2014 Band and Choir Tour Trip to New York City

This last weekend I was in New York City for our school's band and choir tour trip (I am in just choir).  We left Thursday afternoon and got back Tuesday evening.

Thursday

On Thursday, I got up really early (4:40).  I had to finish packing and then be at school by 7:00 a.m. for track practice with all the other tour kids in track.  Since we were leaving that afternoon, and would be missing practice that day, we had to practice in the morning.  Our coach told us that he wanted us to get in 2 hard runs in while we were gone.

We were at school for pretty much the whole day.  We were to be dismissed at 2:00 p.m. (at about the time the last class of the day starts), or when an announcement was made saying that the buses were ready for us.  But, at 2:20 we were still in class.  Everyone was getting worried that they missed the announcement to be dismissed.  At 2:30, the intercom beeped.  All the tour kids jumped out of the seats and headed for the door.  But, we found ourselves seated back down, for we were in a medical lock down.  After about 10 minutes, an announcement was made saying the tour kids could be dismissed, but we had to stay out of a certain area of the school.

We headed for the buses.  We hired a tour bus company.  We had two coach buses for over a 100 people (everyone sat in the same place every time).  The buses reminded me of an airplane.  We also had our own tour guide.  When he needed to give us directions, he would put his arms up like what football coaches due when they need a team huddle.  We would all then huddle together and listen to his directions.

 Shortly after, we were on our way to NYC.  It was about a 24 hour drive.  We stopped approximately every four hours.  Even during the middle of the night.  Each bus had 2 drivers, so they would switch at this time, we would use the bathrooms, and stop for something to eat if it was that time.

Friday

We arrived at our hotel in New Jersey in mid-afternoon.  The bus ride there went by really fast.

We checked into our hotel.  Then we got back into the buses in headed to Yankee Stadium.  After looking around there for a little while, we eat an early supper at Hard Rock Cafe.  When we ate at actual restaurants, like this one, everything was paid for for us.  We just had a limited menu to order off of.  Otherwise, we ate at fast food places or areas where we could break up into smaller groups and go find somewhere to eat.  Then, we would each be handed a $5 bill as we exited the bus.  If we needed more money than that, it was up to us to provide it.

Hard Rock Cafe seemed liked a great place to get a decent hamburger... and it was.

After supper, we walked down to the subway station.  We road the subway to Time's Square.

 The subway was not what I thought it was going to be like.  It thought it was going to be yellow and white and more modern looking.  But, it wasn't.  Riding the subway was a fun experience... especially with such a big group that needed to stick together.

This was a guy who painted himself to look like a statue in the subway station.  He stayed still for awhile and then would move.  In the subway station, there was also a small band playing music.

Time's Square.

The chaperones.

In Time's Square, there were a few people dressed up.  So, immediately every one wanted there picture taken with them.  Not knowing they would ask for a tip.  Yep, if you ever go to the big city, and if there is someone dressed up, and it seems to be a good picture time... don't do it.  All they want is money.  But, I do think this would be a good job for my brother.  He is always looking for aways to make money.  And, this seems like something he would do.

Where the New Year's Eve ball drops.

We had some time Friday night to walk around Time's Square in small groups with our chaperones.  Time's Square really didn't have anything special.  Basically all the stores back home:  H&M, Gap, ect.

Saturday

Saturday was a long day.  We woke up at 6:00, left the hotel by 7:00, and didn't arrive back until 11:00.  This day was packed full of nonstop tourist attractions.

We left the hotel and headed straight to the NBC News Studio.  We wanted to be seen on the 8 and 8:30 weather report.  Savannah, and the other ladies, from the Today Show came out.  She is super pretty!

This bakery was across from the NBC Studio.  I wish I could have gone there.  It smelt so good.

I wasn't too crazy about much of the food we ate in NYC.  I would see fun restaurants and bakeries while driving through the city, but we didn't get to go to any really nice places (which I understand that it would be hard to do with such a big group).  If I were to go to NYC again I would definitely want to go with a small group of family or friends.  It would be more relaxed and we be able to go to some fancier restaurants and famous bakeries.

The Rockefeller Plaza was right next to the NBC News Studios, so we headed over there.

This is just a pretty building.

One thing that bugged me about NYC was all the scaffolding.  I don't know if it was because almost every building was under construction or if it was to give people to walk under if it is raining.  But, it made the city look more messy and run-down.  It gave a dirty, not nice feel.

After going to NBC News and the Rockefeller Plaza, we headed over to Central Park.  There were a TON of runners.  There were lots of paths.  It was a nice walk through the park.

 This is the ceiling inside the structure that I am standing outside of in the picture above.  Inside there was a lady playing the guitar.  Apparently to play music in this place you have to addition.

We ended our walk through Central Park at the Plaza Hotel.

We also got to go to the the F.A.O. Schwarz toy store.

The whole back room was a candy store.  I really just thought the bags and containers to put the candy in were cute.

Look at all these hopping toys.  My sister collects hopping (wind-up) toys, so I got her a bunny that hops and eats a carrot.  This was the only thing I bought in NYC besides food.

Look at all the crayons!  You could pick and choose.  The toy store was huge.  There were a lot of stuffed animals, I thought.  But they had almost everything else.

 

 For lunch, we went to Little Italy and China Town.  I didn't really like this area.  It just seemed kind of sketchy.

 We ate at this restaurant, La Nonna.  This was one where everything was paid for, so we just had a limited menu.  I got spaghetti with meat sauce.  It was not good.  This restaurant seemed kind of sketchy to me.  It was like they were trying to make it nice, but it was still kind of run-down.

 After lunch, we split up into groups and walked around and did some shopping in China Town and Little Italy.  This is the area where shop owners will bargain with you.

Throughout NYC, there were little places to buy flowers and plants outside of buildings.  This one probably wasn't the nicest one, but it was the only one I was able to get a picture of.  On the nicer days, the plants are open to the outside, then on the colder days, there were walls that could be pulled down, probably to create a green house effect.

Saturday afternoon, we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge to St. Pauls Chapel.

It was windy up on the bridge.  Saturday was the warmest day that we were there.  It was a beautiful day for doing lots of walking.

We saw the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street (just the outside).  It was not what I expected it to be.  You could tell that there was lots of security.  But, it was hidden back in this little blocked of street, so it just didn't seem too important.

The new Freedom Tower.

We went to the 9/11 Memorial.  Where the Twin Towers used to stand were big water falls going into the ground.  Around the waterfalls were the names of all the people that died.  There were trees in the area.  One tree amazingly survived the destruction, so it had a little fencing around it.  To get into the memorial, you pretty much have to go through "airport security."   I understand that this place needs respect, but I thought the level of security there was a little extreme.  (I didn't take any pictures of the memorial.  I was starting to get tired of always taking pictures.)

 We ate supper in the food court in the basement of Grand Central Station.

After supper we walked down to Time's Square.  We got to see the Broadway Musical Newsies.  I didn't take any pictures of the theater or the performance.  The theater was actually a really small one.  The performance was fine.  We are going to be singing one the Newsies songs in our next performance at school.

After the musical, we headed back to our hotel for a short, but great, night sleep.

Sunday

On Sunday, I got up, with the other track people, to do one of the workouts that we needed to get in.  We just ran loops around the hotel in the parking lot.

We left the hotel at 8:00 to go to the Empire State Building.

Again, at the Empire State Building, there was "airport security," which I thought was a little extreme.  We went up to the observation deck on the 86th floor.  Surprisingly, my ears didn't pop going up and it really didn't feel like I was up that high when I was on the deck.

After the Empire State Building, we got dropped off near the Rockefeller Plaza.  We split into groups.  We ate lunch in the food court in the basement of the Rockefeller Plaza.  Then at different times, each group was to meet at the Radio City Music Hall for a tour.

While you were waiting for your tour to start and after your tour was over and while we waited for the other groups to finish their tours, we could do some shopping.  At 4:30 we all met up to go back to the hotel.

I thought the tour was somewhat interesting.  Everyone was exhausted, so no one got too much out of the tour.  At one point we were showed a short (10 min.) video clip about the Rockettes.  Most people fell asleep during it.  My head felt really heavy and I could of fallen asleep, but I didn't.

The stage in Radio City Music Hall.

After my group's tour was over, we had about 2 and a half hours until 4:30.  The places to shop at were all stores we had back home.  Everyone was really tired and didn't feel like shopping.  So, for about 2 1/2 hours a few of us sat in a little cafe (Europa Cafe) in Time's Square.  We got some treats and just sat around and chatted.  It was a very refreshing time.  Everyone was tired and it was cold outside walking around.

I got a carrot cake cupcake.  It was ok.  The part is didn't like best was that it had refrigerated.  I have decided that carrot cake is best at room temperature.

At 4:30 we loaded the buses and headed back to the hotel.  For supper we had Domino's Pizza delivered to our hotel.  The rest of the evening was devoted to relaxing, refreshing, and packing.

Monday

Again on Monday, I got up at 6:15, with all the other track kids, to get in my second workout.  We left the hotel at 8:00.  We loaded the buses with our suitcases, for we wouldn't be going back.

We headed to The Cathedral of St. John the Divine for our choir performance.  The church was huge.

I thought our performance was very unprofessional for going all the way to New York City.  At 10:00, all the choir kids stood on some stairs, our director arranged us some, asked one girl to do a solo, and then we started singing.  The only audience we had were the chaperones, the kids in just band, and whoever stopped to listen that was touring the building.  I thought we did a good job, but just the way we did it was not how I was expecting it.  (I didn't take any pictures of the cathedral because I was getting sick of taking pictures)

After singing, we got some lunch.  We got to split up in small groups (4 or more) and walk around to find somewhere to eat.  We were in an area (street) with a bunch places to eat.  We only had an hour.  The group I was in, we wanted to get some lunch and then find this world famous cupcake place that our tour guide told us was in the area (he tired to give us directions to the place).

My group, and some other groups, ended up going to Johns' Pizzeria.  We couldn't find or decide on anywhere else, and with not much time, we just went here.

 I actually thought the pizza was pretty good.  It was thing crust, and maybe made in a brick oven.

 

After lunch, we quickly went looking for that world famous cupcake place.  But, my group couldn't find it.  There were other bakeries in the area, so the just went to another one.

 We went to Rocco's.

I got a piece of chocolate cake.  I got it to go in a box tied with baker's twin.  And, it was good.

 Our school's band marched in the St. Patrick's Day Parade in New York City.  This is a huge parade.  So, we (the only choir people) dropped the band kids off, went and parked the bus, and then went to watch the parade.  We only watched the parade for a little bit.  The parade had been going for hours by the time we got to it.  And, right once our band finish, we went back to the bus.

 I did get to see some Irish bands.

 And, of course our school's band.

Once the band was finished, we headed back to the bus.  We had some time to kill before the next thing on our schedule.

 This is a street near were we parked our bus for the parade.  I really liked this area.  It was a little bit cleaner, the building were cute, and there seemed to be a lot of nice places to shop and eat.

 Sunday night ended with Dinner/Harbor Cruise.  The cruise included a buffet, dancing, and some pretty sights.

 For most people, this was their favorite part of the trip, but, honestly, this was my least favorite.  The buffet was alright.  It was the dancing and music I actually hated.  I am not into my generations popular dancing and music.  The music was WAY TOO LOUD. 

 From the deck on top of the boat, there were some great views.  But, I couldn't stay up there too long... it was cold. 

And, of course, The Statue of Liberty.

After the Harbor Cruise (which ended exactly at 9:00!!!), we hoped in the bus and headed home.  On the way there and way back we spent one night in the bus.  Again, we stopped every 4 hours.  But, the way home didn't go as fast as the way there.

And, we got home earlier than we were supposed to... just in time for a yummy, home-cooked supper!