Travel Blog

MONDAY, MARCH 24

Day 5 - done and home safe!! (20,114 steps)

We made it home safely!! Today we had an early start. We took the subway to the Rockefeller Center where we were able to go to the "Top of the Rock" observatory. While it was raining, the visibility was better than I had anticipated and was able to get somewhat decent pictures. From there, we had a little free time before heading across the street for a tour at Radio City Music Hall. (Such an amazing space).

Reflecting on this trip, there are so many positives that I want to share: 

1. My favorite part of the trip was getting to spend time with students outside of the classroom. There are so many things I learned about so many kids. Additionally, I truly enjoyed hearing what their trip highlights were.

2. WE SUCCESSFULLY RODE THE SUBWAY WITH 95 PEOPLE!! MULTIPLE TIMES!!! (It still blows my mind when I think about it.)

3. Your kids are so resilient. Did we have little blips here and there? Yup. Did we have kids who were sick? Sadly, yes. But everyone bounced back and stayed with the group 100% of the time. 

4. Our parent chaperones were AMAZING!! We had an incredible team of parents helping on this trip and it would not have been the well-oiled machine that it was without them. I can not thank them enough for everything that they did. It truly was the dream team.  Thank you so much to Chris Bogzevitz, Dory Rodriguez, Teresa Heit-Murray, Lori Churchouse, Meg Chalmers and Jennifer Mahoney.

5. We got everywhere on time, every single time. This is because kids showed up to be where they were supposed to be, when they were supposed to be there. 

6. A few stats according to my fitbit: over the course of 5 days we walked a total of 41.3 miles which translates to 103,518 steps. Now you know why your kids are so exhausted.

I am BEYOND proud of our OPRFHS choir & theatre students and feel that this trip was a great success. 

And now, I will be signing off of all technology for the next four days. Enjoy the rest of your spring break! Thank you everyone for a great trip! 

SUNDAY, MARCH 23

Day 4 - done! (23,861 steps)

Another full day on the books. We began our day passing the Statue of Liberty on our way to Ellis Island. It was really interesting to see the passports and photos of people who had passed through there so many years ago. Some students were even able to locate information about their own family. 

After taking the ferry back to Manhattan, we walked over the the 9/11 Memorial. This was my first time in the museum and I have to say it is one of the best museums I have ever been in. I will admit that it was emotionally overwhelming but I felt grateful to have had the opportunity to visit. I was incredibly proud of the students. 9/11 wasn't something that they lived through but, as they say, they "understood the assignment." They handled the intensity of this museum very well and I was impressed with the many thoughtful questions and comments I heard from students. 

We had more time scheduled at the museum than we needed so we took a quick break at a mall across the street before heading to Chinatown. There, students had time to explore the area shops and some even learned the art of bartering. Our evening ended with a group dinner at an area restaurant.

Check back tomorrow for updates on day 5!

SATURDAY, MARCH 22

Day 3 - done! (22,557 steps)

Today we started out with our performance at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. The choir and our soloists sang beautifully in the cathedral. I specifically picked music that was written for that space and it was fun to hear it come alive. They weren't kidding when they said it's about a 6-7 second reverb. My favorite was hearing chords ringing out after I cut the choir off. Please see below a recording of one of their songs. (I will try to post the others soon).

As I mentioned, my good friend Julia accompanied us - she is currently the acting music director and "Joan" in the production of SIX on Broadway. Ms. Bayer and the cast of SIX were able to meet her and get a picture with her. 

After our performance, we were grateful to have a little downtime at the hotel before heading to Columbus Circle. There was a moment that I was nervous that it was going to rain during our tour of central park. Lucky for us, the storm cloud passed right over us and the sun graced us for our tour. 

Central Park is absolutely gorgeous and our guide shared a lot of information about the many movies that were filmed there. We walked a total of two miles to and during that tour. Whew!

After the tour, we had a delicious dinner before heading to see The Outsiders. The fight scene in that show will forever be burned in my memory as one of the greatest staged fight scenes I have ever seen. Wow!!

Come back tomorrow for updates on day 4!

FRIDAY, MARCH 21

Day 2 - complete! (19,167 steps)

OK, so no celebrity sightings today, but I did have the BEST BAGEL OF MY LIFE today if that is of interest to anyone. 

Once again, everyone was fantastic and we had another great (and very busy) day. We started the day by taking the subway to the Ailey Dance Studios where students participated in a broadway workshop. The space was AMAZING and the workshop was a lot of fun. Personally, I really enjoyed watching non-theatre kids putting themselves out there and trying something different. Everyone learned a song from the show "Little Shop of Horrors" and then learned the choreography to go with it. While I can't post videos due to copyright, I did take a few photos of the space and vocal warm ups. 

After the workshop we had lunch in Times Square, took a walking tour of Manhattan which included a few theaters, the NYC Public Library (outside only) and Grand Central Station. We then visited the newly opened Museum of Broadway before heading over to dinner (in a restaurant with singing waitstaff!)

To close the night, the group split up with some students attending "Little Shop of Horrors" and the rest going to see "Hadestown." Both shows were fantastic! 

Come back tomorrow for updates on day 3!