So today was a pretty awesome day!
We started out with a delicious catered buffet for breakfast, then hopped back on to our buses for a guided tour of Manhattan. The tour guide we had on the Green Bus (Eugene) was pretty awesome. He was incredibly knowledgable about New York, and had some great stories to boot. We drove all over Manhattan, visiting the different areas of the city. It's amazing how much variety there is! I know it sounds kind of silly to say, but there is a huge disparity between the rich and the poor, and everywhere in between. We drove past the places where the rich and the famous dwell and shop, and then locations where "normal" people live. Eugene showed us the club where Lady Gaga was discovered, and mentioned a pretty mind-blowing fact: if you were to spend $1 a second since Moses parted the Red Sea, then you would have spent the wealth of the Rockefeller's (adjusted for inflation). Craziness! But, when you consider that even a studio apartment downtown can go for $2000 a month, that kind of money seems more necessary to make it in Manhattan!
On the tour we also got out and took a brisk walk through Central Park, and we also stopped at Grand Central Station for what Eugene called "Tea and a Pee." No one got tea (more like coffee), but the phrase still made me laugh, and I am going to try to integrate it into my vernacular!
After our bus tour, we got let off at the famous Rockefeller Plaza for lunch. We didn't get to to into Rockefeller Center, unfortunately, as the NBC Studios tour had to be closed down, and we went up the Empire State Building as our super-tall observation deck. But we got to explore a little bit (in our chaperone groups, of course!) before ending up at Radio City Music Hall. This building houses the largest theater in the world, and one of only four theaters in the world where the stage can be raised, lowered, or rotated (in four different sections, no less) while performers are on it. The auditorium itself seats over 5000 people, which is a pretty awesome sight. Even more awesome was the fact that the Rockettes were actually rehearsing while we were there! Our tour guide let us sit in on their rehearsal for a bit. Pretty nifty hearing the directors giving them instructions and stuff, just like in a high school production!
Once we got our photos taken with an actual Rockette, we went off to explore 5th avenue and Times Square for a bit; one group even had a sighting of James Franco shopping in the Godiva Chocolate store! Then, we hopped back on the bus and headed to Pier 61 on the Hudson River for our dinner cruise. The cruise itself was a blast! The dinner as delicious, and then we were allowed to take in the magnificent sights while listening to the very best that pop music has to offer played loudly from every speaker in the boat. And a very random coincidence: we shared the boat with Johnston High School. Yes, the Johnston High School that is right down the road from Saydel. We travel a thousand miles from home, and spend the evening with 150 other people that all live within 30 miles of us.
After we docked, we piled back into the buses, and are now crashing back in our beds, ready for tomorrow's adventures! And what do those adventures entail? The Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, the 9/11 Site, St. John's Cathedral, a group dinner at John's Pizzeria, and then NEWSIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry, I'm a little excited for that. I'm also excited for the fact that it's supposed to be in the mid-50's. Finally, some warmer weather!
I leave you now with a collection of pictures from our trip thus far! Until tomorrow, blog-readers!
Empire State Building Elevator Selfie:
On top of the Empire State Building. A little cold and windy, but what a view!
Green Bus at Central Park:
Starbucks: the universal symbol of "I'm sleep-deprived":
We found a little bit of tropical paradise:
In line for Radio City Music Hall:
I got nothing:
Excited to Dance the Night away!
A couple of our FIERCE chaperones:
The entire Saydel Group on the cruise:
Looks like everyone is having a great time
ReplyDelete