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3-Day Summer Weekend in By DEBBy GIRVAN W e boarded Amtrak in Fredericksburg at 7 a.m. and arrived at Penn Station just after noon. With an early check-in at the Westin Times Square, we picked up our Ny Passes nearby and by 1 p.m. were on our way to Rockefeller Center for the NBC Studio Tour. After realizing our son was never going to be a weatherman (tour guides pluck on-air "talent" from the group for a very amusing mock news broadcast), we took a high-speed elevator to the Top of the Rock to admire the spectacular view from the 70th floor observatory. We polished off cheesecake and sundaes at Junior's, then jumped on the subway toward the Empire State Building for a King Kong view of the city. Consensus? Everyone needs to visit this classic at least once, but maybe King Kong might've been less grumpy with the smaller crowds and the unobstructed views at Top of the Rock. Sofia's of little Italy was our dinner destination where fragrant garlic and hot bread wafts down Mulberry Street. After dinner, we headed to Pier 17 at South Street Seaport where we boarded a tall Clipper Ship for a moonlight cruise past the Statue of liberty and glittering Manhattan Skyline. The next morning, we ventured uptown for a bike ride on the 6.1-mile loop through Central Park. We spotted familiar movie sites along the way including the snowball bridge in Elf and the motorized sailboat pond in Stuart little. We passed the Central Park Zoo, Heckscher Ballfields, the loeb Boathouse where couples set out for a romantic afternoon in rowboats and 21 boisterous playgrounds. on the north side, the lasker NYC public swimming pool (converted to the lasker Ice Rink in winter), is one of several free park attractions. on the way back, we admired statues, fountains, several lakes and ponds and natural creeks with waterfalls hidden among the foliage. As we entered the clearing of the Sheep Meadow, statuesque skyscrapers, including architectural marvels designed decades ago, perfectly framed the clear blue sky. There are several good eateries throughout the park, but we opted to grab a "slice" (pizza, as the locals call it) then made a quick detour to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) which houses a collection so large it could take a week or more to see it all. later, in Times Square, we hammed it up for the Jumbotron camera and at Madame Tussaud's we took pictures of ourselves with celebrities made of wax. We grabbed juicy burgers and delicious shakes at Shake Shack before calling it a night. After a leisurely breakfast and a quick subway ride, we were back at Penn Station not so ready to catch our train back to Fredericksburg. This was not our first visit to Manhattan and it won't be our last. It could take countless three-day weekends to enjoy everything Manhattan has to offer. For more details about the attractions mentioned in this article and for other options to create your own family's 3-day NyC summer excursion visit: http://bit.ly/nyc-wknd www.fredericksburgparent.NET 19