Are we having fun yet?
. . . 
I had the opportunity over Easter weekend to chaperone a high school orchestra trip to New York City. Two orchestra groups had the once-in-a-lifetime experience performing in Carnegie Hall. They gave a fabulous performance and made all of us very proud! Taking 109 people (about 10 chaperones and the rest students) is a complicated and daunting task, but these students were extremely well-behaved and a pleasure to travel with…they made the “work” an easy task.
The entire trip was an awesome experience (my first time to visit New York). I was really impressed with how clean the city was, and wish Houston was the same way. Times Square came close to being a sensory overload, but it was amazing and fun to experience the lights, sounds, crowds, street vendors, stores, and everything else. The architecture there was fascinating to me. I could go back and spend a month just taking pictures of buildings and statues, etc. There is so much history and beauty there!!
The afternoon we arrived, we got checked into the hotel, then went to eat at Planet Hollywood and take a group picture in Times Square at night.
The next day, we took the bus to the practice hall in the morning, then went on a bus tour of the City in the afternoon (sack lunches from Artie’s Deli – it was raining, so instead of a picnic in Central Park, one bus chose to stay in the bus to eat, but then found out later that the other bus got to go eat in the lobby of Trump Tower – “no fair!!” was the verdict from the other bus). We got to see Harlem, Central Park, millionaire’s homes, multi-millionaire’s homes, The Dakota (where John Lennon lived and got shot), museums, famous 5th Avenue stores, Ground Zero, Rockefeller Square, Trump Tower, where the Titanic would have docked if it hadn’t sunk, and lots more. That evening, we walked in the rain (all dressed up) about 7 blocks to eat at the Center Stage Cafe’ (at the Doubletree Hotel), then went to the Shubert Theater to see SPAMALOT. It was GREAT!!!! Then it was back to the hotel and strict curfew before the big performance the next day.
The next day, we got to sleep in a little, then go to brunch at Robert Emmett’s. It was really good! We then went back to the hotel, got all dressed up in the tuxes, long dresses (the orchestra members) and our nice clothes (the chaperones and parents) and took the bus to Carnegie Hall. As mentioned, the performance was stellar, and a thrilling experience. Unfortunately, it is against the law there to take pictures, so we didn’t get to photograph or video our kids there. We have the memories, though! We then went back to the hotel to change back into comfy clothes and walk to Applebee’s to eat dinner. The kids were then split up between the chaperones, and got to spend the evening exploring Times Square, 5th Avenue, etc. until curfew.
The next day, we had breakfast on our own, and had groups that attended various Easter services. We then boarded the buses for Battery Park and a ferry ride past the Statue of Liberty and a short stop on Ellis Island. It was really neat to see the various types of “luggage” used to make the trip over…from plain picnic baskets to exquisitely decorative trunks, and to imagine the travellers who had arrived there so many years ago in search of a new life opportunities. We then went to the Director’s Surprise (he has one surprise for each trip that is kept a secret until boarding the buses to go). This trip, we got to go see the Blue Man Group perform. It was SO MUCH FUN!!!! After that, we went to Puglia’s for dinner in Little Italy, and then on the buses to tour the Empire State Building. Needless to say, we were T-I-R-E-D by the time we finally made it back to the hotel that night at almost midnight!
The next morning, we checked out of the hotel and took buses to China Town, where we got to wander around and shop for a couple of hours. We then met at Sweet -n- Tart for a yummy lunch before boarding the buses to the airport. We flew back to Houston and arrived around 8:00 p.m. We made it back without losing anyone, and just in time for TAKS testing (AUGH!!) the next day. 
Enjoy some of the pictures I took:
