Meet the Tiny Traveler

My name is Abigail, I'm three years old and my goal is to visit every country in the world. My wanderlust was passed down from my Grandpa Henry to my mommy, then to me. I boarded my first plane at the tender age of 5 weeks with my mommy and daddy to go to my dad's hometown for my baptism. Since then I've traveled extensively both domestically and internationally. When I was two years old I visited Germany, Botswana and South Africa. My favorite part of that trip was going on a safari at the Madikwe Game Reserve and seeing all the animals. I made a special effort to see all the Big 5 game: lion, elephant, cape buffalo, leopard and rhinoceros.

With Grandpa Henry and my Grandma at Buffalo Ridge Safari Lodge in South Africa. Two amazing world travelers that I admire!

Photo op with Babar the Elephant and my Uncle, another jet setter. Whenever he isn't country hopping he always takes me to Chuck E. Cheese!

Within the states I've been to New York once as a baby and again this past May. My Godmommy Nikki lived two blocks from Central Park so I spent her 32 birthday weekend celebrating with her and my mommy! My mommy wanted me to share some tips for anyone traveling to New York with a precocious preschooler like myself:

Exploring New York with kids is totally possible! I worked pretty diligently on a child friendly itinerary for our mother daughter trip to New York and I have only two regrets. The first is not bringing a stroller. Abby was 3 years old when we went and old enough to walk. We hadn't used her stroller in a long time so it never crossed my mind to bring it. When we were exploring Manhattan I noticed many children older than her being pushed around in strollers. In my head I laughed at them and thought those kids are way too big to be in strollers. Little did I know that just a short while later I would be desperately wishing I had a stroller too! After walking a few miles, Abby refused to walk another step. She said she was tired and straight up sat on the floor and demanded to be picked up. So what did I do? I picked her up and gave her the longest piggy back ride of my life. Word to the wise. Take a stroller for young kids who can't walk very long distances! The second regret was not taking Abby with myself and her God mother to see the Lion King on Broadway. The Broadway website suggests that children under 6 are not allowed in the theater so I did not buy a ticket for Abby and instead arranged for a babysitter. When Nikki and I got to the theater there were several families with children Abby's age and younger. I wish I brought her because she would have loved it!  The show was absolutely breathtaking. Here are some places I did take Abby to that she enjoyed: 

Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre in Central Park was showcasing Jack and the Beanstalk all summer. $10 adult, $7 child. Buy your tickets in advance because it seems like the weekend times sell out fast! I wanted to see it on Saturday but when I tried to purchase my ticket a week before my trip it was sold out so we saw the Sunday 1pm show. Abby absolutely loved it and is still talking about it. It was a really cute show and I recommend getting there early so you can sit in the front. It’s harder to see from the back. West 79^th street entrance.

http://www.cityparksfoundation.org/arts/swedish-cottage-marionette-theatre/

Mariner Playground in Central Park. This was a cute playground within walking distance from where we were staying. It has a lot of standard playground equipment, plus a sprayground (bring a swimsuit and a towel) and a sand box. West 85^th street entrance

http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/mariners-playground.html

There were a lot of preschoolers in the Central Park playgrounds during the middle of the day

Central Park Zoo. Opens at 10am. $12 adult, $7 child. It is a small but quaint zoo with leopards, monkeys, sea lions, etc. They don’t have any larger animals (i.e lion, giraffe, elephant) but Abby still enjoyed it nonetheless. There is a petting zoo in the children’s portion of the zoo that you can pay 50 cents for pellets to feed the goats or lambs. Also a huge highlight for Abby!  East side of the park between 63^rd and 66^th street.

http://centralparkzoo.com/

Carousel in central park $3/ride (cash only). Midpark at 64^th street

FAO Schwarz. This is the oldest toy store in America. They might be closing in July after being open for over 150 years L Get a picture of your kids with the toy soldier that greets you in front of the store. I got one of Abby saluting with the solider and it makes for good memories. On the top floor there is a huge piano keyboard on the floor that the kids can dance on and make music. It’s been in several Hollywood movies so I would make sure the kiddos get to play on the piano.  We spent about 2 hours in the store. It is located close to the zoo so you can do the zoo first thing in the morning and then take a short walk to the store and have lunch in their little café and then check it out. Oh and there is a magical clock located on the escalators that go to the ground floor that sings a beautiful melody at the top of every hour. Abby was mesmerized and didn’t want to leave it!.  5^th avenue and 58^th street

http://www.fao.com/shop/index.jsp?categoryId=3810526

Saluting with a real life toy soldier!

The great lawn in the center of the park was great to have a picnic on. Bring a big blanket and a portable lunch. We brought a hula hoop, bubbles and a Frisbee for entertainment. There was a waffle stand called wafles and dinges between the great lawn and the Shakespeare in the park theatre (delacorte theater) that sold the most amazing waffles. We bought some as a snack after playing on the great lawn for several hours. Midpark 79^th to 85^th street.

http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/great-lawn.html

Belvedere Castle and Vista Rock are right next to the Great Lawn and is a fun spot to check out while in the vicinity. 79^th street.

http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/vista-rock.html

My mommy told me that I am Princess Abby and that was my very own castle! I think she might have told me that just to get me to smile... 

Museum of Natural History has a dinosaur exhibit that’s quite impressive and African elephant exhibit amongst other things. $24/adult and $14.50/child. 79^thstreet and Central Park West

http://www.amnh.org/


I've also been to Iowa, Minnesota, Virginia, Maryland, Washington DC, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. I recently took a road trip from North Carolina to Texas and that will be my next post. Right after that I'll post about my trip to the Caribbean that I'm taking next week!

~Abby the Tiny Traveler