Last Day in NYC

And then on the third day...

Whew! I didn't think there'd be anything left to see of NYC but we barely scratched the surface!  We didn't have anything pressing time-wise to do, so we took our time in the morning. I got my lovely Starbucks hot chocolate again. Even if it's 97 degrees outside, it's still a good idea to start your day with free hot chocolate. #lifetip

We had tickets to see a show in the early afternoon- so until then we just see'd as many sights as we could cram in. 

Our first subway stop was Grand Central Station- another one of those I've-Heard-About-It-My-Whole-Life-And-I-Want-To-See-It-For-Reals places.

It was really pretty inside. I honestly had no idea what to expect. It was much... er... more grand than I thought it would be.(ohhh.. NOW I get it!) Definitely a fancy station, for sure. 

I took some pics of the ceiling- which depicts astrological signs- but only the ones from the summer months. Boo... The pictures are really hard to see though, so I deleted them from this post. Meh. Trust me, you're not missing much.  This is the only one that kinda turned out. 

It was neat to see that they still have the train boards flashing. They're digital now, but you can still hear the echoing of the little flipping tiles (there is a *slight* chance I've watched too many movies).

Just as you walk out of the station- Kablam! The Chrysler tower is *Right There* 

Let's pause here to quote a couple of lines from Broadway shows:

"I'm supposed to be the Grand Duchess, Anastasia- but I think I look more like the Chrysler building!

- The Producers

"... and if this floor don't shine like the top of the Chrysler building, your backside will!"

-Annie

Are you quite finished? Ok. moving on. 

As we were walking to our next destination, we passed the main entrance to Grand Central. It's pretty fancy too!

One of the must-sees on Kristen's list was the New York Public Library.  I've wanted to see it because of movies like Breakfast at Tiffany's, so I was down to see it too. 

It's definitely one of the fancier libraries I've been in. And puzzling as there seems to be no books. Haha I knew from Breakfast at Tiffany's that it was not a browsing library- but I thought there would at least be *some* way to look for books. There was a study room- but we didn't have the qualifications to get in. Hopefully next time we can figure out the system. 

Heading nowhere in particular, we stumbled upon Bryant park. I only know this name because I'm a fan of Project Runway and this is where they have Fashion Week. 

We were getting hungry- but not lunchy just yet. So we stopped at this adorable little French Patisserie 

You can never go wrong with an éclair- so I got one. 

Here I am, all happy with my little éclair. What is usually in an éclair, cream, right? 

Imagine my astonishment and delight when I bit in and it was CHOCOLATE MOUSSE! OH my gosh! I should have gotten eight more! It was SO GOOD!

Being near Bryant park, and walking past stores completely dedicated to selling buttons (yes, buttons. walls and walls of buttons) we realized we'd wandered into the Fashion District. And once again, the Project Runway geek in me surfaced and we tracked down Mood- the fabric store where all the contestants run around like maniacs trying to find the perfect textile. Oh my gosh. It is a maze in there! They give them 30 minutes on the show- that has got to be just for production purposes. There is no way you can find what you're looking for in under 30 minutes. 

There was an upstairs and a downstairs- fabric stuffed in every corner. 

No. I did not see Swatch. He was not there that day. 😞

By this time we needed to get closer to the theater so we kept walking. This is the closest  we got the Empire State building- but it was close enough, a block away. I can say I've seen it. 

We had a little time before our show, so we were going to eat lunch at Junior's but it was SO BUSY we only had time to get a slice of New York cheesecake. It was probably the best NY style cheesecake I've ever had. It was kind of weirdly crumbly, but then you'd put it in your mouth and it was like buttuh. Oh my goodness, it was so smooth and creamy. Yum-O!

Not far from Junior's was our theater. The Richard Rodgers Theater where we got to see Hamilton. 

HAMILTON! Did you hear...er...read that? Ham. Il. Ton!

When we were planning our trip, we both knew we wanted to see a show, but which one? There are so many to choose from. We *really* wanted to see The Music Man with Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster, but they wanted $450 a ticket! YIKES! So we narrowed it down to Wicked and Hamilton.

I've seen Wicked before (you know I'm obsessed right, my cats *are* named Elphaba and Nessa Rose, after all)- but there's nothing quite like seeing a show on Broadway- so I would have been ok with that. I had seen the Disney+ version of Hamilton and already loved it. Kristen had not seen either- or heard the music from either- so I let her pick. I was secretly glad she chose Hamilton- I'd never seen it on stage so it was a first for both of us. 

You know how sometimes you see a show, or hear the soundtrack with the original cast and then when you see it with a different cast, you're a little bit disappointed? Nope. Not this time. It was fan.freaking.tastic and I would not have changed a thing. 

We had really good seats. We were in the mezzanine, but honestly, looking around, I don't think there's a bad seat in the house. 

Final recommendation: GO. SEE. HAMILTON!

The theaters are almost all near Time's Square- so while we were there, we stopped by the Disney Store...

...because we're all well aware of the fact that I am just a six-foot-tall five year old. 

This is my- good riddance, Time's Square face. I was there. I don't need to return. 

Kristen's husband was driving into the city to bring us the car. We had a little time before he got there so we wandered down the street to Trinity Church. It was just down from our hotel. I wish I would have realized its significance sooner. ALEXANDER HAMILTON is buried there! What!?! 

We hustled over- but same old story- everything closes early there. It was 5:45 and they closed at 6 so they were not letting new people in. I begged. Please! I just want to take a quick picture and I'll leave. Nope. Dang. 

Luckily- his gravesite is near the fence so we were able to peek in and see it anyway. I do need to go back though, because a lot of the people mentioned in the play, including his wife, son, and sister-in-law, Angelica are buried there. 

After seeing that show, the church the previous day where George Washington and other founding fathers worshiped, then Hamilton's grave- I was definitely in history mode- which was really convenient because the next week would be filled with history. 

We met up with Kristen's husband- thank you thank you for bringing the car in, and then taking the train back home. You didn't have to do that and it was very kind of you! 

The original plan included walking across the Brooklyn bridge- but time and feet wouldn't allow it. So I was perfectly content to drive across it. We said our goodbyes to Manhattan and blew it a kiss in the rearview mirror. 

That one's ok.. let's try another one. 

No, no... try again... ok good. This one's better. 

Hello Brooklyn!

Ok, one last one of Manhattan...

We were in Brooklyn a grand total of about 10 minutes and then crossed the Verrazano Bridge.

The we crossed the Staten Island Bridge- which I've actually been on before- that one time I got lost on my mission and ended up crossing it. 

[Insert time travel waves]

I was with my greenie. We were going back to our area after a zone conference and I got lost. I was so freaked out, I thought I was going to get in so much trouble, maybe even sent home! The lady at the toll booth asked for my money and when I said I didn't have any, she said she'd just bill it to the license plate. 

"Ma'am," I said, "I am a missionary and I'm not supposed to leave my area. I will get in so much trouble if you tell on me." 

She was very understanding and said, "Sweetie, just head down the road, take a left, turn around, and go home. You'll be fine." So I went along my way but I was flipping out so much, I missed the left and went even *further* into Staten Island. Oh my gosh. 

When we finally got home I called my district leader to tell him everything. Poor Elder McKay, having to deal with hysterical sisters. "Are you ok?" I confirmed I was fine. "Is your companion ok?" I confirmed she was fine too... "Then don't worry about it."

WHEW!

Ok... back to the present... 

Speaking of New Jersey- we passed through it. My mission was the northern part, so we were only in my mission for minute...

...but we accidentally took a wrong exit (see? It's not just me! It's confusing!) and ended up going a little further into my mission. My last area was Elizabeth- so it was almost close to home. 💚

On our drive, we were both in history mode so we listened to documentaries about Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr- we wanted to see how historically accurate the play is. 

We drove and drove; I recall only stopping once for food and loo- and then kept on driving. We passed out of New Jersey and on through Delaware and Maryland down into Virginia.  I've always heard that the Washington DC temple just kind of sneaks up on you. You're driving down the highway and then KAPOW! There it is! They aren't kidding! I was right there- just floating above the road. 

I'm glad I got to see it at night- and experience this phenomenon. We headed into Leesburg and crashed at Marie's house. Anadine was already there, and Megan came sometime during the wee hours while we were all still asleep. 

New York was a wonderful adventure! There's still so much to see and do, but I think that was a pretty good first go. Our feet definitely needed the long drive to rest- because the next week... well, you thought we did a lot in NYC- just you wait till the DC posts! Whew!

 

Math and Phantom

Hello all! How are you surviving quarantine? My job was temporarily suspended- so I find I have a lot of time on my hands. I should probably be writing more- but I find other things to do. 

I am a second grade tutor for my nephew. I go to their house every day for school. I sit with him and help him through it. It's been a struggle some days- but then I had a break through. I had HIM teach ME! Guys, Common Core math is no joke. I would have never made it out of kindergarten! I showed him "my" math and he said it was called "extended math" I felt like Mr Incredible when he said, "you can't change Math! Math is Math!" 

Oh man. ODB has been having a ball watching me struggle trying to addition and subtraction on a number line. What a mess. But if it gets that kid excited to to schoolwork- I'll make myself the fool.

The 4th grader wrote out an assignment for me today- adding odd fractions and reducing them down. Oh my gosh. I broke out in the math sweats for that one!

Whew! Thank Goodness it's Friday, right?

Which brings us to the whole point of this post. While scrolling through some site or other, I serendipitously came across a notice that The Phantom of the Opera was playing on YouTube this weekend. I've already watched a show from the National Theatre of London- One Man, Two Guvnors starring James Cordon (super funny!)

I plan on taking full advantage of the streaming productions! I missed last week's adaptation of Jane Eyre- for which I'm totally kicking myself because it is one of my all time favorite love stories. Never again! I will not miss another one!

So when I saw that the Phantom was a very limited release- I dropped everything to watch it. (any by "everything" I mean flipping through shows on Disney+ or Hulu)

The version released by The Show Must Go On was the 25th Anniversary edition- so it's like, 10 years old- but it was so good! plus the star playing Christine was Sierra Boggess. I saw her live in Denver when the original cast of The Little Mermaid was doing a pre-Broadway tour. So that was a fun connection.

It's confession time. As much as I love Wicked... and Les Mis... I LOVE Phantom. I will admit that I have seen it five times on the stage. Every time it comes to a theater near me, I have to go. Like, I HAVE to. 

I was first introduced to it my sophomore year of high school. Though only a soph I was asked at the very last minute to take a spot on the Senior Choir tour (and by last minute- I mean Last. Minute. They called me Sunday night at 10:00 to leave at 4 am on Monday- fastest packing I've ever done in my life!). We went to Los Angeles that year. We spent a day at Disneyland- but oddly that was not my favorite thing. The evening spent at the Phantom changed my life. 

I have always loved musicals- that's what I grew up on. While most kids my age were listening to rock and roll or country- I was listening to Rodgers and Hammerstein and Disney. But I had never experienced anything like this before. Andrew Lloyd Webber changed my world!

Me with my choir teacher, Hage. 

How cute is my dress??? My mom made it! I felt so awkward and out of fashion- but looking back now, dang it was cute! I wish I could pull that kind of dress off now! No, I can't. Trust me.

I remember not being able to breathe. It was so amazing. I was afraid if I blinked I'd miss something. It was incredible. 

That night I bought my first ever CD (that's a nice story, grandma). I still have it. It's well worn. But I keep it safe. Somewhere in the 20-something years I lost the booklet of lyrics- but the CDS and case are original. 

I introduced the rest of my family to this Play- they also loved it. Not like I did- but still... I listened to it constantly. I know almost every lyric (to the original- they have changed it in subsequent versions and it drives me crazy that they sing the wrong words. haha!)

Two years later on another choir tour we went to San Francisco. This time as a senior I didn't have to be invited. I was already in Senior Choir! We voted what activities we wanted to do on tour- of course I voted for Phantom. Oh. Yes.

The fanciest dress I've ever owned... it was also my graduation dress

This time was special because I had time to plan ahead. Last time I bought the CD... what could I buy this time? I opted for a replica of the phantom's mask. I even paid a little extra for a tour after the production. I got to see the stage, the trap doors and all the marks- and then we went backstage and met Franc D'Ambrosio who played the Phantom. You can't really see in the picture, but he signed my mask.

It was the best day of my life! I still have that mask! It is a box somewhere in my mom's basement- but this is inspiring me to go digging for it and bring it back out into the light of day. 

In the ensuing years I listened to the music often- and sang it every time. Back in the day when my friends and I used to gather around the piano and sing it was always part of our repertoire. My friend Ryan and I would sing Think of Me- and my personal Favorite solo was Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again. 

For years it was my angry music. And my cleaning music. And my don't talk to me music. And now it's my nostalgic take-me-back-to-better-days music. Then they came out with the movie. Oh my gosh. I LOVED the movie! I've practically worn out my DVD. It's not as good as seeing it in person- but they can definitely do things on film that they can't accomplish on stage. It also introduced me to one of my celebrity crushes- Gerard Butler (who reigned for years until I "met" my love Richard). 

I saw it those two times in Cali and then thrice in Salt Lake. No one in my mind can match Michael Crawford's Phantom- and Sarah Brightman's {original} Christine (she's done some other versions I'm not a huge fan of). 

Anyway... I'm just rambing now. I could really just sit here and talk about it forever. A.L.W. is a true genius. I genius, I tell you (not counting the whole Love Never Dies debacle). For a while there I got some flack for liking Phantom. But people always seem to find ways to criticize things that shoot to popularity. There's a reason it's so popular! The music- the scoring- the lyrics. It's all brilliant. 

So hopefully you see this before the show is done streaming- you have 24 hours! on your mark, get set. WATCH!

And let it give you all the feels- the goose bumps and the tears that it deserves. It is not the greatest rendition I've seen, but it soothes my soul nonetheless. 

I hope your heart can handle it!