I car pooled with friends to the airport at 2 AM for our 5 AM flight. After some delay due to maintenance at O'Hare, which included having to un-board one plane and re-board another, we made it to Newark where a mini-bus was waiting to take us to our hotel in Midtown. Some how we were booked to come in a whole day early so we had no obligations until the next evening. So naturally, despite our exhaustion from the early morning, once we dropped our bags off, we were ready to get a bite to eat and start exploring. My friends and I ate at a deli before heading to Central Park. An odd treasure in the heart of the city. One is surrounded by nature, yet just beyond lays the concert jungle. Then we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art, because it is open for free on Friday evenings. The most famous work there is Van Gogh's "Starry Night." I didn't realize that Dali's "The Persistence of Memory," the work with the melting clocks and Warhol's iconic Campbell soup work were there as well, along with so much more.
The next morning, my friends and I took the subway downtown, all the way to the port, to take the ferry to Liberty Island and Ellis Island. We reduced our waiting time some because we reserved tickets at the hotel the day before. However, there is still quite the line to go through the airport-like security. The first stop was Liberty Island. We got off walked around the island, which is quite small, and took lots of pictures. We also had lunch there. Then we got on the ferry to go to Ellis Island. Because I had a few members of family go through Ellis Island, I was pretty excited to be there. Unfortunately, many of the artifacts were not on display because they had been removed for Hurricane Sandy, and the island had only been reopened in the past six months. The Registry Room took my breath away as it came into view as I climbed up the stairs. I can only imagine what it would have been like when it was being used at its peak. Then we took the ferry back to Manhattan and took the subway back to Midtown for dinner at a cafe before our evening rehearsal with everybody. After rehearsal, a group of us went to Serendipity III, famous from the movie Serendipity, and got frozen hot chocolates, a specialty.
After rehearsal in the morning and getting a bite to eat with part of the group, a friend and I got discounted tickets to a Broadway show for that evening. We went to the show Holler If Ya Hear Me. The musical was more of spoken word poetry, using the music of Tupac Shakur. We sat in the first row balcony of the Palace Theatre. The show was in preview at the time, due to open later that week. I can best describe it as the gang aspect of West Side Story with the activism found in Rent. It was different, but we enjoyed it. After the show, we met up with a couple the others to catch the synchronized light show at Times Square.
My friends and I had an early morning to do some final sightseeing before rehearsal in the afternoon. We took the subway downtown to visit the 9/11 Memorial. I knew that this would impact me, but I could not have prepared myself to the extent that it did. A man who went to my church in my hometown was there that day and was killed. I managed to break away from the others to look for his name. When I found it, it all hit me. Not just his name, but all the names on the memorials at the foundations of where the towers stood. Each of those people had family and friends, had a story, and it all just hit me. I remember watching the news in class the day it happened. I remember the next day as both fourth grade classes sat together as we discussed what happened, as we tried to understand what happened. I remember the pictures of the newly widowed woman in the local newspaper. I remember the poems that read in ninth grade for English. It all just it me. I turned away from the memorial and walked to the nearest bench and let myself cry. When I collected myself, I found the others. Before we left I decided to walk entirely around the tower's memorial. Along the way, I found hope. The flowing water of the memorial produces a slight mist. As one is walking, depending on the angle, one can see a rainbow. I do not know if this was an intentional aspect of the memorial, but it gives a sign of hope.
Since we were in the area, we decided to visit Trinity Church as well.
On our way back to Midtown, we stopped to take a look at the Empire State Building. Because we still had a little time we visited St. Patrick's Cathedral. Unfortunately, there was a lot of restoration work going on at the cathedral so we could not get the best view of the cathedral.
After rehearsal, we had to change into our concert attire before going to Carnegie Hall for sound check. The performance was that evening. I made it to Carnegie Hall. The auditorium was impressive. The hall was more vertical than I was expecting, but beautiful. Singing there was quite the experience! After the concert, we went to Hard Rock Cafe as a group to celebrate.
The next day we had to saw goodbye to the city. Despite only having a few days there, I am impressed with how much I was able to accomplish while I was there. It was an honor to get to sing in one of the most renowned choral halls in world, while under the direction of my own college's head choir director. It will surely be something I will not forget.
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