[Throwback] New York

One of my business trips to the US was two weeks long. As luck would have it, while we had meetings scheduled over two weeks, there was nothing on the agenda on the Friday and the Monday surrounding the middle weekend of my trip. I asked my boss if I could take those days off and she agreed. Since I now had a long weekend in the US, I decided to fly to Manhattan to spend a long weekend there. Cool! The first place I visited? The Statue of Liberty. (I'm such a tourist LOL.)

Statue of Liberty

I also visited Ellis Island. It used to be the busiest entry point of immigrants into the US so it's no surprise that the National Immigration Museum can be found here.

Inside the National Immigration Museum on Ellis Island

There are some pretty awesome views of the Manhattan skyline from Ellis Island.

Manhattan skyline

On my first evening there, I got to see The Producers starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick. I kept seeing posters all over the city so it piqued my interest. I had no plans in the evening so I decided at the last minute to ask my hotel concierge where I could get tickets for The Producers and he said I could get it there. I actually got a seat relatively near the stage, albeit at the far right (there were spots on the stage I couldn't see, but no big deal really). I didn't know about this musical before I watched it so I was very pleasantly surprised at how hilarious it was! The songs are also quite catchy and the performers were all incredible!

The Producers on Broadway

The next day, Eugene and his wife Lorraine came to New York to spend the day with me (they were living in Washington DC at the time). Eugene was my classmate in high school and when during that Manhattan trip, it had been years since I last saw him. Needless to say, I was really happy we got to hang out and that I got to meet Lorraine. We first visited Rockefeller Center.

Rockefeller Center

We then headed to the Empire State Building, which was once the tallest building in the world. There are some truly incredible views of Manhattan from the top.

View from the top of the Empire State Building

We then caught the matinee of The Phantom of the Opera. We actually bought tickets at the TKTS booth early that morning. It was my first time to see Phantom (I have since seen it two more times, at CCP and at the Theatre in Solaire) and I was blown away by the stage - I remember being in awe of the magnificent chandelier, the candles coming out of the floor, and the grand staircase during the masquerade scene - and how fast the sets were changed from one scene to the next.

The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway

After the show, we walked around the area, taking photos at Times Square...

Times Square

...and at the studio where the Late Show with David Letterman is staged. Eugene, Lorraine, and I then had dinner before they headed back home to DC.

Late Show with David Letterman

The next day I visited Central Park and walked around. It was so cold when I was there that the lake was frozen!

I then made my way to the Met, or the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Here I got to see some pretty incredible art pieces, including Vincent van Gogh's Self-Portrait with Straw Hat...

Self-Portrait with Straw Hat by Vincent van Gogh at the Met

...and the Hand of God by Rodin.

Rodin's Hand of God

I also swung by the American Museum of Natural History. (I don't recall spending time in this museum; I wonder if this receiving area was accessible to non-paying guests and if I just went into this area to have my photo taken.)

American Museum of Natural History

On my final evening in Manhattan, I was able to get an autograph and a photo of Matthew Broderick! I discovered the night before that after the show, some of the cast come out of the theater to sign autographs. I went back to St. James Theatre that night in the hopes I could get to see some of the cast. I made it there early enough that I was at the front of the crowd. Despite the fact that it was really cold, I was quite pleased that Matthew Broderick came out to have photos taken with, and sign autographs for, the crowd. I regret not handing my camera to someone else so I could have my photo taken with Matthew - I think I felt a bit intimidated asking someone else to take my picture and slowing down the whole process so I just took a picture of Matthew when he was signing an autograph for the person next to me - but I am happy that I took a photo of him and that he signed my program.

Matthew Broderick

Thankfully, I stayed at what was then called the Milford Plaza Hotel, which is now ROW NYC. This hotel was literally just around the corner from both The Majestic (where The Phantom of the Opera was staged) and St. James Theatre (where The Producers was staged). It was a good hotel but I do remember that when I got into my room at around 1am on my first night there, the room wasn't exactly clean. Specifically, the bed wasn't made. In one of the most unhygienic decisions I've ever made in my life, I decided I was too tired to have to move to another room so I stayed there and slept on the unmade bed that was used by some other guest. (Even as I think about this now, I have no idea why I didn't ask for another room.)

Times Square at night

While my experience in Manhattan was great, I have to say that I did feel quite intimidated by it. In fact, this is the city I visited where I felt most like an outsider. That said, this trip remains very memorable in that I got to visit some very famous New York landmarks, I saw a couple of amazing shows on Broadway, and I got to spend a day with one of my closest friends from high school and his wife.