From March 18 to March 22, the small town of Arlington took on the Big Apple, New York City! Before the senior class and chaperones rolled in to New York, they first had to head to the school for one last check of luggage at 10 PM on March 17. After an hour of final checks, the charter bus arrived and the group was on their way, stopping for food in Akron at about 1:30 AM! After hours of driving, the Class of 2018 arrived in New York City at about 10 AM on March 18!
DAY ONE: After arriving, we quickly dropped off our luggage in their hotel and headed into the city, where we met AMAZING tour guide, Rob. After meeting up with him, Rob kicked off our tour by showing us the famous Grand Central Terminal, showing us the scenery there and allowing us to get lunch. After that, we did shopping around Little Italy (You will find great cannolis there!) and Chinatown (Great place for a cheap watch!). Once we finished shopping in those two areas, we then did MORE shopping at the world-famous Times Square, going to places like M&M World, the Disney Store, and the NFL Experience. After doing enough shopping for one day, we went to dinner at the Playwright Tavern, a little restaurant just off of Times Square. To end our first night in the Big Apple, we went to the Rockefeller Center, all the way to the top to get a breathtaking view of New York City at nighttime.
DAY TWO: The second day kicked off very cold as we went to Liberty Island to see the one, the only, Statue of Liberty. After taking many pictures on the island, we then sailed over to Ellis Island, the first stop immigrants would go to to get into America. Before it became a museum, the island was actually treated very harshly, being vandalized and broken. After having enough time away from the ocean, we then went on to get lunch on Wall Street, where we did get an opportunity to see the world famous Bronze Bull. After lunch, we walked over to the 9/11 Memorial Museum. Out of respect for the victims lost on that day, white flowers were placed by their names on the waterfalls where the North and South Towers stood. I personally saw 3 flowers. Once we finished paying our respects, we then took a subway back to Chinatown, where we got dinner at Ping’s Restaurant. It was served family style with different options to choose from. We finished our second night by seeing Blue Man Group, a group of percussionists who do WAY more than play drums. Some of the things they did included one member catching almost 20 marshmallows by mouth, having a eating contest with cereal, having “dinner” with a random audience member (Then “puking” it up), and putting on a great, odd show overall!
DAY THREE: Day three started with us going to Central Park, the 6.1 mile park built directly in the heart of NYC. Some monuments there included the Strawberry Fields Memorial, a memorial used as a tribute to Beatles member John Lennon, and the Alice in Wonderland Statue, a statue created by George Delacorte. The statue was used a tribute to his late wife, Margarita, who read Alice to their children. After Central Park, we went to the lower half of 5th Avenue to get lunch and do some more shopping. Some of the stores on that half included Trump Tower, Gucci, Tiffany and Co, and Rolex. We met up at the Plaza Hotel (AKA the Tipton Hotel) to go over to the American Museum of Natural History. Some of the exhibits included a dinosaur exhibit, North American Mammals, and tribes around the world. After that, we went to Carmine’s for dinner, some of THE best Italian food in New York City. We were treated to their signature salad, garlic bread, rigatoni and broccoli, spaghetti with sauce, and amazing chicken parmesan. And for dessert, chocolate torta with homemade whipped cream! After the amazing dinner, we attended an amazing broadway show, Aladdin. The performance had amazing acting, singing, dancing, and special effects! To finish our 3rd night, we then walked back to Times Square to get our group picture at night. It was a breathtaking view of one of the most busy parts of the city.
DAY FOUR: The plan for the fourth day was to leave NYC at noon that day, but due roads being closed in Pennsylvania, we had to stay another day. Luckily, we managed to find another hotel to stay in that day. First, we went up to Harlem to do some shopping and to visit a local fish market. Next, we went to the upper half of 5th Avenue to do even more shopping. Stores there included the NBA Store and a Best Buy. Once we were done shopping, we went to St. John’s Church and St. Patrick’s Cathedral, some of the most detailed buildings in New York City. After that, we grabbed lunch. Later, we stopped by Madison Square Garden to learn more about it, and we also went down into Penn Station to look at one of the busiest train stations in the country. We were then finally done touring New York City, we bid a meaningful farewell to Rob. We then went back to our hotel to relax for a few hours. After that, we went to a restaurant near our new hotel, Houlihan's. It was very similar to Playwright, with the food and the atmosphere. Then we went back to our hotel to a good night’s sleep.
The next morning, we packed up from the hotel and headed home! We returned at about 6:30 PM.
As the great Frank Sinatra put it, “Those little town blues melted away”. To the people who have not visited New York City, it is not just a trip, it is a place for making memories that will last forever…..