Part 2 of Spring Break was New York City, where we met 275 students, teachers, and parents from the Northwest Guilford High School Arts Department. Chorus, band, drama, orchestra, and visual arts all traveled together to spend 5 days in NYC. Our family did not ride up in the charter busses with the group since we were going early/stopping in Philadelphia, so we met everyone on Tuesday evening when they arrived. During our time in the Big Apple, we saw 3 Broadway shows, walked miles and miles each day, and had the best group of kids to chaperone. Each group made up their own itinerary and Mark and I had a blast with these kids. Here are some of the highlights:
Our family enjoyed a walk and dinner outside in Little Italy on Tuesday before the group arrived at the hotel. It was a great evening of pasta, cannoli, wine, and people watching.
Day 1:
5 charter busses from NWHS descended on Times Square and unloaded everyone for a full day of sightseeing with their chaperone groups. We reconvened each evening for dinner and a Broadway show:
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| Our group of kiddos. |
We quickly learned that the best way to keep teenagers happy and moving is to stop for snacks and drinks often. We frequented Starbucks multiple times each day, and our first "authentic" NYC stop was for bagels:
We walked from Times Square to Central Park, meandered through winding paths and fields, and visited some well known sights:
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Very friendly Central Park squirrel.
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Iconic Bethesda Fountain.
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Gorgeous tilework in Bethesda Terrace.
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| Love this architecture! |
In an attempt to keep parents at home updated (and to document our trip), I asked everyone to smile for a picture on Broadway. These are the looks they gave me. Please note, this was 8:48 a.m. on Day 1:
Carnegie Hall was on our list of must-sees for our musicians on their walking tour, but unfortunately, it was covered in scaffolding. We giggled at the fake facade that overlayed the construction area:
Next was Grand Central Station. We felt like country mice in this bustling, enormous travel hub!
We became kids again when we went to FAO Schwarz. Leah found her favorite candy, Twizzlers, but we told her they were too "tiny" to buy!
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| Rockefeller Plaza |
Our Broadway show for Night 1 was "& Juliet". It was fantastic! The show was lively, entertaining, and featured a contemporary pop score in a jukebox musical style. We returned to our hotel a little before midnight and collapsed into bed after our full day. We walked 8.1 miles on Day 1, and our feet felt it!
Day 2:
We started our day as a group at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. I can not express in words what a powerful experience this was. The twin reflecting pools (each an acre in size) sit in the footprints of the North and South Towers and contain the largest manmade waterfalls in North America. It is a somber and contemplative space, and the sound of the cascading water creates a sense of tranquility:
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| The names of the 2,983 people killed are inscribed on the edges of the memorial pools. |
The Survivor Tree was discovered by recovery workers after 9/11 and was badly damaged. It was removed from the site and nursed back to health. The tree was returned to the World Trade Center site and is a symbol of perseverance and resilience. Each year, seedlings from the Survivor Tree are given to 3 communities that have endured recent tragedy.
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| The Oculus is a huge transportation hub at the World Trade Center. |
The 9/11 Museum is a beautiful, sacred space, and is found in the footprints of the North and South Towers. Photographs are not allowed in certain areas of the museum which contain photos and personal artifacts of the victims, first person testimony, and archival video and audio recordings. These memorial and historical exhibitions had us in tears. Other parts of the museum allow cameras and contain artwork, informational displays, and remnants found during recovery efforts.
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| The Last Column: final piece of World Trade Center steel to be removed from Ground Zero. |
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| The Survivors' Stairs provided an unobstructed exit for people fleeing. |
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| Point of impact of plane in beam of steel from South Tower. |
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| North Tower Beams. |
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| Foundation of North Tower: Memorial Hall. |
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Every one of the 2,983 water color squares is its own shade of blue...
"Trying to Remember the Color of the Sky on that September Morning" |
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| Mural on garage door. |
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| The ONE window pane (out of 40,000) that survived the attack intact. |
The adults could have spent all day at the 9/11 museum, but the kids were hungry, so at lunchtime, we found a local sushi place and refueled.
We mastered the NYC Subway on Day 2 and the kids preferred hopping on and off trains vs. walking all over the city:
When we walked out of one of the subway stops, Luke said to me, "Look, Mom, It's Leo P...". I had no idea who Leo P. was except for the fact that he was the ONE person that Luke wanted to see in NYC. Apparently he is an alto sax player who is known for his music performances on the streets and in subway stations in NYC. This viral You Tube/social media performer was known by ALL of the kids on the trip, and they were in awe that we actually spotted him and got a picture:
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| Watching Leo P. |
We did lots of shopping on Day 2, including the Harry Potter Store. Everyone in our group was HP fans, and we love a good themed store:
Next was Trinity Church, where we found the final resting places of Alexander Hamilton, Eliza Schuyler, and their son, Phillip. Does anyone else have the Hamilton soundtrack running through their heads as they look at these photos?!
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| Trinity Church Cemetery. |
We also rambled through the streets of China Town, where many locals sat outside enjoying music and playing games:
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| China Town fish market. |
Our big group met for dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe and then walked to our Broadway show for the evening: "Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street" starring JOSH GROBAN! The show was hilarious, dark, and clever, and Josh Groban's voice was beautiful. We loved this one, too, and it was so different than our upbeat contemporary musical from Night 1.
Day 3:
Next was our ferry ride to the Statue of Liberty. This day was hot... it was 85 degrees in April, and we were glad to have scheduled this boat ride during mid-day where we could enjoy the breeze coming off the Hudson River.
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| Our little Lady Liberty sitting between two exhausted teens. |
After walking around Liberty Island, we took the ferry to Ellis Island, but everyone was too hot and tired to do a structured tour there. We opted for lunch in the air conditioning to recharge, and then we visited Little Island and walked along the High Line:
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| Little Island: such a cool, urban park! |
We also had a very special VIP Tour of the FDNY Marine 1, which is one of three fire boats for the city. One of the girls in our chaperone group has a family member who is a firefighter at this station, and he took us around the station and onto the boat. It is very rare for civilians to be able to to do this, and it was a really neat experience. These boats played an important role in 9/11 as they shuttled people from Manhattan and New Jersey and assisted in rescue efforts at the World Trade Center:
We had dinner at Ellen's Stardust Diner and learned the cultural significance of this retro diner. The singing waitstaff were lots of fun, and they accommodated our large group very well!
Our show on Night 3 was Hadestown. We have been listening to the soundtrack for weeks, and this show was incredible. We loved it so much that we bought tickets for grandparents to see it later this year. The talented musicianship, the phenomenal casting, seeing Brian Drye play trombone onstage... Hadestown, you blew our minds for so many reasons, and you deserve every single Tony Award that you've won!
I hadn't been to NYC in almost 20 years, and I wouldn't have ranked it among my top favorite big cities before this trip. However, the Big Apple showed off her best side this visit. The places we went were clean, felt safe, and the city was vibrant and filled with culture and life. It's fun to exercise our "city muscles" and show the kids how people live in different parts of our country. It was also great to be with so many families that we know and for L&L to experience these trips with friends. Until next time, We 💓 you, NYC!
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