T-Rex Terror!
We woke up early on Sunday to check our email. We were just looking for emergencies and quickly turned the laptops off and got the boys dressed for another full day of fun. Scott arrived and the boys were happy their buddy was going to spend the day with us again! And, he came bearing gifts!! He had a toy RV and a toy car for the boys. Scott had arranged for brunch at The Popover Cafe. We were meeting BookLocker authors Harry Husted and Gerry Hoylie there. We arrived and after a round of introductions and hugs, we sat down for a delicious breakfast. The popovers were huge and quite unusual looking.
The strawberry butter they came with them was delicious! I had a crab and asparagus omelette. I was enjoying the conversation too much to pay attention to what everyone else ate. The restaurant was pretty crowded and loud and Mason started to get fussy, so we finished up quickly.
We stopped at the hotel and Harry, Gerry, Mason, Max and I sat in the lobby while Richard and Scott took our luggage to Scott’s condo. We would return later to pick it up.
We then all walked to the American Museum of Natural History. Max was enthralled by the dinosaur bones and accompanying exhibits!
Even Mason, who was once again being cuddled by Scott, was pointing and babbling about all the cool things he was seeing for the first time.
If I had to admit one complaint about that museum, I’d have to mention that there isn’t enough written information with the exhibits. For example, I was looking at an Indian display and there was this really long thing that looked like identical bones attached with something (I don’t know what) and was about 4 feet long. I really wanted to know what it was and what it was used for. I read the plaque underneath the display and none of the items in the display were named or described. What’s the point of putting these objects on display if you’re not going to educate visitors about them? Anyway, that was my beef. And, it wasn’t just that display. The problem was noticeable throughout the museum. That place needs to hire some writers! 
After a short stop at the bathroom for a diaper change (for Mason, not for the rest of us), it was time to make our way to Toys R Us in Times Square. Gerry had to leave so we gave her hugs before jumping in the cab…once again hailed by Scott, much to Max’s delight.
The toy store was incredible! It has a ferris wheel, is about four stories high…
…and has a huge, animatronic T-Rex…which terrified Max. We couldn’t leave the floor that housed the dinosaur fast enough! For Max’s mental health, we all quickly made our way downstairs, where the car and truck section was. We were looking for a city bus for Mason as he had become quite fond of them during our stay, pointing and trying to say “bus.” (He did say car for the first time this weekend!) Max had already picked out a Star Wars toy and we then let him also have a small car track. They didn’t have any city buses (Imagine that!) but Mason got very excited when he saw some VW Bug cars. He chose a maroon one and we then had to leave as the afternoon was slipping away from us and we had a train to catch.
We bid Harry a farewell outside of the toy store. We had to go to Scott’s apartment, where we had stored our luggage for the day. I finally got to see where Scott sits each day when he’s writing those English and foreign-language articles for those glossy, glamorous magazines that are published all over the world. I thumbed through a couple of the beautiful magazines that contained his clips and I was impressed! Max and Mason were instantly relaxed in Scott’s condo and were running around, laughing and playing. Mason, who always manages to find the “no no” in every room, got into trouble when he ran his new VW Bug over Scott’s keyboard. (He broke my laptop keyboard doing the same thing not long ago!)
We had a few minutes to rest so Scott showed us the rest of his building, which has marble floors, a weight room, and indoor pool, a children’s play room (when we left that room, Mason bawled), and an incredible top-floor view! It was very, very nice. We realized we had time to grab a quick bite, which was good because we didn’t want the boys to get hungry on the train later. While we walked to the cafe, we passed the shop where the bookstore in the movie “You’ve Got Mail” was located. That was pretty neat! It’s actually an antique store.
The cafe had the biggest menu I’ve ever seen! It even had an index!! Admittedly, we didn’t have time to read the whole thing and I ordered a guacamole burger. Scott had lasagna. We’d told Max the night before, while eating Dim Sum, that rice makes you grow “big and strong.” So, Max ordered…a large bowl of rice. I told him he needed the fruit salad, too, and he also scavenged my french fries later. Richard ordered a gyro. Mason made a huge mess with his crackers, which I later apologized to the restaurant owner for. He was very kind and said no problem.
We went back to Scott’s, gathered our suitcases, and started getting melancholy because we knew we were about to depart and that we wouldn’t see Scott again for another few months. We went downstairs and the doorman snapped our picture while the other doorman hailed our cab. We all hugged Scott, waved a misty-eyed goodbye as the cab pulled away from the curb, and then hung on for our lives for the ride to Penn Station.
We only had to wait for 45 minutes before our train was ready for boarding. We didn’t hear an announcement, but noticed people running toward one of the platforms. We figured that was it, and that it was going to be a full train! We squeezed in with the crowd and were actually one of the first people on the train.
So, we got to sit together. The conductor got on the speaker and said every seat would be full so we were lucky. A nice old lady (who I later found out was 70) sat in front of me and a teenager was sitting next to her. He was talking loudly on his phone and was using profanity. I was a bit offended but I couldn’t imagine how uptight that poor lady must have felt. After a few minutes, she leaned over to the teenager and loudly said, “Tell your friend there’s an old lady sitting next to you.”
The teen instantly realized what he’d been doing and, to his credit, instead of being a jerk, he apologized profusely, over and over again. He patted his arm and said it was okay. Later, when she switched seats to be closer to her daughter, he apologized once again. People do make mistakes and apologies work so much better than being defensive and rude. I hope Max learned something from eavesdropping on that exchange.
The train ride lasted a little over two hours. Mason slept most of the way and we were off the train, in the car, and then back at the campground before 11:00 p.m. We’d planned to head back to Maine the following morning, but Doug had hinted that we should stay one extra day so we could see them again. The nice thing about working for yourself and traveling by RV is that you do have that flexibility!