Rousing reception (Ch 7)
As so many clever readers guessed, Chapter 7 finds our FairyBlogTale Family in Noo Yawk, Noo Yawk. Shall we see what antics and trouble they get into as night falls in the Big Apple? Alrighty then…
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The enormous, angry, rap-lovin’ shuttle bus driver to whom our Family (and a number of other unsuspecting souls from other corners of the globe) had entrusted their short-term future spoke not a word to his passengers. Luckily the Prince and Princess were so very worn out by the EXTREMELY early start and dream-like excitement of the day that they both fell asleep on random strangers’ shoulders two minutes into the journey. The strangers proved to be Very Nice People and helped their tiny slumbering co-passengers be comfortable (and let them drool on them without complaint).
The Parents tried to distract themselves from the whole ‘Travelling Very Fast on the Wrong Side of the Road with an Angry Man behind the Wheel’ thing by finding familiar NYC landmarks. This was quite a challenge through the screeching traffic as they cornered on two wheels (impressive in a suicidal kind of way in a big blue van). Unfortunately any chance of recognising the Empire State Building were lost as they clung to door handles as their driver veered sharply around obstacles (taxis, garbage, light posts and even the odd cop car) until the finally screeched to a halt outside a place that looked like this…
And as they peeled the Prince and the Princess from the damp shoulders of their new neighbourly friends, and gathered their cherry-red luggage from the scary driver…
they gazed in wonder about them…
And suddenly they were transported from their nightmare airport shuttle ride into a place of neon-powered magic.
And horse-drawn carriages. With big grey steeds being petted by people who declared they had Never Touched a Horse in their Lives.
Our family were almost as gobsmacked by this revelation as they were mesmerised by the neon lights.
They were rescued from their open-mouthed stare-fest by a porter who whisked them into their hotel. Dear Reader, please do not fret, you will get to see their hotel a little later on. And it will be worth the wait. But something more pressing needed to be done first. You see, all that dreamy air-travelling and terrifying ground-transport and napping on strangers’ shoulders had given them all quite the appetite…
And according to the porter and the doorman and the reception-desk guy at their awesome hotel (the Mother is not particularly good with all the titles for hotel staff – of which there seem to be WAY more in Yankee Land than in Oz)…
THIS place was THE place to go for travelling families with Princes and Princesses in tow:
Have you heard of it? It was amazing. In a VERY American and VERY New York kinda way.
It was billed as the ‘best diner in the country’ and the ‘home to the future stars of stage and screen’ – this corner eatery promised so much … but could our Family HANDLE the New York muchness? Let’s see…
It started off like this:
Please don’t be concerned about the Prince’s expression in this photo. Part of him was still happily asleep on the shoulder of a Swedish traveller. He was looking at something he had never seen before…
A singing waiter. Who looked a LOT like Larry Emdur (that’s one for the Aussie readers out there) who was belting out some Frank Sinatra and some Elvis as hordes of customers devoured meals like this:
Burgers, baby.
With extremely groovy chips (okay, FRIES – the Family could not quite believe that the locals didn’t understand plain ENGLISH when ordering fried potatoes).
Of course, the Princess discovered there was spaghetti on the menu.
The dark look might have something to do with the second fork mysteriously stealing pasta from her plate mid-photo-shoot! ( No-one gets between the Princess and her spaghetti.)
But the highlight of the meal was definitely this chick:
Buttercup the waitress. From Texas.
She chatted to and charmed and then sang for our Family. They were asked to request a song and, in the heat of the moment (also known as ‘brain freeze’), the Mother said:
Do you like the Dixie Chicks?
And Buttercup said: YES. I know one song.
And so she sang …
To the Father.
Loudly.
As if he was Earl.
(For those who don’t know the song, check here. You can see why he might have been a tad uncomfortable!)
The Mother giggled and the Prince and Princess clapped along in delight. (Not fully ‘getting’ the lyrics of course).
Then Buttercup leapt onto the back of some booths to make sure EVERYONE got into some Dixie Chicks. There was a lot of clapping. And one slightly red face. Twas marvellous.
Then our Family, replete, weary and agog with new experiences, stumbled out into the brisk New York night and back across the road to this place…
The Renaissance Hotel.* One block from Times Square.
Now the Mother decided NOT to review hotels (Pioneer Woman style) during their trip because, well, she just wasn’t organised enough to take photos before the chaos of her Family took over. But this place…
This place would live long in their recollections of this part of the world.
Not just for it’s amazing location and fabulous fittings and outrageously comfortable beds…
But also because the staff were unbelievably helpful...
And while their budget groaned a little MORE than anticipated (and they stayed in a few very basic hotels in other locations to accomodate THIS place)… the extra bed space (where the whole Family didn’t share one room for a couple of nights!)…
…not to mention the extreme sleepability of their lodgings, made it more than WORTHWHILE.
Even IF they slept until 11am the next day.
Oops.
But that is another story, for another Chapter.
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*The Renaissance Hotel and Ellen’s Stardust Diner do not know who Bush Babe is, and no compensation has been paid for these mentions. They just honest-to-goodness rocked.
15 Comments
debby
Earl? Oh my gosh. I would have been rolling on the floor.
debby´s last blog post ..Not again
Theresa in Alberta
Hello room service!!! What a fab-u-lous trip!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Remember the movie GREASE with John Travolta and Olivia Newton John? Pretend I am singing “Tell me more, Tell me more” 😉
Bush Babe
Dash says: i like your avatar.
Leenie
Wow! Everybody’s been to NYC but me. What a grand tour! I could almost feel the buzz of The Big Apple! The lights and the life that place has. So glad you’ve got photos and story to document a trip of a lifetime. And so glad you are taking us along. Loving it. Love the photos of the Prince and Princess and “Earl” LOL!
Leenie´s last blog post ..WHERE IT IS and a GIFT
Mikey
I love that the waitress sang EARL. That’s priceless 🙂 New York is something else. That HOTEL is something else. I need that bed. Badly.
What a great vacation. So awesome for all of you!
Mikey´s last blog post ..Practice makes perfect
Colin (HB)
“rap-lovin’ shuttle bus driver”!!!!!!
Lucky you BB, next time, try a taxi driver. The rudest of the rude. You put your bags in the boot (truck as called in Yankie land), you take them out, you then give a tip! They do nothing for you.
This fascination that people have with New York ( New York again) never fails to intigue me. True the city never sleeps, it is interesting but it is the centre of the universe? Worth seeing once, but I think that is all you need.
The hotel looks great – ie: the rooms.
Seems your homework on this accomodation was well done, hopefully pretty central to all what is to be seen.
I after a terrible arrival at JFK – undergoing maintenance, ended up at “The Commadore Hotel” – right above Grand Central Rail Station – this hotel is no more, but it was Central to all things – 5th Avenue, 42nd street, the theatres of Broadway, Tiffanys, the UN and now what is called “ground zero”. Yep, once seen and experienced for better or worse, I think is enough. Good to know that the BB family had a great time.
Pity you didn’t get photos of the two kids doing the Audrey Hepburn hamburger eating photo in front of a window at Tiffanys! Or did you?????
Brilliant report BB, when do you get the time to do all this – maybe you are a “New Yorker” and never sleep????
Cheers
Colin (HB)
jeanie
Oh those beds look very comfortable indeed!!
jeanie´s last blog post ..Going Bananas
debby
New York is a thousand different neighborhoods, a thousand different pockets of cultures. I heard more foreign languages spoken in one hour than I’ve heard in my life. My son noted, “Sometimes, I think you could tell your way around New York by the different smells…(cooking mostly, othertimes, not). New York is an adventure. What I love is that no matter what sort of thing you are interested in, you can find it.
Perhaps this is true of all cities. I loved Washington DC for the same reason. I loved San Antonio for the same reason. Perhaps I love visiting cities because I don’t live in one. Maybe that is it.
debby´s last blog post ..Not again
Lydia
What fun!!! I will have to put Ellen’s Stardust on my list of places to go next time I go to NYC. I love that city. Each time I go, I make a list of things to do for the next trip!
Kelly
Did you get to go in the M&M Factory? We’ve been to the one in Las Vegas a couple of times and love it!
Kelly´s last blog post ..Pretty Is As Pretty Dies by Elizabeth Spann Craig
Bush Babe
Mr Incredible and the kids did… I might or might not have been checking out lenses somewhere nearby!!!
🙂
Nancy in Iowa
I saw new sights and heard new sounds every time I went to NYC!! But your report is giving me lots of new things – I’ll pretend this is my own memory! I can just see The Father hunkering down while the server sang about killing Earl….
Kate
OMG, that hotel room rocks, BB!! And I can certainly understand why your husband felt uneasy with that song. Cute waitress, though! And downright awesome pics.
Kate´s last blog post ..The fields are snowbound no longer
diane
Wow that looks comfortable. What a great experience for you and the tin lids.
diane´s last blog post ..GROWING ORANGE FLAGS
diane
Just got hooked on your blog and read all chapters and the story of Dash’s first year. An excellent blog. Well written and fab photos. Then that used to be your job.
diane´s last blog post ..GROWING ORANGE FLAGS