New York, New York (the story)

For those of you that care, New York was AMAZING! We had such a great time on the trip. Every minute of our trip was planned before we even got there and we got to do most of everything that we planned to do. Howard Todd did a fabulous job of planning our trip. Some of the highlights for me were going to the TODAY show, visiting M and M world and seeing Lion King on Broadway. Here is the breakdown of our trip:
After a horrible flight we finally arrived in New Jersey around noon Eastern time, our buses were late picking us up but we got to the hotel around 2:15 and were able to check in early and get some lunch. At 4 we headed to mid-town where we went to the Top of the Rock Observation Deck where we got a 360 view of NYC. It was so beautiful, you could even see Central Park from there. After that, we had a quick bite for dinner and caught a double decker bus tour of the city...INCREDIBLE! It was very cold but so worth it! The view was amazing! We were able to sit at the top and enjoy the view. We stopped briefly at the World Trade Center site but there wasn't much to see there because of the fences that were up. It was so weird to be in the place where it all happened though, walking down the streets you look up and all you see are buildings and one day we were walking about a block from the WTC and I couldn't stop trying to imagine what it was like on that day in 2001 when people were doing just what I was at that moment, walking down the street not thinking twice that their lives were about to be changed forever.
The WTC was our last stop for the evening since we had been traveling all day and we were getting up bright and early for the TODAY show on Thursday.
Friday morning began with the TODAY show. So much fun! I loved every second of being there. I had breakfast at Dean and Deluca! It was so much fun and so cool to eat at such a NY place! I had a delicious chocolate chip muffin. After breakfast we split up into our groups and my group headed to China Town. That was an adventure! We met up with some Chinese people right off that hooked us up with the goods we came for- purses, wallets, shoes, sunglasses and watches! It was quite the experience but overall not too scary! We didn't go anywhere too sketch, just into this back room by a subway station, some people ended up in the back of vans or the attics of buildings or even alleys. I came away with 3 Coach purses (1 for my sis) and a Channel wallet. After China Town we went to Seaport for lunch and then back to the hotel for some R and R (an hour) for the night activities. Later in the afternoon we went to FAO Schwartz, the Apple Store, Trump Tower, and St Patricks Cathedral. After all the sightseeing we headed to Times Square for dinner. We ate at Johns Pizza and had cheesecake for dessert at Juniors - both delicious! We did some shopping, mainly just looking because it was so crowded! I don't know how people REALLY shop there.
Saturday the weather was miserable- cold, windy and rainy and we were scheduled to go to the Statue of Liberty. Mr. Todd had said that our schedule was rain or shine so we went. It was neat to see but we were not as excited to be there as we would have been had it been prettier. After Statue of Liberty we had lunch at Seaport again and headed to Rockefeller to break off into other group activities. I was supposed to be going on the NBC tour but because of miscommunication and long subway rides some of us missed the tour. I was upset and I did cry but I was over it in an hour. It is what it is, I could have been bitter the rest of the trip but it wouldn't have changed anything. My roommate made the tour and she told me about it and it was so much like CNN and Jeremy and I did that together in ATL so I didn't feel so bad after that. Saturday night we went to a Broadway production. There were 3 choices- Lion King, Little Mermaid and In the Heights. I went to Lion King. I was a little worried about liking it because I thought it might be cheesy. I didn't know how they would do all the animals and everything but it was MAGNIFICANT!!! As soon as they started the opener- Circle of Life I was captivated. It helped that a majority of the cast was from South Africa and all the music and choreography had an African flavor. It made me miss Africa! There are no words for me to tell you how amazing this production was, all I can say is that if you EVER get the chance...SEE IT!!!
Sunday we had several schedule changes and ended up back in Times Square, I was happy because I had missed M and M World the first time so I booked it there and spent 45 minutes in that store. It was 3 stories full of M and M paraphernalia! I also ate a hotdog on the street for lunch on Sunday too! I am not a hotdog person but I just felt like I couldn't truly experience NY unless I ate a hotdog. It wasn't that bad either! After Times Square it was time to head back to the hotel and load up and head to the airport. When we got to the airport we discovered our flight had been delayed 77 minutes. By the time we took off our total delay time was 139 minutes! YIKES! 100 teenagers and 20 adults in an airport for almost 4 hours! It was crazy and we were all tired but the kids were good and we made it home about 12:30, right before the storms hit Sunday night.
It was a great trip and I had a wonderful time but next time I am going with my husband, I missed Jeremy way too much and we enjoy traveling together so much that it wasn't the same without him. I will post some pictures later today!