Ever since I was little, my spring breaks have never been very exciting. Most of my friends would go out of town and I would just stay in Porterville. But this year, everything changed! I was going to New York City with a group of my friends!!!! The Grizzly Gazette was invited to attend the Columbia Scholastic Press Association awards ceremony. I was so excited, but not for the packing. I put packing off until the day before we left. After I had finished, Hannah came over to spend the night. Like most sleepovers, there isn’t much sleep. I laid my head down on my pillow and it seemed like seconds later my alarm was going off at 1:40 a.m. For the next 30 minutes I was packing the last few things for my trip and getting all ready to go. When we arrived at school we took roll and loaded onto the bus. As the bus pulled away from the school, I looked out the window knowing that I was leaving the small town of Porterville and going off across the country. The bus ride was a blur. I kept going in and out of reality, waking up to only see how far we had advanced. I stumbled off the bus, half awake, into the Fresno Airport. It seemed that just as I was getting comfortable, it was time to board the plane. If you don’t already know me, I am super claustrophobic. So when I took a look at our plane, I about fell over. It was a tiny puddle jumper with about 48 seats. I sat in the very back corner next to a baby. To say the least, I was ecstatic that the flight was only 45 minutes.
When we arrived at LAX, we only waited about 20 minutes before we boarded our next flight. The flight was not full, so many spots were open. I was lucky enough to have the whole row to myself. The plane ride was five hours long, and I slept for about two. The rest of the time I was just…there. When we landed in Newark, New Jersey I felt super sick. I hadn’t eaten anything all day was really dizzy. I tried to ignore my fatigue, but on the van ride to our hotel in Times Square, I felt like I was going to get sick. The driver pulled over, and I got out of the car. My heart was racing, I felt out of breath, and my legs were trembling. But, when the cool breeze hit my face, I felt so much better. After being stuffed in a flying can for 5 hours, the fresh air was really nice. When we arrived at the hotel, we didn’t have rooms. We had to wait for about an hour and a half before we were finally able to go to our rooms. I roomed with Mrs. Kisling, Dani, and Hannah on the 40th floor. Needless to say, it was so high up, you couldn’t even see the street down below. After unpacking, a group of us walked to Angelo’s Pizza for dinner. All of us were starving and the twelve of us scarfed down 7 pizza.
Because we all ate so much, we needed to walk it off. We walked all over Times Square. It was absolutely breathtaking. All the lights and skyscrapers surround you and you feel so small and overwhelmed by all the massiveness! Starbucks on each corner, four story stores, jumbo screens, tons of people, crazy drivers, masses of taxis, so much noise, and so much excitement. I was in awe. We walked back to the hotel and settled down into our beds knowing that tomorrow would be full of suprises.
On Thursday morning, my roomies and I walked down a few blocks to Starbucks. Once we got our caffeine, we were ready to go. We met everyone else in the lobby and discussed what was on the agenda for the day. The seniors were invited to go to The New York Times, so while they were gone, some of us wanted to go to the St. Patty’s Day Parade. As we walked around the city, there were drunk people everywhere…and it was only 10:30 in the morning! The parade route was so packed that we just decided to walk around and show off our spirit. Brad’s dad, Brad, Clay, Hannah, and I walked to Rockefeller Center and saw the NBC News Room. We went window shopping and just took in the atmosphere of the city.
In New York, they have the best delis EVER! There is a huge variety of food that you can get there and it’s a great sit down place. We ate lunch there with the group and had some bonding time.
Once we had finished eating, we took the subway to Ground Zero. Subways are so cool. Even though it is dirty, it’s like its own world underground.
If you don’t know what Ground Zero is, it is the place where the Twin Towers once were. When we arrived there, it was just amazing to think that the huge buildings around us were tiny compared to the towers. It felt empty. They are currently working on building the World Trade Center memorial where the towers were. Right across the street was a small chapel that served at the NYFD’s home. There are still services held there, but it is also a monument.
Then, we went on a water taxi. It took us all around. We went past the Statue of Liberty, saw the New York skyline, the Empire State Building, and the Brooklyn Bridge. It was so much fun and the view was unbelievable.
Once off the water taxi, a group of us went back to the hotel to get ready to go to Broadway! We were going to see Phantom of the Opera! I didn’t have anything fancy to wear, so Dani let me wear one of her beautiful dresses to the show. On our way to Broadway, we stopped at a deli and got our food but didn’t have time to eat it. I was the only one that had brought a bag, so everyone put their food in there. When we were entering the theater, they were checking bags. My heart started pounding and all the worst case scenarios kept flowing through my mind. As I opened my bag, I was waiting for the “I’m going to need you to come over here for me, miss” but it never happened. They cleared me!!! I was so realived. We had amazing seats. Once we were all set down, I passed everyone their food and we were all so hungry. I was even eating out of my bag! The show began, and it just took my breath away. It was so amazing and beautiful and just flawless! It was an experience I will never forget! :)
To be continued…
Tune in next week :)
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