We made the trip shortly after my husband passed away unexpectedly, so we all needed to have some fun at that point in our lives. My daughter had applied to several art schools and was visiting all of them to decide which school was the best place for her.

Although she chose not to attend the school in the city, our three-day stay was a blast. We arrived at Penn Station and found that our hotel was just a couple of blocks away, a perfect location.

It was also within sight of the wonderful Macy’s department store that I had always wanted to visit! We tried to do all the touristy things we could.

We went to Central Park and an artist drew a caricature of my kids that was funny and perfect. We took a horse-drawn carriage ride around the park.

We visited FAO Schwartz and danced on the huge keyboard like Tom Hanks in the movie “Big.” We went to Broadway and saw the show “The Producers,” and then rode back to our hotel in a bicycle rickshaw.

The top of the Empire State Building was impressive and I had a great conversation with a native New Yorker who was showing his young son the city. He told some great stories and pointed out the best places – the Brooklyn Bridge, the Flatiron Building, and many other sights.

The Friday we were there was my daughter’s 18th birthday, so my son and I put on birthday cake hats, made a poster and went to Rockefeller Center to be in the “Today Show” crowd.

We met Katie Couric and Matt Lauer and got Katie’s autograph on our poster. My daughter slept in, had a room service breakfast and celebrated by not waiting in line in the cold!

Before we left, we went to the Whitney Museum for the Biennial, which was awesome and to Little Italy for some great Italian food! What a fun-filled, busy visit to an exciting city!