will be able to tackle it alone. Also, there is a large amount of zoo staff everywhere. The people in the restaurant are incredibly helpful and anyone in a Toronto Zoo shirt will help you with anything you need.

The zoo is 710 acres of land divided into seven geographic areas and over 10 km of walking trails. Be prepared that depending on the age of your children, you won't likely visit every region. The regions are: Indo-Malaya, Africa, the Americas, Australasia, Eurasia, the Canadian Domain and the Tundra Trek. The zoo also has a Giant Panda exhibit as well as one of the best splash pads in Toronto.

Due to the fact that we live in Toronto and are lucky enough to be members of the zoo, my general game plan is to allow the kids to pick one area of the zoo to visit that day. If its splash pad season, we always finish with a visit to make sure they are truly exhausted when we leave.

My favourite areas of the zoo are Africa and the Tundra Trek. Firstly, they are both incredibly accessible. Whether you bring a stroller or wagon or rent one, these areas are easy to get to and quite walkable. They also bring the most bang for your buck meaning you will see more animals in an easier to handle space than the rest of the zoo.  You will also see the bigger and more recognizable animals like elephants, giraffes, lions and polar bears by visiting these two sections. My best advice when visiting these two spots is to go left when you enter the zoo through Indo-Malaya which has an incredible orangutan exhibit. The reason I recommend going this way is that you need to walk up a hill but if you go to Africa first the kids won't notice because the hill is studded with exhibits like tigers and bats. If you visit the Tundra trek first, the hill up to Africa is much steeper and has no animals on it.  For easy reference check this zoo map.

The alternative to this is to take the Zoomobile. The Zoomobile is a tram ride that will get you around the zoo in a shaded vehicle. There are four stops on the way. The Main station which is at the zoo entrance, Domain Hill, Africa and the Americas. Whether or not you need to, you should ride the Zoomobile once. It is $8 a ride for the entire day or $28.00 for four all day ride passes. Kids under 3 are free as are members. The Zoomobile will get you quickly between some of the areas giving you a little more time to explore. The drivers tell bad jokes but are generally quite knowledgeable and it is the one place you will learn a lot about the zoo. The zoo also now travels through a few exhibits where the animals roam free. It is very exciting for the kids and often you need to wait a little while for a horse or something that resembles a bison to move out of the way of the vehicle.

There are a few important things to note about the Zoomobile. The first being that you cannot bring a wagon on it. I am pretty sure you can leave your wagon unattended at the stations but unless you are getting on and off at the same station, you will eventually need to go get it. When riding the Zoomobile alone with my two, I simply sit in the middle of them and have never had a problem. I was able to ride solo even with a toddler and infant. The zoo staff will wait for you and help you with anything you need.

An important warning about the Toronto Zoo is visiting the Canadian Domain. I know it sounds like fun to see all these Canadian animals but the domain is actually at the bottom of a very steep hill. It is very hard to climb the hill pushing anything or carrying your complaining children. Don't say I didn't warn you.

This blog wouldn't be complete without me telling you about the best kept zoo secret- Bush Camp. Bush Camp is an incredible chance to spend the night camping out at the zoo. We were able to participate in Bush Camp last summer and we all remember it fondly. The Bush Camp staff made it an incredible adventure even though it was raining heavily and we really get an inside look at the zoo. We also get to spend a night camping out as a family and if as light sleepers, we were able to hear some of the animals who are active at night like the lions. Also all food is provided so it is much easier than camping and there is a huge bonfire at night with stories and crafts to keep your kids entertained. This was a wonderful experience for us and one we will surely do again.

Here are some tips I have accumulated from visiting the zoo that hopefully will be helpful:

1. Parking: Zoo parking is $10. It is in the middle of nowhere so you essentially need to park. There are free parking lots that you can sometimes enter by turning right at the entrance. Look for overflow parking signs. 
2. Overflow parking: The zoo can get busy and sometimes you will be directed into overflow parking. If you can't walk that far and are alone with young children, I recommend talking to the parking guy. Also most traffic comes into the zoo from the same way (off the highway) and follows all the zoo signs up one hill to the entrance. If you are following signs to the main entrance and it is backed up, you can usually drive to the drop off area and turn around. Now head back to the entrance and most of the time, you will find this back way isn't blocked off and you will be welcomed into the closer parking. There simply is so little traffic coming from this way, that this tip usually works. 
3. Splash Pad: The splash pad is incredible. It is huge and to this day I can't find a single way anyone could drown in it. There are big change rooms and lots of lockers. The people at the gate only count numbers and unlike Chucky Cheese, they won't be able to stop your children from leaving without you. When we attend and I am outnumbered, I make a simple rule that both my kids must stay together and provide a meet-up spot. I generally follow them around but on most days its not busy and they can easily be seen. 
4. Food and drink: The food at the zoo is terrible. There is very little about it that it appetizing and if you must eat and don't want pizza, I would suggest the Peacock Cafe at the front entrance. That being said, the zoo will let you bring in any food you want to the zoo as well as beverages and coolers. This will save you a lot of money. We bring bottled water and sandwiches and then usually buy a treat like a Beavertail or ice cream. If you haven't had one, you must try a Beavertail. They are a Canadian delicacy. 
5. Zoo volunteers and zoo keepers: The zoo volunteers and zoo keepers are incredibly friendly and will answer any animal questions. The zoo has had an ongoing battle with sending away their elephants and the zoo staff will openly talk about it and discuss where the process is. The zoo seems to have a very open door policy and if you are uncomfortable about something or want to know more, they would love to hear from you. 
6. Rouge Valley: The zoo is in the middle of the Rouge Valley which is a beautiful stretch of parkland in Toronto. You will often see animals within the zoo that come from the valley. Keep an eye out for wild deer, raccoons, and groundhogs. 

I hope this blog post inspires some of my readers to visit this incredible zoo. It really is a wonderful place whether you visit in the crowds of summer or the complete dead of winter. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment! 

Canada's Wonderland Waterpark

    Recently the kids and I ventured back to Canada's Wonderland recently on what can only be described as the hottest day to ever exist ever. Ever.

    I was slightly hesitant to head to Splashworks but frankly I needed a splashpad/pool situation that I could also get wet in. 

    So we were off. It was remarkably easy to get to the waterpark from the main entrance but I would suggest depending on your child's age that you bring a wagon or stroller. By the time we were done swimming my kids were slightly exhausted. I had opted to rent a stroller which cost me approximately $20 but did make the day a lot easier. Stroller rentals are to the left by the blue lockers at the entrance to the park. 

    When you enter Splashworks there is a kids area near the lockers that features a small pool and 5 small slides. We spent quite a bit of time there. We made the mistake of not venturing beyond this spot for quite a while and in the end discovered an entire other section for smaller kids behind it that we didn't have time to explore. This section had its own splashpad and bigger slides. 

     A few notes on doing this solo with kids. First don't venture into the lazy river unless one of your children can safely fit into the tube. My five year old didn't exactly fit and without help we would not have made it through the river. Also you need to be on tubes the whole time so make sure your kids aren't too young as its hard to get out of the river if they are unhappy. The same warning applies to the large wave pool. It is essentially packed with people and although your kids must wear life jackets, I would definitely work on a buddy system and not venture in outnumbered. 

    The good news is there is still a lot your kids can do including an incredibly fun water play place with a giant tilting bucket and lots of tubes and water guns attached to it that they can independently operate. 

    My final note was that I watched the life guarding carefully in the kids section and was very impressed which made the situation much less stressful. All in all we had a great day and I would return with my two kids any day and feel that even outnumbered we would have a great time. 

Extra Day in New York! Sugar and Plumm and Bowlmor Lanes

Since it is somehow still winter in Toronto, we ended up slightly stranded in New York and got to stay an extra day. I decided to leave the Hilton Midtown and try out a different hotel. Every once in a while, I get adventurous and decide to use Priceline.com. I bought a Priceline "PriceBreaker" which is essentially a deal where the price is lower than the regular room rate but they do not disclose the hotel name until after purchase. I purchased a room that was $129 a night in a 4-star hotel on the upper West side but with additional fees actually came to $161.

The hotel was called On The Ave. We arrived at the hotel early in the morning to find that the entire hotel was under renovations that were not disclosed on the Priceline website. The main lobby essentially didn't exist but we found a temporary desk and were given a room key. We headed upstairs and found a very nice but small room that unfortunately had just been painted and within minutes I knew we could not spend the night in it.

We headed down to the lobby and although Priceline has a strict no refund policy, the hotel kindly refunded our room due to the construction and the fact that I was there with a child. I also found out that the current room rate at the hotel was reduced to $119 with no fees during construction and the hotel apologised for the discrepancy in price as did Priceline. In the end, I actually thought it was a very nice hotel with great staff and once the construction is done it might be a great option for an affordable hotel in NYC.

We decided to move to the W Hotel Times Square. I made this decision for a few reasons but mostly because I knew the hotel and as a Starwood member would at least earn points. We arrived, and although it was only 11:00 am, the hotel lobby looked like a nightclub. Will loved the atmosphere and within minutes was dancing on a banquet as I checked into the room. The W is an easy place to stay right in Times Square but I wouldn't have wanted to stay for more than a night due to the fact that even blackout curtains cannot block out the lights of Times Square. The staff was incredibly polite to Will and the hotel, although not tailored to kids, offers a decent kids menu for in-room dining. We definitely had fun staying there and felt comfortable and welcome.

Once we had settled the hotel issue, we were off to lunch. Will and I met a friend at Sugar and Plumm, an incredibly cute restaurant and bakery on the upper west side near Central Park. The restaurant is about a $10 cab ride from Times Square and is worth the trip. The neighbourhood is quite nice to walk around and kids will love the bakery, sweet shoppe and ice cream concoctions.

Will began lunch with The Candy Shop milkshake which contained mainly vanilla ice cream, sprinkles and candy. The children's menu offered a great mac and cheese and the adult food we ordered was actually quite good. I would recommend deciding if you want to go for lunch or simply dessert because once we were done lunch we were too full to indulge in the incredible dessert menu. I would love to return just to try the specialty ice cream sundaes we simply didn't have room for.

After lunch, we parted ways with our friend and spend the afternoon in Times Square. We actually found that Times Square during the day is much more kid-friendly than after 5:00 pm and in the early afternoon we were able to easily walk around without too much concern. After 5:00 pm it became harder for Will to not get run over by the sheer number of people and with two children this would have been an absolute nightmare to handle alone.

Will has wanted to try out bowling for the last year of his life and I decided there was no better time than now. I had read about Bowlmor Lanes in articles detailing activities for kids in Times Square and we arrived just as it was opening at 4:00 pm. A very nice girl helped us find shoes and a lane but told us we would need to be done by 5:30 pm because the lanes were all booked for parties.

Truth be told, I was more than a little worried to be bowling 10 pin with a 4 year old but the staff quickly came to my rescue and programmed our lane so that when Will bowled a light up bumper popped up from the lane to stop the ball from going in the gutter. They also brought a ramp that was easily positioned so Will could simply roll the ball down the ramp. He tried bowling with and without the ramp and found it easier to bowl and more fun to position the ramp to aim then when he was simply throwing the ball down the lane. 

We had a lot of fun bowling but I want to caution parents that it is incredibly expensive. We bowled for an hour and the cost of bowling and shoes was $75. I almost fell over when presented the bill. Bowling is charged by the game at $12 per person no matter what age you are. Since Will and I were alone and not particularly worried about skill, we bowled quite quickly and got in three games. The price was only disclosed when the bill was presented and I was under the impression it would be by the hour and not the game. If you were bowling with a few kids, you could really rack up a costly bill in a very little amount of time.

The extra day in New York turned out to be a lot of fun and after bowling we headed over to Toys R Us for a ride on the Ferris Wheel. Then it was back to the W for room service and our last night of hanging out just me and Will.

I learned a lot about traveling with a kid in NYC this week and especially learned how much easier it is to travel with one child instead of two. Most of all, I confirmed that my four year old is an incredible kid who easily took New York by storm.

I cannot wait to report on our next trip and thank everyone who followed along on our New York City adventure. In the meantime, I am going to profile some great things to do in and around Toronto solo with your kids.

NYC Kids Tour and the Gazillion Bubble Show

Today was by far our busiest day in New York. Last week I found NYC Kids Tours and had booked a tour for this morning. The tour began at 10:00 am at Bryant Park. Unfortunately, our tour guide arrived 20 minutes later. I did get a text from him explaining he would be late and Will and I explored Bryant Park on our own.

In Bryant Park, there is an adorable carousel and a section with kids tables and a small selection of children's books. The park is big enough for kids to really run around in and on your own it would still be quite manageable with more than one child. I suspect, due to the number of sandwich shops that are in the park, it might be best to avoid the park during lunch hour on weekdays.

Once the tour guide (David) arrived, he introduced himself to Will and the two made quick friends. He gave Will a workbook created by the tour company as well as a disposable camera for him to take photos of the tour. The book was geared to kids a little older than Will (the website actually recommends the tour for kids older than 6) but the camera was a hit. Will immediately began to take pictures and was excited to begin.

David suggested we start the tour with a walk through Times Square. I was a little hesitant due to our experience last night but David assured me we would be fine. He pointed out the crystal New Year's Eve Ball which is apparently there all year as well as some other interesting facts about Times Square. The one thing that I really appreciated while we were in Times Square is how protective he was of Will. He kept the "children's characters", who try to entice your children into taking pictures for money, at bay and was quite careful with traffic etc. He asked me quietly if I would like to take Will to certain stores which I also appreciated instead of just yelling "lets hit the toy store". After a quick tour of Toys R Us, we headed to the car portion of the tour.

The car that arrived to pick us up was a nice Lincoln town car with a very nice and polite driver. It was also very clean. We hopped in the car and headed to Central Park. David was able to interest Will in some of the history of the statues and Columbus Circle and his Central Park scavenger hunt was a hit. It was nice to return to the park and learn a little about what we were seeing yesterday without it being an overwhelming adult focused tour. We climbed to the top of a big rock to see the city which Will loved and had some fun just playing in the park. One unfortunate part was that David made a big deal of getting to the top of the rock so we could write our names on it in chalk but when we arrived at the top he realised he had forgotten the chalk. Will got over it quite quickly due to David's idea to have a race down the trail that led off the rock.

Once we were done our scavenger hunt, we walked over to FAO Schwarz. Since I knew this was a stop on the tour, I had avoided it the day before so Will didn't see it. David set up a challenge for Will to find the tallest thing in the store and as we entered the store gave him a measuring tape. As soon as we walked in the two of them were off measuring giraffes and Lego men all over the store. 

Once we had measured quite a few tall things, David led Will over to the giant piano. Will had a blast running up and down the keys and playing with some other kids. 

To be honest, we probably could have stayed all day but as they say the tour must go on (okay they don't). Our next stop was a quick car ride over to Dylan's Candy Bar. Will had a lot of fun with David running around the candy store but if I am being honest, this stop is completely unnecessary. The candy selection in FAO Schwarz is better laid out and about the same size as Dylan's Candy Bar with a more interactive and kid friendly staff but Will liked it. 

Now the real question: Is this tour worth it? In my opinion, probably not. The tour costs $349. It was fun but it wasn't much different than the things you would do in NYC anyways with children. Besides the Central Park scavenger hunt there wasn't a lot to do except shop. It was helpful to have a car but because the car service essentially took you from Times Square to Central Park (under $10 in a cab) and then from Central Park to Dylan's Candy Bar (again a minimum cost), it doesn't justify the cost of the tour. We were lucky enough to be dropped off at our next destination but I think that had to do with the amount of extra time we had from not taking a tour of Bryant Park. 

The tour company also offers a much cheaper tour of Greenwich village which costs $59 per child and $49 per adult that doesn't involve a car and is probably a better value. Also I think it would be a better tour due to the fact that there would be other children there. I think it would have been more fun with a few other kids instead of just us. All in all, we had a wonderful time with David and Will thought the tour was excellent. Personally, I would choose a tour next time less based on commercial locations and more based on New York city landmarks and parks. 

After our tour, we were off to the Gazillion Bubble Show. The show is created by bubble artist Fan Yang and every show is performed by one member of his immediate family. Today's show featured Melody Yang. Melody is an energetic and beautiful 21-year old so Will was smitten from the start. 

The show begins with a short video about the family as well as the products offered by Gazillion bubbles (which in my learned opinion make the best bubbles on the market). Once the video was done, there wasn't a mention of the company again. There are bubbles for sale and interesting bubble blowing merchandise but the sales staff are not pushy and the display is not overwhelmingly attractive to kids which was nice. 

The show is a little over an hour long and it is mind-blowing. Will loved every minute of the show and so did I. It was fascinating to watch what Melody could do with bubbles and the show was incredibly entertaining for kids and adults. There are certain points in the show where the theatre is filled with bubbles that even the grumpiest of people would smile through. 

It was fascinating to watch the children in the theatre who were mesmerised by what was happening before them. We purchased "premium seats" which meant we were in the first row. The additional cost for these seats is minimal and if you can get them, I highly recommend it. Will was able to reach up and pop bubbles that were full of fog and watch the fog evaporate before him. Be warned- you will at some point the show be covered in bubble solution no matter where you sit. 

The Gazillion bubble show truly was an incredible thing to do with a kid and you could easily go with more than one child on your own. The bubbles are almost hypnotising and there were no children running around the theatre or crying during the show. 

With premium tickets you also receive 10% off any merchandise and 50% off a photo of you in a bubble. Will was hesitant to be put in a bubble before the show but after the show begged to take a photo. For $10 we now have a really great photo of the two of us in a bubble together. 

I would have posted any photos I had of this show but like any live performance, they did not allow photography or video. I highly recommend going to the website to see the videos they have posted of the performance and if you are in New York City with children I wholeheartedly recommend taking them to the show. 

We were exhausted after today's adventures and I wanted to find somewhere quick and easy for dinner but it also had to have adult food and no video games. We settled on the Rock Center Cafe in the basement of Rockefeller Centre. The restaurant has a decent kids menu as well as a nice menu for adults. There were quite a few business men and women having after work drinks but we were welcomed into the restaurant in our jeans. Dinner was actually quite good in the end and it is a good find when you are in New York and need to get away from the tourism with a child. 

Tomorrow we head home but not before a scheduled stop at Sugar and Plumm for a sweet farewell lunch. 

Thanks for the great day NYC!

New York City- Day 2 or My Legs Are Tired

We woke up to a beautiful morning in New York City and by 9:00 am, we were out the door and on our way to the Museum of Natural History. The only issue...it opens at 10:00 am. When we arrived at the steps we had at least 40 minutes to wait and Central Park was beckoning from across the street.

Will decided that he just wanted to play outside. His main argument was that we have dinosaurs in Toronto but it "is never warm and sunny" and so with that we ran across the street to explore the park.

This is where I learned an important lesson. It think with Will, because he is more of an actual kid than Charlie, I sometimes forget how hard a lot of walking must be on him. I walk with the kids a fair amount when we are in Toronto but today we got lost in the excitement of New York and may have hit the pavement a little too hard. After spending an hour climbing up and down rocks, looking for turtles and checking out squirrels and birds, we were both a little tired and it was only 11:00 am.

Now we had a problem. I struggled with whether we should just keep walking or exit the park and find a taxi to take us to the east side of the park to hit the zoo. In the end, we made the decision to take a bike taxi through the park. This was pretty exciting for Will and an interesting way to see the park but within 10 minutes of getting on the bike, we drove by a park that was far too enticing to miss out on. The bike taxi man was not pleased to hear we were ending our trip and in the end charged me $25 for the ride. If you read the following post on Tripadvisor, people have very mixed reviews on this service and the cost but it was an exciting thing for Will to do and it gave our legs a rest.

The playground we found was Heckscher Playground which is the oldest and largest playground in all of Central Park. Will had a great time in the castle structures and the slides are a great height for kids older than 3. There is also a toddler section of the park which was packed with preschoolers this morning. The only thing I would caution against is that during the week, or at least today, a school was using the playground for gym class and Will was not allowed to join in on the fun which to him was a little confusing. We ended up heading to the Central Park Zoo at this point.

The Central Park Zoo is a quick jaunt from the playground but we arrived a little more exhausted than I had hoped. Will at this point kept telling me his legs were tired and I knew we needed a plan. Luckily the zoo has a cafe and we were able to sit down for lunch. We ordered a cheese pizza for $8 which was enough pizza for the two of us and the service at the cafe was quite quick. Not the best food we have had on this trip but certainly not the worst zoo food I have tasted (I'm looking at you Toronto Zoo).

After lunch, it was finally time to hit the zoo. Being from a city with a fairly large zoo, Will and I found this zoo...well...a little depressing. The animals are in quite small enclosures and big animals like the polar bear and the snow leopard appear to be alone in their enclosures. We didn't inquire as to weather the animals were alone but from appearances they did not look terribly happy.

The Central Park Zoo does have some really attractive features. The first is the Delacorte Music Clock which is a whimsical clock featuring animals playing musical instruments. The clock actually plays 44 different songs that change with the seasons. Today we heard it play Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head. Will loved the clock and many of the children were enchanted by it.

Another great feature of the Central Park Zoo is the Tisch Children's Zoo which is a wonderful little petting zoo. It is important to note that since the children's zoo is not in the main zoo but down a pathway, they require you to show your zoo tickets to enter. We were unaware of this and had a very difficult time getting in since I had misplaced our tickets. In the end, I was lucky to find the receipt from the ticket purchase and the gate attendant begrudgingly let us in. Once we entered the children's zoo, Will and I fell in love with it. The animals are mostly goats, pigs and a cow but there are fun little play areas and an opportunity to feed and touch the animals. We stayed in the children's zoo for almost twice of the amount of time we were in the main zoo and when we return to New York City I will probably just take the kids to this section and to see the clock.

By mid-afternoon, we were both exhausted so we hopped in a taxi cab and returned to the hotel for rest time. We ventured out again later in the afternoon and headed to Times Square. Personally, I hate Times Square but I felt it wouldn't be fair to take Will to New York without letting him see it. Luckily he and I share the same taste in travel sights. Very quickly Will asked if we could leave  so we ducked into a Dave and Busters for a quick dinner and some games. Dinner left a lot to be desired but in the end Will and I had a really good time running around playing the games. Will traded in our tickets for a mini basketball and we were on our way back to the hotel.

When I began to look for hotels, I almost booked one in Times Square thinking Will would love it. I think it depends on the age of your children but even in a one on one parent to kid situation walking in Times Square with a four year old was stressful. Will was getting bumped and actually fell once and in the end I wasn't terribly comfortable being there with him. A few children's characters tried to entice him to take a photograph with them but he wasn't interested. He also was quite concerned that Spider-Man was asking for money.  The location of our hotel has proven to be quite ideal with kids as it is a quick walk to Central Park, Rockefeller Center, Bryant Park and Times Square without being caught in the madness of Times Square.

Will are I are very excited for tomorrow as we have a NYC Kids Tour planned as well as tickets to the Gazillion Bubble Show.

Goodnight NYC!

New York City- Nintendo World and Blue Smoke

We arrived in NYC this morning to perfect weather. As always, our flight on Porter Airlines was on time and easy. Will was treated wonderfully in the airport and on the flight. The only issue we encountered was not being able to move to an earlier flight. This is due to the fact that when booking a Porter Escapes vacation package you are given the lowest fare category cost. Truth be told, even if we had booked the hotel separately, we would have chosen the lowest fare.

Once we arrived at Newark Airport we decided to take the train to NYC. This for Will was an adventure but quite tiring. The trains are old to say the least and not very passenger friendly but it is a safe way to get from point A to B without a car seat or booster. Once we arrived at Penn Station, we headed to our hotel.

We are staying at the Hilton New York which is located in Midtown. The only thing about this hotel that resembles a Hilton is the logo on the outside. The rooms are clean and somewhat modern but quite small and the hotel amenities are what you expect of a less expensive chain. The wi-fi is actually quite good and the lower priced option works really well. In the end, the location is great but the staff and accommodations aren't much to write about.

The first thing Will wanted to do in NYC was eat pizza and while wandering around Rockefeller Center we found Harry's Italian in the basement pathway. There is no seating in this location but plenty of chairs nearby in the food court. As I could have guessed from the line up of local employees snaking through the restaurant, this pizza was really good. I was worried it would be too different from the normal chain pizzas for Will but he also loved it. Our only regret was not ordering extra slices. Harry's has three locations including a full restaurant which I'm sure would please almost any pizza loving kid.

After our quick lunch, we were off to Will's big surprise. As a Nintendo loving kid myself, I decided not to tell him about the existence of the Nintendo World Store and to just take him there. As we rounded the corner and he saw the sign, it took a few seconds for him to realize that we had found the mecca of Mario loving kids everywhere. After that he burst through the doors and smiled like a kid on Christmas morning. The Nintendo store is interesting as an adult. It is essentially the same model as the Apple stores but featuring Nintendo games and merchandise. At first we ran around the store trying all the different consoles but then Will settled on a Nintendo DS and was able to try numerous games.

We actually visited the Nintendo store twice today, once in the early afternoon and then again after dinner. If we had only visited once, my review would have been somewhat different. First, the store was practically empty the entire time. On our first visit, the only time the staff spoke to us was to tell me I wasn't allowed to sit on the floor. We had some questions about Wii U games but no one would give us the time of day. Will still had a lot of fun but if you are looking to purchase anything, the staffing could be an issue. Still, we returned after dinner to do a little more exploring. This time the store was a little busier and the staff was incredible. From what I could tell, it was mostly a different staff from this afternoon besides two people and they were far more engaging. One staff member was helping kids try out new games while another one had a great talk with me about how to actually work our Wii U. If you have a Nintendo loving kid or if you were one yourself, this store is not to be missed. If you only know Mario and aren't that interested in the tiny plumber, this might not be a necessary stop for you.

If you are a self-proclaimed Nintendo geeks like myself make sure to check out the museum on the second floor which is a tiny section devoted to consoles and games Nintendo has made. I had a blast showing Will the original Nintendo and explaining why Duck Hunt was actually a really fun game. He was interested to see the different models and it gave him a better appreciation of the history of Nintendo.

One final note about the Nintendo store is that there is no pressure to buy and no forced time limit for how long you stay. We spent at least an hour there both times and not once did someone pressure us to buy anything or make us feel uncomfortable. This was a very appreciated touch. 

After all that excitement, I wanted to find a place we could sit down and enjoy dinner together. Particularly, I wanted to ENJOY dinner. Google came to the rescue with a great suggestion that appeared in almost every recent article about where to eat with kids in New York. Blue Smoke is a BBQ joint and jazz bar located at Park Avenue and Lexington. We arrived early for our reservation but the place was empty so we were seated right away. Within about ten minutes the restaurant began to fill up with local families, singles and after work drinkers. I was quite surprised by the eclectic mix but realized quite quickly how well it was working for the establishment. The kids in this restaurant are treated like royalty. Instead of boring crayons kids are given Wikki Stix with an idea sheet and a fun pig silhouette to make with the stix. Will was incredibly amused from the start.

Once we had settled in and ordered someone from the kitchen brought Will a raw cookie shaped like a pig and some sprinkles to decorate it with. The cookie was presented to him in a to-go bag on the way out of the restaurant which was an incredibly nice touch.

So now you are wondering, how is the food? It is fantastic. The food at Blue Smoke consists mostly of a BBQ menu and you can smell it as soon as you walk in the door. Two great things for parents are that the menu denotes everything that is nut free and the kids menu has normal kid choices as well as smaller portions of the grown-up food such as ribs and the daily vegetable offering. Seeing we had walked all around NYC today, Will and I went for the caloric splurge with him ordering a classic mac'n'cheese and me getting a pulled pork sandwich.

The kids menu included a choice of dessert but Will told the server that he simply couldn't eat anymore which was pretty awesome for a kid who rarely finishes a meal.

The only real complaint I could come up with about Blue Smoke was that our meal arrived quite quickly. On most days, I would have really appreciate this but today we could have used some extra time to sit quietly and sip our ice tea. That being said once we finished our meal, Will wanted to stay and continue to play with the Wikki Stix so we sat for at least another 25 minutes without anyone bothering us to leave even though the restaurant at this point was quite full.

I really can't say enough good things about Blue Smoke. You can eat there alone with your child or children and the staff is so friendly, welcoming and helpful, that it is actually an enjoyable experience. The clientele was incredibly diverse with many young singles and after work meetups and no one shot Will a look when he laughed too loud or demonstrated his best downward dog for one of the servers. The place was filled with kids ranging from toddlers to teenagers and none of them were complaining about the awesome jazz being played through the speakers or the lack of a playplace. I wouldn't be surprised if we were back later this week.

Stay tuned tomorrow for another exciting installment of our adventures in New York.