NYC - the place to be!

Sorry to duplicate this post. I originally published it yesterday afternoon, right before BlogSpot went down and (possibly) deleted everything within a 30-hour time period. Sadly, the draft/notes I saved for the individual play posts are gone so I'll have to start over on those, but I was able to recover this monster from Reader. Hooray!

Times Square in New York City

During that trivia game my brothers and I gave my parents for Christmas, someone submitted the question "How many times has Megan been to New York City?" I was very surprised that the player who answered the question answered correctly! They could even name all of the instances (high school, college graduation, etc). I had been to NYC six times. Enough that I'd seen most of the tourist sights I knew and cared about, and just wanted to shop and see plays on subsequent visits.

The last time I visited was September of 2006 -- four and-a-half years ago. It may surprise some of you that it's been so long, but it's true! There hadn't really been any plays I was dying to see, and I had other vacation destinations on my mind.

But after I returned from that two-week frenzy that was the Caribbean cruise and Disneyland, it didn't take long before I was sad not to have another vacation planned.

Then out of the blue, one of my favorite people sent me and several of her other friends an e-mail asking if we'd care to join her in NYC in May. Um, YES! Larissa suggested four plays and a few other activities, pointed us toward awesome deals on theatre and plane tickets, and basically just made me more excited every time I saw a message from her in my inbox. I even found us a killer deal on a hotel room, thanks to a generous, awesome brother. We would have welcomed a slightly larger group, but in the end, Keri, Larissa and I were all on board.

After months of waiting that went by oddly fast, we finally got to go last week!

For a detailed itinerary of everything we saw and did, I'd like to refer you over the Larissa's blog post. I think she does a really good job touching on everything. Plus, I love her writing style.

Like Larissa, I plan to write up individual blog posts for each of the plays I saw: Wonderland, Catch Me if You Can, Billy Elliot, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and Anything Goes. However, there are a few personal highlights and other observations I want to share:

• The weather was PERFECT! It was low to mid-60s the entire time, which only felt cold Monday morning, and it only rained once briefly Saturday afternoon while I was in a show. Weather.com had been forecasting that NYC would see rain every day. I'm so glad the forecast was wrong! 

above: in front of Bethesda fountain in Central Park

below: a view of the Brooklyn Bridge from the South Street Seaport

• Keri is currently about seven months pregnant. Now, I know that she would have preferred NOT being pregnant for the duration of the trip (especially since some people were beyond rude -- who asks a pregnant woman if she's carrying a horse?) but there were some interesting benefits. For one, we were almost always able to find her a seat on the subway. If there wasn't one readily available, some thoughtful person would stand up and offer his seat to her. It was pretty awesome to see that there are still chivalrous people in the world, even in New York. Another was that apparently the TKTS people let you go to the front of the line if you're pregnant or injured, so instead of waiting 45 minutes to get my tickets to Billy Elliot, I waited 10. Hooray! I must say, as uncomfortable as she must have been, Keri didn't complain, and she didn't slow us down. I'd travel with her any time.

Keri and Larissa on the subway our first day

• Larissa is a terrific tour guide! I honestly think she could make a career out of showing people around New York. She was worried that we wouldn't have time to see everything we wanted which may have made the trip slightly less fun for her. However, she knew where everything was, had no problem navigating the subway, and picked fantastic shows to see (she was initially surprised we picked all the same shows she did -- they were all great)! She's another person I'd absolutely travel with any time.

• My brother, Aaron, joined us for a couple of days. I love Aaron. He's the kind of guy who gets along with everyone, is always up for something new, and finds enjoyment in everything he does. I am never embarrassed to introduce him to my friends -- actually, I was kind of worried that Larissa and Keri would end up liking him more than they like me! Aaron joined us for Billy Elliot, How to Succeed, Rubix Kube, and brunch at Alice's Tea Cup (go there -- the food is DELICIOUS!), and I think they were all even more fun because he was there with me. Since we were together on Mother's Day, we called ours and sang "For She's a Jolly Good Fellow" while walking around Times Square. I am so glad he was free and wanted to come!

 

above: Aaron, Keri, me, and Larissa at the Canal Room to see '80s cover band Rubix Cube
below: Aaron and I outside of Alice's Tea Cup

 

above: Larissa, Keri, me, and Aaron in Central Park

• I also got to spend some time with my friend Kristen K who is living in New York now. She and I met each other seventeen years ago and we still think of each other as sisters, even though we don't see each other often! We're both just the same as we've always been! We had no trouble finding things to talk about, and she gives some of the best hugs ever. I am thrilled she was in town while I was there and had some time for me! I hope it's not another 3 years before I see her again... I'll have to do something about that :-)

 Kristen and I inside and outside of Serendipity - both natural blondes, both currently sporting red hair!

• Are you noticing the "Muggle" t-shirt I'm wearing in the above photos? I bought that at the Harry Potter Exhibition at the Discovery Museum in Times Square! Larissa found out about it the day before we left and I am so glad that she did because I LOVED it! It was basically an exhibit of a ton of costumes, props, wands (yes, they're props, but they displayed wands for almost every character and they were all unique), scenery, music and video clips. I completely geeked out. I took my time walking through and studied everything in there. It was fun to hear all of the kids exclaiming over stuff they recognized (especially when they couldn't think of the item or character name); my favorite was a little French boy who chattered on in his natural language and all of a sudden I'd hear "Dumbledore" or "Hufflepuff" -- so cute! I stifled a laugh when while I was drooling over a Lucius Malfoy costume, a tweenage girl started freaking out over a Draco costume next to it. It was awesome to see how the costumes grew bigger as the actors grew up, and all the intricate little details, right down to the snakeskin boots Gilderoy Lockhardt wore with his dueling outfit. So. Very. Cool. I wished I'd been allowed to take photos and I'm sure I would have maxed out the memory card on my camera. Loved it, loved it, loved it!! I had a hard time choosing souvenirs, and blew quite a bit of money even though they didn't have a "Dumbledore's Army" shirt in my size.

above: at the entrance to the museum

below: proudly displaying my new t-shirt in Grand Central Station

Oh, and I'm currently redesigning Hermione's Yule Ball gown for my someday wedding dress. I can't begin to tell you how much I love this idea. (No, it will not be pink... probably.)

• We bought our theatre tickets separately and we never sat together. The only exception was that Aaron and I sat together during Billy Elliot, because I bought the tickets at the TKTS booth earlier that day. However, sitting apart didn't seem to bother any of us. We were all too engrossed in all of the plays during the actual performances. Afterward, we had plenty to talk about!

 

Keri and I in the audience for How to Succeed. She had the seat right in front of me!

• Our hotel room was HUGE! Thanks to Aaron, we got a great discount on a room, and we each had our own beds! (Well, Aaron shared with me the one night he was there.) We didn't even know a room of that size was available in New York. It was large and comfortable and the staff was pleasant. Not only did we get a good price, but it was in a great location. It's nice when these things work out! 

Notice Larissa doing a backbend on the hide-a-bed? She rocks. 

• I'm not sick anymore! I was so worried after being sick last month and then so tired for the last couple of weeks that I might have trouble keeping up -- I didn't! And I packed terrific shoes. Generally, my feet would get tired sometime around lunch, but by the end of the day they didn't ache very much. Happy, happy!

 

at Highline Park

• If I were to go back to New York in the next few weeks, I'd see The People in the Picture, Sister Act, War Horse, and Jersey Boys. From everything I saw and heard while there, those are the shows to see (well, those and the ones I actually DID see). No, I am not interested in The Book of Mormon musical. I can't even sit through an entire episode of South Park, and I can watch that for free. I understand that the writers make fun of everyone, but that's generally not my favorite way to be entertained.     

Oh, hey! Friends who've seen Jersey Boys somewhat recently (I'm looking at you, Rach), how was the F-word quotient? I know you're sensitive to the word, too, but did it bother you overmuch in the show? Just curious. I'm thinking about going to Las Vegas to see it.

• The very last touristy thing we did on the trip was briefly spend some time in the Toys R Us in Times Square. I cannot go to a Wal*Mart, Target, or toy store without walking through the Barbie aisle, and Larissa and Keri indulged me. I wasn't expecting to find a Dream House fascade!

 

Can you see me in the middle window (above) and the far right window (below)?

Well, those are the big "overall" things I want to make sure I remember. Wow. This was a great trip!  I can't wait to go again!

And now I have to plan another vacation so I have something else to look forward to. Hooray!

More information to come about the Broadway plays I saw. Stay tuned...