bhestertx

OMG!! What an incredible experience!!

For those that didn't know, I chaperoned my kids' high school band around NYC this past weekend. 160 people... 132 kids along with the directors, chaperones, guests, and our tour guides. It was a whirlwind of a weekend (Friday through Monday), but the experiences we had were so memorable. So I want to get them all out here so I don't forget and if anyone enjoys the read or gets some good advice on what to see when they go then all the better. Don't have any ready yet, but I'll post pictures when I gather them all up.

Day 1
The day started EARLY! We had to meet at the airport at 4:00am! So my kids and I decided that rather than risk oversleeping we would just stay up and sleep on the plane and catch cat naps while on the buses getting to the places we were visiting. lol We got to the airport on time and organized all the kids. Some were a bit groggy, but you could see the excitement in their faces. They were ready to go! We actually flew in 3 groups and the tour company set it up so that we all arrived as close to the same times as possible. My group arrived first at LaGuardia airport to some wonderful 75 degree weather and we headed to Times Square for some sightseeing until the others arrived. The plan was to eat dinner at Planet Hollywood that evening so we got dropped off there. We gathered the kids up and had them choose groups of 5 or more to head out on their own. We got group lists and cell phones numbers, gave them their boundaries on a map, the time they had to meet up, and cut them loose. You could see the "deer in the headlights" look on all their faces as they started heading off. I think it was a bit overwhelming at first, but they all gathered up their courage and headed out. The band director, tour guide, and myself looked at each other and thought the same thing. "Did we just cut loose 40+ kids into NYC?!?" But to the kids credit for this and the rest of the weekend we had ZERO issues with anyone getting lost or showing up late! The behavior of this group of kids was exemplary and that made our jobs so much easier and enjoyable.
With the kids off we decided it was time to have lunch and found a little Italian diner (can't remember the name lol) and had some great pizza. If you want a good meal at a decent price, any one of the hundreds of hole-in-the-wall diners are a good choice for a taste of true NY cuisine. Then we walked around and soaked it all in. Times Square is pretty amazing. You see it on TV and in pictures, but nothing prepares you for the real thing. There is SO much there, the stores, the street vendors, the electronic billboards everywhere, the signs for all the shows going on everywhere... just an incredible sight! Yep, we got to see the Naked Cowboy LOL. And yep, it's a guy standing in Times Square in nothing but a pair of sequined underwear and cowboy boots taking pictures with people lmao. But no, I did not get my picture taken with him (line was too long) lol It was getting close to the time for the next group to arrive so we found a little Irish pub around the corner from Planet Hollywood and sat down for a drink (yes, non-alcoholic since we were "on duty" lol).
Once the second group got there we met up with them, cut loose the second group of kids, and the adults headed to Rockefeller Center to see the sights there. We headed to Top of the Rock and the top of the Rockefeller building. WOW, what a view! There are 3 observation decks there, the 67th, 69th, and 70th floors and you can see the entire city. It's $20 to go up, but I think well worth it to get a bird's eye view of the city and a better one than the Empire State Building. Here's a bit of trivia we were told... What is the only thing you can see from Top of the Rock that you can't see from the Empire State Building? Anyone? Duh, the Empire State Building! lol (ok, cheesy joke from our day 3 tour guide lol)
After that it was time for the last group to arrive so we headed to our meeting place and they were already unloaded. The rest of the kids showed up excited and with their arms loaded with round one of souvenirs. lol Here's where we got our first taste of NYC "hospitality"... We had the kids line up along the side of Planet Hollywood and of course with 160 people, it extended quite a ways down the sidewalk and some guy from one of the other buildings pitched an absolute FIT that we were blocking part of "his" entrance. *eyeroll* Sheesh, take a pill. The entire time we were there like 1 person went in his door! lol But we adjusted and made him happy (well shut him up at least) and finally got all the kids into the restaurant. Planet Hollywood was, well... Planet Hollywood, just like any others. lol
The last event for day 1 was to get a group picture in Times Square. That turned out really cool and I'll get it posted soon. After that we loaded up and headed to the hotel to check in and get settled. By the time everyone was settled and we did room checks and lights out, it was after 1am and except for cat naps I'd been up for over 40 hours so I crashed. And crashed hard. lol

More to come. Too exhausted to finish it. lol

Whew! Finally done. lol
Yeah, it's a bit long, but hey it was a packed weekend!

Day 2
Another early start! Wake up calls to the kids started at 6:30 and we were on the buses and moving by 7:30. This was concert day! We had it set up for the whole group to play during the day and the honor band was to play that evening. We loaded up all our gear and headed off to see the Statue of Liberty. After a long wait to get through security, we boarded the ferry to Liberty Island. The ferry makes a stop at Ellis Island on the way, but we had our agenda and couldn't get off to see it. Definitely someplace to visit if you get a chance. To see the history and where all the immigrants to the country stopped would be a great experience. We unloaded on Liberty Island, stashed our gear, waited through another security line, and headed off to see Lady Liberty. She was a very awe-inspring and breath-taking sight. Unfortunately, part of the breath-taking was because of the 156 grueling steps you have to climb to get to the observation deck at the base! OMG! I know I'm not in the best of shape, but holy crap I thought I was going pass out LOL (maybe it's time to hit the stairmaster...) Of course, being the geek that I am, I spent most of my time marveling at what went into building her. The amount of work and craftsmanship that went into it is amazing. After we all got done checking out the museum and statue, we headed off to grab lunch on the island and then the kids gathered up their gear to play a small concert. We set up at the flag pole outside the secure area for the statue and the kids played about 8 songs for the crowds of people coming onto the island. It was great and they gathered quite a crowd! The chaperones all stood off the side and listened and I can't tell you the number of people who stopped by and told us how wonderful the band sounded and how much they enjoyed the show. We were all beaming with pride when it was over.
After the concert, it was time to head back to the hotel and change for the honor band's concert at Carnegie Hall. We dumped the gear we didn't need, the honor band changed into their tuxedos and dresses, and the rest of us changed into our "nice" clothes. No, the kids were NOT allowed to wear baggy jeans and tshirts to Carnegie Hall. LOL The honor band was invited to be part of the 2008 National Youth Concert at Carnegie. And on top of that, they were billed as the premier band for the evening! While they did sounds checks and warmed up, the rest of us headed out for some more shopping, sight seeing, and to grab dinner before the concert. We walked from Carnegie to Columbus Circle where there's plenty of shopping and a few decent places to eat. As far as cheap eats though, that's not place to go so if you're on a budget eat before you go. lol Of course in the circle is a beautiful marble statue of Columbus on 70 foot high pedestal surrounded by bronze reliefs of his three ships. A couple interesting bits of trivia we found out about the circle... All mile markers outside the city that tell you how far you are from NYC are actually measured from Columbus Circle even though it not actually the center of the city. For those of you that have seen the fountains at Bellagio in Vegas, the same company that did those did the fountains that were put in place during renovations to the circle several years ago. And for a bit of fun the next time you're watching a movie set in NYC, see if you can pick out Columbus Cirlce in it. It's actually seen in quite a few movies, the most recent ones being I Am Legend and Cloverfield.
After our excursion, we headed back to Carnegie Hall. Wow! What a place. The architecture of the main hall is gorgeous. Then to realize the history of it and how many famous musicians have played there is just amazing. Even if we hadn't played, just getting to see it and be in there was fulfilling enough. We all settled into our seats and got to watch the orchestra from Midland, TX play before our band. When a group starts to play in there, that's when you realize the next amazing feature of the main hall... the acoustics are unreal!! It's as if you can FEEL every single note that is played by each instrument! The orchestra did very well, but I think our band sounded so much better (of course I'm probably biased lol). There was a short break to set up and we were able to go out and see some more of the architecture of the lobby and visit the gift shop. So the honor band took the stage and started to play. The pieces they had chosen were fantastic and they filled the hall beautifully. Now here's where the goosebumps start... We have in our band a young man who is a two-time all state band selectee (and should have been three, but he got robbed last year) and for this year he was selected as first chair saxophone! One of the pieces selected for the band to play was chosen specifically for him. It was written for a college saxophone player at Texas Tech when the band director was going to school there and to anyone's knowledge it has never been played outside of there let alone by a high school student. It is an incredibly intricate piece that would push the limits of anyone's playing ability. Time for more goosebumps... So not only was he featured in this piece, but instead of sitting with band to play he was placed <u>center stage</u> next to the director and in front of the band for all to watch and with his mom sitting in the audience! OMG what an unbelievable chance for a high school student and he played his heart out! The second he played his last note absolutely everyone in the hall was on their feet. After a good 5 minute standing ovation and 5+ bows later he was able to make his way back into the band and they played their last piece, a tribute to home, "The Yellow Rose of Texas". Once the concert was over many of the students on stage finally realized the magnitude of what they had just done. They got to play in Carnegie Hall! Many of them cried tears of joy and I'm sure all of them will remember it for the rest of their lives. I know I will. If you go and get an opportunity to hear anyone play there, do it. You will not regret it and hopefully it will increase your appreciation for music of all kinds. Oh, and if you follow the music world at all, remember the name Justin Neumann. I have a feeling you'll be hearing it again.
Our day ended after the concert and we headed back to the hotel for some much needed rest to get ready for the next packed day.

Day 3
Today didn't start quite as early, we got to sleep in a whole extra hour. lol Today was fun day! We started off the day by picking a NYC tour guide. These guys were great! Funny, full of information, and made the tour an all around great time. We stopped at Central Park and got to see Strawberry Fields, the memorial dedicated to the memory of John Lennon. In the center of the area where the paths coverage is a beautiful tile mosaic made up of over 100,000 small pieces of tiles that is a reproduction of a mosaic in Pompeii. In the center of the mosaic is a single word, "IMAGINE". For anyone who is a fan of the Beatles or John Lennon it is a wonderful place to see. We found out a bit of trivia about our tour guide here. Our guide's name is Gideon and according to him, he was actually named after a Beatles song. Anyone remember Rocky Raccoon? "Rocky Raccoon checked into his room only to find <u>Gideon's</u> bible". Have to be honest here, we saw so much stuff on the tour and I have it all chronicled in pictures because I knew I'd forget so until I go through them I'm not going to be able to put much down. We visited and shopped in Chinatown, saw some beautiful churches, plenty of unique architecure on buildings and monuments. Kind of disappointed that we didn't get to ground zero because we had to avoid the areas the Pope was in... but I'll save it for another trip. The neatest part was the end of the tour. It was kind of impromptu. There was a mix up on how long the tour was supposed to last and the tour guides were set up for an hour less than what they were supposed to so we had an hour or so to kill before we headed to our next thing. So Gideon asked, "Hey, you all want to go to Harlem?". So we did! LOL It was, let's say, interesting... of course we weren't in the ghetto or anything, but in the main part of Harlem where it's a bit "nicer". We got to eat at Manna's Soul Food for lunch. They had all the traditional things you'd think of as "soul food", collard greens, rice and beans, fried chicken, pig parts (don't ask), and some things I couldn't identify. But the food was actually really good. You walk in and there's two buffets, one for hot stuff and one for cold stuff. Everything is $5.50 per pound so you grab a styrofoam container and load up! They weigh it at the register and you head upstairs to sit down and eat. We met some really nice people there. They were all very receptive to the kids and carried on conversations about where we were from and why we were in town. Outside was a bit of a different story... We had more time to kill so we let the kids walk around, but with a VERY tight leash and small area to explore. That's all we needed was to lose one of them in Harlem. lol I did get the "pleasure" of walking behind a very interesting "gentleman" for a bit. Picture a guy walking down the street, his pimp suit on, has the pimp walk going on, and yelling on his cell phone over and over "Where's my mother fucking money! I gave you fifteen hundred last night so where's my mother fucking money!" I happily gave him a WIDE berth as we walked past. LOL I actually think he was just a nutcase and was doing it for attention without anyone on the phone because he repeated those lines probably 6 or 7 times while we were walking near him. lol
We had our fill of Harlem so we loaded up and headed to the next item on our agenda... Seeing Wicked at the Gershwin Theater! OMG it was phenomenal! The storyline was great and the acting and singing were spectacular. If you get an opportunity to see it anywhere do go see it. It's a wonderful show that can be enjoyed by all ages. The kids all had a great time and they loaded up on tshirts and other souvenirs and we headed out for some last day shopping and sight seeing in Times Square before dinner.
Our last event was probably the most fun of the weekend. We all met up outside of Ellen's Stardust Diner. This place was a blast! It's a diner where aspiring Broadway actors and actresses go to have a job while they're searching for their big break. And as part of the dining experience there they get up and sing for the diners. They get up and belt out tunes from rock to country to broadway hits (they even did one from Wicked which we had just seen), get the crowd involved, and put on a great show. Our group took up probably 3/4 of this tiny place and not only did the wait staff do their thing, but our kids got involved. They sang their tunes and our kids joined in along with them, danced in their seats, and even got up and danced along with them and we had the place jumping! When it was time for us to go all the kids wanted their pictures taken with the wait staff and they were all happy to do it. The chaperones all thanked the staff for allowing the kids to cut loose and have a great time and they turned around and thanked us for bringing them in. It was the best time they'd had and they fed off of all the energy from the kids. It was the perfect end to a packed weekend and it allowed the kids to just cut loose before we headed home the next day.

Day 4
Today was completely dedicated to packing up and heading out. Our flight group left out of LaGuardia which is close (the others went through Newark airport) so we had some time to kill before we left and stopped at the Manhattan Mall for last minute shopping and lunch. Don't go into the mall. lol It's being rebuilt and most stores are closed and thoes that are open aren't anything different than you'd get at home. There are quite a few different shops outside the mall though. When it was time to head out we loaded up and headed to the airport.

I have to say this was a fantastic trip! The sights we saw, the things we did, and the memories we made all added up to the most enjoyable 4 days I've had in a while. The kids behaved wonderfully and we had no problems with losing any of them, no sneaking out after lights out, no getting in trouble while they were roaming the city... That made it easier for the chaperones to just enjoy the trip along with them.

I absolutely loved every minute of it and is definitely something I would do again and hope I get the chance!