Ellie & I made a short visit to the White House Visitor’s Centre – Grace had quite enough “education” the day before so we left her to sleep in and pack. Since the White House is so hard to get into (3-6 month security check plus a newborn), they have set this up in the the Dept. of Commerce building. They provide lots of history, artefacts, etc. as a compromise to a real visit.
Afterwards, we boarded an Amtrak train to New York – quite comfy – like a flight but with more room, wifi, and food shop.
2.5 hours later the NY skyline came into view, and the excitement stated to build.
In 2003 I spent 3 months in Philadelphia (1 hour train ride away) but never made the trip to New York myself. Ever since I’ve been kicking myself, and Ellie has never let me forget it. Well, the wrong has been righted.
<private joke>It’s a bit like Brian’s trip to Paris 30 years ago without scaling the Eiffel Tower. Have you been yet Brian? Just in case you’ve forgotten what it was like, here’s a picture for you:
</private joke>
OK, so we arrive on holidays to perhaps the most vibrant city in the world, in a hotel that’s only a 5 minute walk from Broadway and Times Square and what do we do? Landry…. how sad is that! Very, but necessary.
Once we were clean, then we went for our first walk… straight to the Times Square: 
This trip has been meticulously planned around New York, specifically the attendance of every musical theatre performance that Ellie & Grace can see in 7 days. That would be 6 (cos Monday is a day off apparently).
Our first was “If/Then” tonight at the Richard Rogers Theatre, starring Idina Menzel (of Wicked fame)… it was fantastic.