Trip to New York, 1974

Stephanie's comments about the difficulty and expense of taking a family of four to Paris got me thinking and trying to remember what made vacations to big cities interesting to me when I was a little kid (i.e. under 10) in the seventies. In particular, I remembered a trip to New York and Washington D.C. that my family took in the summer of 1974, when I was eight years old. We drove to my grandmother's apartment in Charleston, West Virginia, and then took the train up to DC and then to New York (if I remember correctly). Here are the details that I remember about "The Big Apple":

Seeing The Magic Show on (or off?) Broadway, starring Doug Henning, and buying a box of Jordan Almonds at the theatre.

Getting a cheap (under $5.00) set of four reproduction movie posters from a book store: King Kong, Dracula (both went up on my bedroom wall at home--they were both very important entities to me), Frankenstein (given to my best friend as a trip souvenir) and Gone With the Wind (discarded, of course).
Going to FAO Schwarz (didn't get anything, but saw how the other half lived) before it was a national chain.

Got an issue of Shazam! comics that I had missed, at some Times Square magazine shop that sold back issues (exactly what kind of store it was is a little unclear to me, but I was very pleased to get my comic)

Having chocolate cake and ginger ale at the museum (Metropolitan, I think)

Zum Zum restaurant (in the Pan Am building, but I don't remember that detail)

Most of our family trips weren't that exciting, and they all involved long stretches of time in the car, since I didn't fly until a few years later, and then flew all the time, solo, after my parents' divorce...

This button is like the Mark of Cain*--it means you are an unaccompanied minor, and will be held prisoner in a 'hospitality room' at the airport between connections. After a couple of trips like this, I managed to emancipate myself, at least while traveling.

*or an albatross around your neck, or a scarlet A...