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Day 4 - SATURDAY
Day 4 - SATURDAY
Today was supposed to be a cold and rainy day. It turned out to me nice – and even sunny!
The day started with a trip to the World Trade Center site. We got to see the new One World Trade Center building (all 1,776 feet of it!) and visit the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. We got to see the outside memorial and its fountains/reflecting pools at the footprints of the former Twin Towers and seeing the artifacts and exhibitions inside the museum. It was an emotional and solemn experience.
After a lunch at food carts and local restaurants in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan (lots of kids had “New York Style” Pizza), we drove up midtown to the American Museum of Natural History and the Hayden Planetarium. Students had the opportunity to explore the museum and to see a wonderful planetarium show.
After the museum, we went up to Harlem for dinner and live jazz at the world-famous Cotton Club! Kids got to listen to the Cotton Club All-Stars Quartet while they ate dinner, and then sing and dance with the band afterwards. They had a blast!!
We ended our trip seeing our second Broadway Show – the 2019 Tony Award winning “Hadestown” – a modern retelling of the classic Greek myth involving Orpheus and Euridice. It was AMAZING – and very different from Wicked two nights earlier.
After one last walk through Time Square to get the bus, we headed home around midnight!
Day 3 - FRIDAY
Day 3 - FRIDAY
Enjoy some picture from Mr. Petersen's Camera on the right. Top Carousel is chronologically first!
Another day of adventure in NYC! Today was our “Time Square” day – with much of what we did withing 3 blocks of Time Square. Today started a little “later” – everyone enjoyed sleeping in a little more this morning. Our first activity was our workshops with the New York Jazz Academy. We met at a recording/rehearsal space in Time Square and split into three groups – Band, Choir, and non-music. Each group got to work with teachers and musicians from the Jazz Academy. The kids had a GREAT experience and got to learn a lot about jazz, music, careers, and improvisation.
After the workshops, we had a quick lunch near Time Square – at various restaurants and food trucks. Yum!
We then went to Rockefeller Center – explore the shops, seeing the Ice Rink and the Today Show studios before going to the “Top of the Rock” – up 70 stories to the roof of the main building. Today was a beautiful day – 70 and sunny – so it gave us an AMAZING view from mid-town – we could see all the way south to the Statue of Liberty and all the way north to Harlem and the Bronx. It was great being right in between hundreds of skyscrapers!
Next was across the street (literally!) to a private tour of Radio City Music Hall. Kids learned that at 5,900 seats, it's the largest theater in the country. We learned about the history of the building, it’s Art-Deco style, the history of the Rockettes. We got to go backstage, on-stage(!!!), under the stage(!?!) and even to the Rockettes rehearsal space.
We finished the day with exploring midtown and Time Square. The group had dinner together at Bubba Gumps, be got to spend the time before and after dinner wondering around stores and shops on both 5thAvenue and up and down the Square. (I personally enjoyed seeing how many kids made a point of going to the Lego Store!!). Time Square in the evening is definitely an experience!!!
Day 2 - Thursday
Day 2 - Thursday
Enjoy some picture from Mr. Petersen's Camera on the right. Top Carousel is chronologically first!
New York – Museums, rain, and witches!
New York – Museums, rain, and witches!
Another wonderful day in New York! For as nice as yesterday was, weather wise, today was colder and wet - but we didn’t let that get in our way of having a great time!
Today started at the USS Intrepid – a WWII aircraft carrier turned into both a naval history museum and an “Air and Space” museum. Students had an opportunity to see various Navy and Air Force aircraft, as well as a chance to explore the 800+ foot long boat – including the flight deck, the hanger, and the “island” where the command crew controlled the boat. Also on the property was the USS Growler – the only guided missile submarine open to the public – which you could go in (if you weren’t claustrophobic!) and even take a seat at the controls! Besides great exhibits and displays on both boats, both had two retired naval officers as museum docents – talking about their experiences on these boats and answering questions from the students. The museum also had a NASA hanger – with the Space Shuttle USS Enterprise (the first prototype Space Shuttle – NASA used it as a glider to test how it could land) – kids were impressed both by how big -and- how small it was.
After the Intrepid, we headed towards lunch in Columbus Circle (at the SE corner of Central Park. WE ate at an underground eatery – with many kids trying new things, like Poke, Dumplings, Paella, and Blintzes!
With today being St. Patrick’s Day, we planned on walking the 1.5 miles through Central Park to get to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (it was quicker to walk than ride the bus the same distance!). As luck would have it, that’s when the rain started! But the kids were troopers, and we had a great walk through the park – even if we got a little wet! We even got to catch the part of the Parade – which we could hear the drums and the bagpipes long before we could see it!
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (“the Met”) is a HUGE museum – the largest art museum in the country. Students scattered in different directions – but I can tell you that the highlights for me, personally, were the Music Instruments wing, seeing the actual painting of George Washington crossing the Delaware (much bigger in size than I thought), and an amazing “impressionistic” wing with Van Goghs, Monets, and Seurats. Some students told me they also enjoyed the “Egypt” sections (with a complete tomb) and a medieval armor section.
After the museum, it was another long walk around Central Park to get the buses due to roads still being closed (kids were great about it, again!). Dinner was at Ellen’s Stardust Dinner – with lots of singing waitresses and music. We ended the day seeing the first of our Broadway shows – Wicked! It was AMAZING (the was personally the 11th (!?!) time I’ve seen Wicked and it was probably the best performance I’ve seen) – the kids LOVED it.
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Day 1
Day 1
Enjoy some picture from Mr. Petersen's Camera on the right. Top Carousel is chronologically first!
We made it to New York!
After leaving school on Tuesday afternoon around 4:15, we made our way across the eastern half of the county - traveling over 800 miles to get to the Big Apple!
Kids (and drivers) were great. While trying to sleep on the bus is never fun or easy, everyone did manage to get some rest. We woke up to a sunrise in the mountains of Pennsylvania. After some breakfast in New Jersey, we made it to the hotel in the Meadowlands around noon. We had a quick opportunity to change and wash-up at the hotel, then we left to go to Liberty Island State Park (NJ) to catch a ferry to the Statue of Liberty.
The ferry ride gave us a great view of Manhattan (World Trade Center), Brooklyn, and Ellis Island.
Arriving at the Statue of Liberty, we were able to have some lunch, then explore the island. We had opportunities to go up the "pedestal" of the statue - all the way to the top of the "stone" part (and climb 170 stairs in the process) - for an amazing view - both of the statue up close (and from the inside), and of the rivers surrounding. There is a great new museum on Liberty Island that has recently opened, housing exhibits about the history of making the statue, it's history as a gift, and displayng the original torch that was replaced in the 1980s.
After another ferry ride, we arrived at Battery Park - the southern-most part of Manhattan Island (and many kids knew -about- it from the musical "Hamilton"). We met our buses and rode up to China Town and Little Italy. Students had the opportunity to explore both areas - shopping and tasting various "new" foods, especially from Chinese and Italian bakeries!
We had a great dinner at La Nonna in Little Italy, then finally made our way to check in to the hotel around 9:30. After unloading the buses and moving in, everyone is looking forward to being horizontal tonight!
Tomorrow, we head to the USS Intrepid Air and Space Museum, have lunch in mid-town, walk through Central Park - arriving at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; finishing the day with lunch in Times Square and seeing the musical "Wicked" - we can't wait!!
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