Category: Vacation

I Heart New York

Having just returned from a vacation to New York City, I have this breaking news: That is a big city.

Now, I know you are all aghast at this shocking revelation, but it’s true. It’s big. Really, really big.

I have been to plenty of big cities. But it really is staggering just how big it is. It’s so … tall. My wife is from Atlanta. The tallest building in Atlanta would be something like the 15th tallest building in NYC. I am from South Carolina, and the tallest building in the whole state would be … well, probably demolished along with several other buildings to build a building five times taller.

My wife, daughter and I went for a whirlwind tour and went full tourist in The Big Apple because, well, we were tourists. My wife had a business trip the following week, in which she had to be in work mode, but we decided we would go do all the fun touristy things the weekend prior. And we checked a lot of the boxes we wanted to do. Among the highlights:

We saw three Broadway shows, and they were all amazing. My daughter is a huge theater fan, and she was absolutely fan-girling the whole time, especially after shows when you can gather at the stage door and maybe interact with the cast as they leave. I am fairly sure her favorite moment was getting selfies with various cast members from Into the Woods. For me, it was seeing our daughter get her program signed by Billy Crystal after seeing Mr. Saturday Night. And to the dude behind me shouting, “You look mahvelous” over and over – Hate to break it to you, pal, but he’s heard that one before.
We turned on the television in our hotel room one time during our visit, and that was on our last night when I was curious what the local news broadcast was like. And it was like any other. Started with the weather, and it focused on the scorching heat wave that was gripping the city. It WAS in fact hot, but as we had all noted, yeah, summer is like this. Guess a lifetime in the South helps with that.
Times Square is … interesting. While we are all normally very friendly folks wherever we go, we also know when the best bet is just to keep moving and not engage. And when a very short Ironman, a dumpy Spider-man, and two women with painted-on American flag bikinis are strolling by you, you just keep your eyes forward and keep on toward your destination.
After two days there, my wife and I were commenting on how the folks we had interacted with had actually been quite pleasant and kind, dispelling the myth of the brash New Yorker. And then we went to a small bakery and someone at a table with his family had parked his stroller in a spot that apparently blocked someone’s apartment door, which angered the tenant. Words were exchanged, the tenant pushed a bike toward the man and it hit his stroller, with the baby in it. More words got exchanged, and suddenly the two men were face to face yelling at each other, as the man’s wife stepped in to intervene. Just as it was de-escalating, my daughter tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Did you notice how everyone else just kept on having their conversations at other tables?” Clearly locals, just used to this, I guess.
Speaking of locals, I found that they were my guides when navigating the streets. We walked a lot – almost 20 miles in 3 days – and we quickly learned that crosswalk signs were mere suggestions. Our cheat code: find the older woman with a bag of groceries or the jogger pushing a stroller or the young professional who was also on a business call at the intersection. When they go, you go. 100 percent success rate crossing roads.
We did a bunch of awesome other stuff – Top of the Rock, Central Park, The Met, and more – and it was a great time. I was exhausted when I got home, but glad we had such a fantastic trip. I look forward to my next trip, but for the meantime, I’ll keep my feet planted where it isn’t quite so big.

Mike Gibbons was born and raised in Aiken, S.C. A graduate of the University of Alabama, you can e-mail him at scmgibbons@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @StandardMike.

Road trip!

I have recently completed a road trip with my kids, and I can safely say it included the perfect amount of buffalo slobber.

This road trip was done over their spring break, and we set off on a whirlwind tour of roadside attractions and off-the-beaten path adventures, which is really the only way to spend spring break.

It was just the kids and me, as we realized too far into the drive that we had left my wife back home. Either that or she was in Omaha on a business trip. I can’t remember.

Our first stop was the Wild Animal Safari in Pine Mountain, Ga. As is often the case, I didn’t tell the kids where we going, as I love to see the looks on their faces when we arrive at a destination. The Wild Animal Safari is just what the name says. You drive your car through this great big rolling field, and feed buffalo and Texas longhorns and wildebeests as they mosey up to your car and occasionally stick their giant heads in through the window. Fun fact: buffalo have horrible breath AND copious amount of slobber, some of which was distributed into the car interior and my kids courtesy of a well-timed sneeze.

After the safari, our next stop was the Little White House, the retreat for Franklin Delano Roosevelt. At the entry, there is an FDR mannequin in a wheelchair, complete with his dog Fala. Neat, we thought. When we got to the actual house, there was another mannequin in a wheelchair on the front porch. And then the mannequin lifted his hand and started perusing the brochure he was holding, because it was actually an older gentlemen (who sat remarkably still) waiting for his family to finish the tour.

Our next stop was at the Lunch Box Museum in Columbus, Ga., which is, without a doubt, the single greatest museum ever created. With thousands of lunch boxes on display, it is an amazing walk down memory lane, especially if you’re a child of the 70s or 80s. Happy Days, ALF, Six Million Dollar Man, Holly Hobbie. You name it, chances are it was there. There was also one lunchbox that featured “The Exciting World of Metrics,” apparently designed for the kid who wanted the Fast Pass to an awful elementary school existence.

The next day we made our way to Macon, Ga., where we stopped at a place

called Reboot Retrocade and Bar, which has dozens of old-time arcade video games and pinball machines, each costing just a quarter. Draft beer and some Galaga on a Tuesday afternoon? Don’t mind if I do.

Fortunately, kids are allowed in the bar in the afternoon, so mine were able to experience life in an 80s arcade. Minus the draft beer, of course.

Our final stop was at the Museum of Aviation in Warner Robins, Ga. If you’re ever passing through, I highly recommend you stop in and walk through the history of aviation and see some amazing aircraft, including an SR-71 Blackbird, which may be the coolest plane ever built. I’m talking Six Million Dollar Man mailbox level cool.

We hit a few other spots along the way, sometimes just pulling off on the side of the road because we saw something interesting, such as an abandoned football stadium or a hunting and fishing store called The Funky Skunk. We also caught up with some old friends along the way, which is always a treat.

Upon arriving home, we all agreed it was a quirky and cool road trip, the kind we love to embark on. Maybe next time we can remember to take my wife.

Mike Gibbons was born and raised in Aiken, S.C. A graduate of the University of Alabama, he now lives in Mt. Pleasant. You can e-mail him at scmgibbons@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @StandardMike or at www.mikeslife.us.

Animals Childhood Family Vacation

Keeping your sanity on family road trips

Post author By Mike Gibbons
Post date July 2, 2014
No Comments on Keeping your sanity on family road trips

Having logged a lot of miles with the family over the last few weeks, I feel it is important to remind everyone of some important things to take note of when you are traveling as a family, or encountering those doing the same:

Family Vacation

Bike boot camp

Bike Boot Camp was a success.
The goal of Bike Boot Camp was to get my two 6-year-old nephews, Nick and Sam, off of their training wheels and into the wide-open world of two-wheeled freedom. The idea of the intense, no-fail-allowed sessions was the brainstorm of my dad, who would serve as the Drill Sergeant for this exercise. We were at a family trip down at the beach, so we opted for low tide, which could give us the maximum amount of easy riding beach before someone plunged into the Atlantic Ocean.

Adventures Vacation

Off we go…

Well, Team Gibbons logged a lot of miles last week, with the four of us setting of on three different adventures across this great land’s east coast.

I spent some time at Barrier Island, a camp/nature area on Seabrook Island, where I was a chaperone for my son’s class. While there, they learned plenty of cool nature facts and even got to wallow in mud and cover themselves head-to-toe in it, which is pretty much the top of most 10-year-olds’ To Do Lists.