Wednesday morning I took a train from Union Station in D.C. to meet up with my family in NYC. That night, we went to see Wicked, which was great, but the L.A. show is better in my opinion. After the show, I got my first showing of Times Square, and it was crazy. Bustling with people, crazy.
Thursday, we went to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. They don’t let you all the way to the top, but you can go pretty high. After dinner at a little steakhouse called Peter Luger, we went to see a show called Mamma Mia. Every song they sing is an Abba song, fit into the story. Speaking of the story, the characters are crass, as was the plot, so I don't recommend it for that reason, but the songs were just incredible.
Friday we went to lunch and dinner with the Dempsey’s, then saw The Little Mermaid. We had a backstage tour afterwards too, that was cool, the place they are playing at is really small, props are put in crazy places during the show. Best part was that after our tour, we exited via the stage door, where mobs of people were lining up to meet the cast. So when we went out, everyone thought we were in the play, and started shoving sharpies and playbills at us. I *almost* signed some people stuff, but that would be mean to ruin their playbills. But it was really fun, my minute of fame.
Saturday was Ground Zero. Taking a break from shows, we went to this museum of pictures from the only photographer that was allowed into ground zero during rescue/cleanup. About 6 weeks in, he was about to quit – he was seriously depressed by his work. He saw death and despair, both on the firefighters and the victims. Then he found a paper. It was a page of the bible. Genesis 11. If you go to the title of chapter 11, it reads, “The Tower of Babel”. Pretty neat. So he had some amazing pictures, and the tour was a headset with the story behind each picture/exhibit. After that we went to the actual site. Across the street is a church the firemen used to rest during the breaks, so we went inside to see the memorials/whatever they had inside. Well the photographer who’s museum we were just at, was there signing his book, so we got a chance to talk to him, get a feel what it was for him to literally have to do it. He asked to take our picture with Emma’s camera, and afterwards said that that was the first picture he had taken inside the church in over 6 years. Pretty cool. Went dinner with Dempsey’s as well that night.
Sunday, maybe the best day so far, was spent entirely with the Dempsey’s. We went to a church that was a little iffy, but ok. That wasn’t what made it good. The goodness started by going to a really good burger place, then went down to the Nokia Theatre in Times Square to see the Steven Curtis Chapman concert. With the Dempsey’s sweet relations with the Chapman’s, we talked to Steven for a little bit, then he had to go, then Mr. Dempsey, Taylor and I talked to their boys while the girls and my dad went to one of the many starbucks. They went off to sound check, and it only being around 3, we went to Chinatown/knock-off city to do a little shopping. It’s so funny to go into the shops, all the vendor are selling the exact same thing, trying to give you a better deal than the last person. Fun stuff. Before heading back to the venue, we went to a good pizza place called John’s, which was some of the best New York Pizza. Back at the show, we picked up our aftershow/all-access passes, and enjoyed the show. It was pretty cool. Afterwards, we got some pictures, and talked a bit more. Steven’s boys, Willie Frank and Caleb are pretty cool, me and Taylor talked to them for a while.
Monday, today, the Dempsey’s headed home and we headed to Philly. We got in around 3-4, and got our first Philly Cheesesteaks, and saw the Liberty Bell. We have a full day planned tomorrow at Gettysburg and “Amish Country”, so I doubt any of us will blog then.
Toodles.
