So we did have a little bit of work to do. There were 5 groups there participating in a singing event put on by Chris' company. These groups had the opportunity to perform at Alice Tulley Hall in the Lincoln Memorial Center. I have never been in such an amazing performance venue. They had Timothy Shew as MC and he even performed a few numbers for the kids. Tim Shew is a huge broadway star and has been performing on Broadway stages for over 30 years now in some MAJOR productions--Les Mis, Guys and Dolls, Radio City Musical Hall, just to name a few. So it was awesome to meet such a amazingly talented person--and he was SUPER nice! That's hard to find in his line of work.
The hall had a 9 foot Steinway and Sons piano. These are considered the best of the best! Although I am still a Yamaha snob, it was pretty sweet to play on a piano like this! I'd take one of these pianos if the price were right! Haha!!!
So that event was over on Friday morning so we had the rest of the time to PLAY!!! Words cannot describe NYC!!! This was the 4th time I have been there and I'm still in awe every single time I go there. NYC is not a relaxing place and so this was not a relaxing vacation--but it sure was fun! My most favorite thing to do there is people watch. I try to imagine what life is like there. I can't imagine ever living there--I get claustrophobic just thinking about it nevertheless, it is an AMAZING place. Brett and Melissa are huge food lovers--not sure why Brett hasn't opened his own restaurant yet--but they know all the best places to eat. So these weekend was like a big eating extravaganza! If it were up to Chris and I, we would have been eating pizza and pretzels from street vendors all weekend:) But we sure did enjoy all the amazing food! I think I gained a couple pounds just being there but then we WALKED and WALKED and WALKED! So I think I maintained, but I should have said "No" to a few of the amazing pastries!!!
Friday night we went to see a Broadway show. I LOVE every Broadway show I've ever seen! And usually we see a musical one, but this time we saw a regular play on Broadway. It was called "Lend Me a Tenor." HOLY COW!!! It was HILARIOUS!!! I was laughing soo hard I was crying! It had some big names in it too: Anthony LaPaglia (currently on "Without a Trace), Tony Shalboub (played "Monk" on "Monk"), and Justin Bartha (in movies like "National Treasure" and "Failure to Launch"). There was also an actress named "Brooke Adams" in the play. The only reason I know her is because she shot a movie in my hometown of Deming, NM in the early 90s called "Gas, Food, and Lodging" and she had a young daughter, Josie, that she enrolled in my sister's gymnastics school for a couple of months and I was her gymnastics teacher. So, small world sometimes! (I didn't go say "hi" or anything, it was just cool to know another actor on stage) I would HIGHLY recommend this show to anyone!
Saturday morning we were up bright and early to go to the temple. I was soo glad that we did this. None of the four of us had ever been inside this beautiful temple. It has 6 stories. It doubles as a temple and a stake center. I also learned that the church owns the entire block that the temple sits on. Now that had to cost a pretty penny but they did it so they could control what is immediately around the temple. There are shady businesses EVERYWHERE so this was a smart move for sure. The temple is mostly surrounded by apartments. So, this is where the missionaries live.
We also made it out to the new Yankees Stadium. The stadium is in a very poor area of town which definitely makes it stand out. We also got to see the old stadium that is currently being torn down.
CRAZY NYC STORY: So we were enjoying time at a street fair. There was an entire street blocked off for this event. We were about to leave the event and were standing by the road blocks at the end of the street when all of the sudden this cop car starts driving RIGHT at us and through the blockade—I was right next to the blockade and was pushed out of the way WITH the blockade BY the cop car! It took a few moments for my brain to process what was happening especially because there was NO WARNING whatsoever from the cops—no lights or sirens or announcement over their speaker. They just drove right THROUGH the blockade and then high-tailed it down the extremely busy and crowded street! I’m not sure how they could have made it down that street without running over a few people! It was CRAZY! We never did find out what the “rush” was! I guess we just have bragging rights now that we were almost run down by NYC cops!!! I guess they need to be as crazy as the people there! So the picture of the “Police—Do Not Cross” blockade is one that Melissa took so that we can always remember that day!
Here we are enjoying a walk in Washington Monument Park:
I sure did miss my kids while I was away but they were in the best of hands. My super wonderful sister-in-law, Stephanie, drove over from NM to stay with my kids while we were away. The kids had the best time with her! Parks every day, McDonald's ice cream, and movies. I'm sure Steph could have stayed a week longer and the kids would have been fine with that! Though they did claim to miss me! All in all it was a FABULOUS trip. However, I came home more exhausted than when I left--3 hour time difference+out TOO late+ up TOO early=1 very tired yet happy mom. All totally and completely worth it:)
This is us in the middle of Times Square:
WE LOVE NEW YORK CITY!!!
how fun! someday i hope to go there.
ReplyDelete- carol