WARNING: This post may be long. Such an eventful week, and I don't know how to cover it all!
NEW YORK CITY!!
Night Before Day #1 June 7, 2010
11:00 pm. Our flight leaves. We took the red-eye flight... yawn... and we arrived in NYC the next morning.
Day #1 June 8, 2010
We arrived in the JFK airport pretty early in the morning, and we rode the bus into Manhattan. Our bus driver, (I think his name was Randy?) was SO entertaining. He gave us random fun facts about NY on our way into the city, and we all loved taking pictures and admiring the sights out the windows.
We couldn't check into our hotel, The Hampton Inn, until 3:30 pm but we dropped off our luggage at the hotel and ate breakfast at the hotel. The Hampton Inn serves a great free breakfast every morning. I had a tasty bagel with cream cheese... and hot chocolate (my favorite!)
After breakfast we were off sight-seeing! First stop: The Brooklyn Bridge. We took our first subway ride over to Brooklyn, and we walked across the bridge. The views from the bridge were amazing, and it was a great start to the trip! (With much difficutly avoiding the bike-riders who were zipping past us on the bridge)
After we walked the Brooklyn Bridge we headed over to Ground Zero. The big empty space where the twin towers used to be is now a construction zone. But seeing the hole where the two buildings were really leaves you with a feeling of sadness for the terror that America felt when the planes attacked on 9/11. After we saw Ground Zero we went to a church, not far from where the towers used to be, that had withstood the rubble and destruction from 9/11. Now the church is full of memorials and memories dedicated to the police officers and firefighters that lost their lives during 9/11.
After our look back on 9/11 we took the subway to Grand Central Station. (Remember, the scene in Madagascar where the animals run in the Grand Central Station?). It's huge! The ceiling is really high and is a painted map of the constellations. Downstairs there are a ton of restaurants and places to eat. While we were there I had a piece of delicious Cheesecake from Juniors (with a glass of milk, of course). What would a trip to NYC be without Cheesecake?
Then we walked to the New York City Library. The library is gigantic! It's very beautiful and elegant. We walked the upper floors and saw the beautiful ceiling work and artwork in the studies. We also visited the bottom level (The Children's Library) and took a look at the original stuffed animals that inspired "Winnie the Pooh" They were so cute!
After our visit to the library, we stopped by an information center in Times Square. There, we saw the ball that drops at New Years every year, and we also got information about all of the shows that are playing on Broadway.
Finally, the hotel! We had a looooong day that first day, and finally we got to check in the hotel. We had a three hour nap before the show! It felt so nice, and then we got dressed up and ready to go to Next to Normal... the first broadway show we would be seeing on the trip!
Next to Normal was PHENOMENAL! It made a lot of people cry. The story is about a mother who suffers mentally from the loss of her son. The story was breathtaking, and the singers were incredible! It was a wonderful start to our theatre experience in New York City.
After the show our group ate at St. John's Pizza. (A very popular NY pizza place) Then I went with some of my friends to the Hershey's factory and the M&M factory. That was a lot of fun, and I made some new friends too! I was so privileged to meet Annie Smith, Tyler Bowers, and Tauni Pemberton... they are awesome friends.
Day #2 June 9, 2010
We began the day by going to the top of the Rockefeller Center (a.k.a. "Top of the Rock"). The view from this skyscraper was outstanding! I took some panoramic pictures with my new camera I got from graduation/birthday, and I loved looking at the views. :)
After admiring the NYC views, my mom and I went to the Times Square TKTS booth. TKTS is a very useful way to get discounted tickets to Broadway shows. We got tickets to Come Fly Away for 50% off. And then, after some lunch and a stop by the hotel to freshen up, we were off to the matinee show! Come Fly Away is an all-dance musical. There is no singing or speaking. It wasn't my Mom's favorite, merely because it wasn't what she was expecting, but I absolutely loved the dancing. Those dancers are fabulous, and all of the music was Frank Sinatra (which also meant a lot of old people were in the audience with us. tee hee.)
After the matinee show it started raining like crazy, so we bought an umbrella and my Mom and I joined a group of my friends at Stardust Diner for dinner. Stardust Diner is a restauraunt on Broadway where the waiters and waitresses sing to you while you eat. The diner totally has a 1950's Jukebox feel to it. While it was a super fun restaurant to eat at, It cost us a pretty penny, and the food wasn't anything amazing. But it was a cool experience anyways!
When we were through with dinner, we met up with the rest of the Drama Club at the hotel to see the next show; The Addams Family Musical. This show was hilarious!! It was very entertaining. My friend Rudy told me that one of the characters, Wednesday, has the same voice type as me... and he could really see me playing that role... ... I was flattered, because I loved her part! So now I love singing Wednesday's music. :) So fun. The set for Addams Family was AWESOME, and everyone really enjoyed the performance. We got to have a chatback with the actors after the show... and we got some autographs! We didn't do anything after the show because of the rain, but it was still a great day!
Day #3 June 10, 2010
We woke up with another breakfast at the hotel (I was definitely becoming a fan of the hot chocolate and hazelnut coffee creamer). We made our way to The Met -- The Metropolitan Museum of Art. This museum is unbelievable! You could visit the museum every day for an entire year... and STILL not see everything the museum has to offer. We had an entertaining and enthusaistic tour guide, and we also got to do a bit of exploring on our own. There was a huge variety of beautiful artifacts and pieces of art. My favorite was the enormous bamboo exhibit on the roof!
Next stop after The Met: Central Park. We walked through the pretty green park (Not all of it, the park is huge!) And we listened to the most entertaining street performer I have ever met! Then, we walked to Grey's Papaya. A NYC treat... Papaya Juice and a hot dog. Yum! I'm not a big fan of hot dogs, so My mom had the hot dog and I drank the Papaya Juice (So refreshing). When we were done eating our NY hot dogs, we went to the Levain Bakery. Here, the most delicious cookies are made. They will change your life. They are SO BIG... and they are SO SCRUMPTIOUS! I had a Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip cookie. They're so large that one cookie fills you up.... too bad we didn't have milk to go with it!
After we ate our cookies, we sat down and took a little rest to let all of our food settle! Then, we walked a LONG WAY around Central Park to 5th Avenue. This street is the shopoholic's Heaven! All of the ritzy, expensive, name-brand department stores are strung along 5th Avenue. It started raining again, so my mom (Who isn't much of a shopper) went back to the hotel and I went shopping with some friends at one of my favorite stores, H&M. No luck finding anything I absolutely loved the first time... so after helping my friends choose out their new outfits, we all went back to the hotel to get ready for the next Broadway show.
Memphis was insanely good. The theme is about segragation and interracial relationships. It is based on a true story, and it is heartbreaking. There was a wonderful moral to the story of Memphis. (Not to mention later in the week it was awarded 'Best Musical' at the Tony Awards) We were lucky enough to have another chatback with the actors in Memphis after the show. They were such nice people, and it was interesting to learn about their careers and listen to their advice as performers.
Day #4 June 11, 2010
We woke up bright and early. We would begin our touring adventures today with a ferry ride to the Statue of Liberty. It was amazing to see this statue up close in real life. We took lots of pictures, and the ferry-ride was fun too. We decided not to get off at Liberty Island (Where the statue stands), but to continue on to Ellis Island. Ellis Island was one of the places where Immigrants first visited when they came to America. Immigrants had to be documented and go through various procedures before they could become a citizen and reside in the U.S. Now Ellis Island is a museum for all of this Immigration history. It was very interesting to look at all of the pictures and artifacts from the Immigrants that have come to America throughout the years. My mom and I bought some amazing fudge at Ellis Island... and after a couple of hours we took the ferry back to Manhattan with the rest of the group!
After our trip to Liberty and Ellis Island, we saw a 9/11 memorial, and then we took the subway to Chinatown!! Chinatown is the perfect place for bargain shopping! I got an adorable purse in Chinatown, as well as two scarfs, and a necklace. It was so fun to see all of the back-alleys and merchandise stands lining the streets of Chinatown! We also visited Little Italy (neighbor to Chinatown) where we ate Gelato (Italian Ice Cream).
When we were all shopped-out, we returned to our hotel. Then, some of my friends and I went to Serendipity for dinner. This restaurant is so popular that it had an hour wait. We signed up on the waiting list, and then we went and visited Dylan's Candy Bar while we waited to eat dinner at Serendipity.
Dylan's Candy Bar is CRAZY! Three floors of every kind of candy you can think of. They even had Candy/gummy Lingerie!!! They also had "PMS" Candy Bars (Perfect Monthly Satisfaction.) There was candy everywhere. I couldn't believe it! I felt like I stepped into the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
After the hour-long wait was over, we found our seats at Serendipity. Serendipity is one of my favorite restaurants in NY, because it is home to the DELICIOUS and widely popular frozen hot chocolate!!! I am the biggest lover of ice cream, and so I made it a requirement that I ate at Serendipity sometime during my trip to NYC. Even though it was eight dollars for the treat, it was worth every penny! When I tasted it, I felt like I died and went to heaven. Frozen Hot Chocolate sounds a little weird... but it is soooooo yummy. I wish we had it in Utah... I love it SO much.
When we finished our amazing food at Serendipity we took the subway back to our hotel and met up with the rest of our group for Promises, Promises. This musical revival is so charming (even though it is about men having affairs with their coworkers. haha!) Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth did a wonderful job. Sean's character made the show spectacular. It was such a cute show to watch. (And what an amazing opportunity to see Kristin Chenoweth perform live!) Of course we got autographs after the show. Kristin and Sean were so nice and personable! They took time to sign everyone's playbill. :)
After Promises, Promises my mom and I, as well as a large group of friends went to Carnegie Deli for some Cheesecake! This was the best Cheesecake I have tasted in NY yet! The pieces were probably bigger than my face! I got a slice of Chocolate Cheesecake. What a sweet way to end a marvelous day in NY!
Day #5 June 12, 2010
On the morning of the fifth day, my mom and I took a visit to the Manhattan Temple. The temple is so special and beautiful. The second the doors close behind you, you can't hear a single Manhattan sound. All of the city and worldy things have disappeared behind you. I did baptisms for the dead at the temple. There were some new converts there, and it was their first time doing baptisms for the dead... what an incredible experience being able to be there for their first time. It shows how much we take for granted the work we can do in the temple for the dead. There were also two missionaries at the temple. One of the missionaries, Elder Davis, is from Draper Utah! He's returning home in a few weeks, and it was fun to meet him (what a small world!) He had this Manhattan Temple pin on his lapel, and I told him that his pin was cool and asked him where he got it. He told me that his mission president gave it to him, and then he continued by taking off the pin and telling me I could have it! I replied and said that it was okay, and that I was just admiring it, but he insisted! So I got an awesome pin of the Manhattan Temple.... ... I just love Missionaries, they're great :) :) My experience doing work at the temple was really neat, too.
When we were done at the temple we made another visit to TKTS and the Box Offices to get tickets for the evening show. I purchased a ticket through the lottery to Rock of Ages, and my mom got a ticket from TKTS to Mary Poppins. We ate lunch at Famiglia's Pizza in Times Square and then we went to the matinee show, Lend Me A Tenor. This show was a play, not a musical... and it was SO FUNNY. Despite how tired I was, I thoroughly enjoyed Lend Me A Tenor and got a handful of good laughs from the show. Justin Bartha (Riley in National Treasure) and Tony Shallube were the leads in the show. We got autographs from both of them.
The evening show that I chose to see was Rock of Ages. There were about 13 RHS Drama people who chose to see this show, and we all got our tickets through the lottery. Rock of Ages was well done, but I thought there was a lot of unecessary content in the show. The music (which was all 80's rock music) was absolutely phenomenal though! They gave us fake lighters to wave during the show, which was fun, and the performers were very energetic! I just wish the content and storyline were a little bit better.
After Rock of Ages, I took a short walk around some of the city with my theatre teacher Mr. Eaton, his wife, and some of my theatre friends. Then we walked back to the hotel for the night. (As the days went by we started to get more and more tired... and my bed never felt so comfortable!)
Day #6 June 13, 2010
After what seemed like too short of a night (yawn!) We woke up yet again for another day in NYC!! We got up at about 8:30 to 9... so we got to sleep in a little bit. My mom, my friend and I went to Magnolia's bakery for some one-of-a-kind famous cupcakes. (Why is it that NYC has the most amazing desserts I have tasted in my entire life?! Not fair!) We also walked past Radio City Music Hall, the place where the Tony Awards are held every year.
Then we walked back to Times Square. I was told by a Sister at the Temple that if I went and purchased something from American Eagle, I could have a picture taken and put up on their billboard in Times Square. So I did just that! I bought a $5 shirt and got my picture taken. Sure enough, my picture was put on this awesome, huge, enormous, electronic billboard in Times Square!!! I was famous! ;) And technically, I can say I made an appearance on Broadway!! hahaha... I felt super cool.
After my claim to fame we went to a small deli and got lunch. We took our lunch to our hotel room and spent a little bit of down time. I wrote some of my missionary friends and sent them postcards, and I relaxed in the hotel room. Then we took the subway to the matinee show. Our Town. This off-broadway show is a life-changing experience. The story is breathtakingly beautiful. I absolutely loved this play. It has such an amazing lesson to teach. The actors were brilliant, and the staging was unbelievable. This was one of my favorite shows, even though it was off-broadway. It was also a crier. ;) But wow... it was amazing.
After Our Town we met the RHS group back at the hotel for our last Broadway show. (Tear...) Billy Elliot. I had been anticipating Billy Elliot all week. It was most definitely worth the wait, and it was everything I had imagined! Billy Elliot is about a young boy in England who wants to be a ballet dancer. His mother is dead, and his father wants him to be a boxer. The kid who plays Billy Elliot is a prodigy. He can dance like no other. I was in shock the whole time!!! Billy Elliot was another one of my favorite shows (And I know some people didn't enjoy it... psh). What better way to end my Broadway experience than with a 10 Tony-Award winning, phenomenal production of Billy Elliot!
After the last show My mom and I (along with some of our other friends) went to dinner. We were planning on dining at The Eaterie, but when we discovered that was closed we went to some random place across the street. (That turned out to be really yummy). Then we returned to our hotel for one last night of sleep before our return home!
Day #7 June 14, 2010
We woke up in the morning and did an NBC studios tour with the RHS group. The tour was interesting, but I'm not a big TV person, and I don't know most of the shows that were talked about. It was still fun to be able to tour the studios though. After the tour, my mom and I made one last stop at H&M where I bought two really cute blouses. When we were done shopping we went to the hotel and packed! We loaded all of our suitcases onto the bus... and we were off! Goodbye New York City! We had a looong plane ride home, and now here we are back in good ol' Utah.
It was the trip of A LIFETIME, but it's nice to be back at home. (There's no place like home, Todo!) I hope that I'll be able to travel back to NY again someday. I made new friends, tried new food, saw new and exciting places, and learned about some amazing new shows. What an experience! Thanks Mom and Dad for the opportunity. I've been once before two years ago... and this time I got to take my mom back! It was such a BLAST!!! Even though this blog post was a NOVEL, it doesn't even begin to discover all my experiences from the trip.
And now... recovery time. What an AWESOME way to kick off this summer. I can't wait to see what adventures the rest of the summer holds!
Today we went to a 2:30 a.m. viewing of the movie Eclipse. Why on earth did we decide to go to a movie at the crack-of-dawn? This still confuses me as I sit here, half-asleep, attempting to coherently type this post. But it was WAY fun. We snickered at all of the die-hard twilight fans, made fun of the cheesy acting, sighed at the romantic parts, compared the books to the movies, and we also wondered how every time we go to the movies together we see the BIGGEST weirdo girls with the CUTEST gentlemen, and then we continue to wonder how on earth they can get a guy and we can't. (This one still puts me in a stupor of thought) ;) But guys or no guys we had a really good time. (Even though I didn't get to bed until 5:30 in the morning, and now my sleeping schedule is completely outta-whack!)
