Stephanie's Excellent Trip to NYC Part I
So, I'm finally getting around to posting about my NYC trip last week, and will be posting in three parts, one for each day I was there. When I was telling my best friend about this trip it took about an hour to give her a run down, and I'm sure I'll be a lot more wordy here than I was with her, since she has no idea who Janet or Harriet are.
So, Mom gets me up at the ungodly hour of 3.30, and I stumble around getting dressed and checking my e-mail one last time before we go. Dad drove us to the airport, and we got there in record time, seeing as how no one else is on the road - gee, most daywalkers aren't up that early to be on the road yet - and we get to the airport at about quarter to five. Once we got checked in and through security (who looked as tired as I felt) we had about an hour until our flight.
There weren't many people waiting to get on our flight, which was nice since we were on the smallest plane in the world, it seemed like. Two seats on each side of the aisle, and not much head room to speak of. I felt like a sardine in a can. The seats were also made of a horrible plastic crap and were very thin - not at all like the small MidWest plane we had taken to Disney two years ago.
But, I was going to New York to meet Harriet, and so at the time it did not seem all that bad. We managed to make awesome sky time and got to LaGuardia early! When we landed, we used the ladder to climb down and board a shuttle that took us to the airport proper, since the plane was too small to fit on a jetway proper. Once we were in the airport, Mom and I went to Burger King and split a breakfast combo and watched the planes come and go. Once we felt we had killed enough time, we made our way downstairs to the shuttle area and hired the Airlink Shuttle service to get us to the Belvedere (or what I consider my home in NYC).
So, saving the two dollars and using AirLink rather the Super Shuttle turned out to be a big mistake. What was normally a 45-55 minute drive, with other stops made before us, took 95 minutes, and much backtracking through the different streets. But he finally got us to the hotel, and the minute I stepped into the lobby, I knew I was home. It was still quite a bit of time until the 4pm check, so I figured that we would have to leave our bags there and come back later to get our room assignment. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the room was ready. We ended up on the seventh floor, in a corner room (which meant two windows!) and were right next to an elevator that no else used, since it was kind of far from the main bank of elevators.
So, we unpacked and hung up our theatre clothes in the closet, and then went exploring. The first order of business was to find the stage doors and the theatres. The Schubert, where Angela Lansbury would be, was kind of out of the way, down a hidden alley, and had a bunch of the grey gates settled against the walls, waiting for the after show crowds to appear. Then we walked next door to the Broadhurst, and found the stage door strangely bare as compared to the Schubert. There were no little grey gates, and I was so nervous/scared that maybe Harriet and Janet didn't come out to sign. But I decided I'd still wait after the show, just in case.
Then, we went on our shopping excursions of the trip. First up was the Sanrio Luxe store in the Times Square area. Of course, I had to stop there. Almost bought a really nice purse, but since it was the first store of the trip, I couldn't justify dropping that much bank on it. Then, we went to the Drama Book Shop and I bought a copy of the play Blithe Spirit, and some postcard books. After that, we wandered about for a bit and then ate at McDonald's. So convenient and yet so bad for me.
From there, we headed up Fifth Avenue and stopped in a jewelery store that caught my eye. I ended up buying a jewelled headband, a nice pair of earrings, a purple and turquoise pin, and a peacock pin. Half of the stuff I got I planned to wear to the play the next evening, seeing as how I had completely forgotten to pack any jewelry. After that, we headed to the Disney store, another place I had to go to. Three floors of Disney heaven for me, and a big hit to my wallet. But it was so worth it. Mom got the rolling tote for twenty dollars, since we would definitely need another bag to bring all the stuff I bought home.
Since there was still time left, we decided to head up to the Frick Collection. I love this little museum so much, and this second visit did not disappoint. I went there specifically to see the Gainsborough portrait of Grace Dalyrymple Elliot that was hanging there, since I had just finished reading a biography of her life. Seeing the picture in person was a really nice way to tie what I knew cerebrally about her with something so tangible. Also, decided that I really was born a few eras to late, since I would love to have worn a lot of the clothing that I saw in the paintings.
We then headed back down to Times Square and stopped to eat at Olive Garden. I love OG, and try to stop there as much as I can, which is rarely since my family does not like Italian food, even when it is Americanized like at OG. We had enough food left over that we were able to bring it back to the hotel for supper the next day - no need to worry about eating in time to get to the theatre for the play! Then, we went back to the hotel, dropped everything off and relaxed for a few hours.
At about 9, we headed out to the theatre, hoping to get close to the front to see and get Angela Lansbury's autograph. Well, we must have figured the time a bit wrong, since the play had already let out by the time we got there, and we were a bit far away from the gates. The man doing crowd control said that Angela would only be signing Blithe Spirit memorabilia, and silly me assumed that my copy of the text would fall under that provision. One of the minor stars of the play came out right away and happily signed my book. Then Christine Ebersol came out and basically said a big 'screw you' to the waiting throng by signing about six autographs on one side of the semi-circle that had formed. Way to make me totally not care about anything that she will ever be in or hope that she ever wins any major awards.
Finally, Angela came out, and she told me that she could not sign my book. Of course, I was disappointed, and a few of the other people I was waiting with were kind of surprised as well, since the handler had said that she would sign an Blithe Spirit memorabilia. Oh, well, chalk it up to lesson learned: Don't listen to the handler, they usually don't know what they're talking about. So, Mom and I headed back to the hotel, after at least getting some pictures of Angela, when we noticed that Mary Stuart had just let out. Figuring that I had nothing left to lose by meeting the stars earlier than expected, I talked Mom into waiting there with me.
Eventually, about a half dozen people gather to wait for Harriet and Janet, which was a lot less than I had expected, seeing as how Harriet, at least to me, is such a star. Then again, I'm probably biased by all my online friends that love her to death along with myself. So, Harriet and Janet come out together, and I'm totally excited and nervous and insanely up to see them so close. Did I mention there were no grey gates by the stage door? Yeah, up close and personal with Harriet and Janet! It was so awesome!
So, Harriet goes stage right, and I approach Janet, since I was stage left. I asked her to sign my autograph book, and she did, and then I asked if I could get a picture with her. She graciously agreed, and as Mom goes to take the picture, Janet slings her arm around me like she had known me all her life. I seriously felt faint for the first time in my life, because here was an award winning actress just being so totally awesome and friendly and it was amazing! In that instant, I completely fell for her as an actress. I do believe that I would watch her in just about anything and will totally make the effort to go see her again, should she come back to Broadway.
Then, I approached Harriet, who was talking to another couple, who had been there the previous night as well. Once she was finished speaking to them, she also signed my book and took a picture with me. By this time, I am floating so high on cloud nine that nothing could make me any happier. I had met two of the most amazing women in acting, one of whom I had admired for a very long time, and the other who just captivated me, that I was barely registering answers to their questions and comments on my camera (a Canon Rebel XSi, which I love!). Somehow, I give cogent responses, still not really certain how that happened, and then we went our separate ways. On the way back to the hotel, I managed to get us going in the opposite direction of our hotel, and we walked an extra three blocks than we had expected to, but it was so worth it!
There ends day one of my New York Trip. Day two should appear soon, even though it seems to be taking me forever to get this typed up!
So, Mom gets me up at the ungodly hour of 3.30, and I stumble around getting dressed and checking my e-mail one last time before we go. Dad drove us to the airport, and we got there in record time, seeing as how no one else is on the road - gee, most daywalkers aren't up that early to be on the road yet - and we get to the airport at about quarter to five. Once we got checked in and through security (who looked as tired as I felt) we had about an hour until our flight.
There weren't many people waiting to get on our flight, which was nice since we were on the smallest plane in the world, it seemed like. Two seats on each side of the aisle, and not much head room to speak of. I felt like a sardine in a can. The seats were also made of a horrible plastic crap and were very thin - not at all like the small MidWest plane we had taken to Disney two years ago.
But, I was going to New York to meet Harriet, and so at the time it did not seem all that bad. We managed to make awesome sky time and got to LaGuardia early! When we landed, we used the ladder to climb down and board a shuttle that took us to the airport proper, since the plane was too small to fit on a jetway proper. Once we were in the airport, Mom and I went to Burger King and split a breakfast combo and watched the planes come and go. Once we felt we had killed enough time, we made our way downstairs to the shuttle area and hired the Airlink Shuttle service to get us to the Belvedere (or what I consider my home in NYC).
So, saving the two dollars and using AirLink rather the Super Shuttle turned out to be a big mistake. What was normally a 45-55 minute drive, with other stops made before us, took 95 minutes, and much backtracking through the different streets. But he finally got us to the hotel, and the minute I stepped into the lobby, I knew I was home. It was still quite a bit of time until the 4pm check, so I figured that we would have to leave our bags there and come back later to get our room assignment. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the room was ready. We ended up on the seventh floor, in a corner room (which meant two windows!) and were right next to an elevator that no else used, since it was kind of far from the main bank of elevators.
So, we unpacked and hung up our theatre clothes in the closet, and then went exploring. The first order of business was to find the stage doors and the theatres. The Schubert, where Angela Lansbury would be, was kind of out of the way, down a hidden alley, and had a bunch of the grey gates settled against the walls, waiting for the after show crowds to appear. Then we walked next door to the Broadhurst, and found the stage door strangely bare as compared to the Schubert. There were no little grey gates, and I was so nervous/scared that maybe Harriet and Janet didn't come out to sign. But I decided I'd still wait after the show, just in case.
Then, we went on our shopping excursions of the trip. First up was the Sanrio Luxe store in the Times Square area. Of course, I had to stop there. Almost bought a really nice purse, but since it was the first store of the trip, I couldn't justify dropping that much bank on it. Then, we went to the Drama Book Shop and I bought a copy of the play Blithe Spirit, and some postcard books. After that, we wandered about for a bit and then ate at McDonald's. So convenient and yet so bad for me.
From there, we headed up Fifth Avenue and stopped in a jewelery store that caught my eye. I ended up buying a jewelled headband, a nice pair of earrings, a purple and turquoise pin, and a peacock pin. Half of the stuff I got I planned to wear to the play the next evening, seeing as how I had completely forgotten to pack any jewelry. After that, we headed to the Disney store, another place I had to go to. Three floors of Disney heaven for me, and a big hit to my wallet. But it was so worth it. Mom got the rolling tote for twenty dollars, since we would definitely need another bag to bring all the stuff I bought home.
Since there was still time left, we decided to head up to the Frick Collection. I love this little museum so much, and this second visit did not disappoint. I went there specifically to see the Gainsborough portrait of Grace Dalyrymple Elliot that was hanging there, since I had just finished reading a biography of her life. Seeing the picture in person was a really nice way to tie what I knew cerebrally about her with something so tangible. Also, decided that I really was born a few eras to late, since I would love to have worn a lot of the clothing that I saw in the paintings.
We then headed back down to Times Square and stopped to eat at Olive Garden. I love OG, and try to stop there as much as I can, which is rarely since my family does not like Italian food, even when it is Americanized like at OG. We had enough food left over that we were able to bring it back to the hotel for supper the next day - no need to worry about eating in time to get to the theatre for the play! Then, we went back to the hotel, dropped everything off and relaxed for a few hours.
At about 9, we headed out to the theatre, hoping to get close to the front to see and get Angela Lansbury's autograph. Well, we must have figured the time a bit wrong, since the play had already let out by the time we got there, and we were a bit far away from the gates. The man doing crowd control said that Angela would only be signing Blithe Spirit memorabilia, and silly me assumed that my copy of the text would fall under that provision. One of the minor stars of the play came out right away and happily signed my book. Then Christine Ebersol came out and basically said a big 'screw you' to the waiting throng by signing about six autographs on one side of the semi-circle that had formed. Way to make me totally not care about anything that she will ever be in or hope that she ever wins any major awards.
Finally, Angela came out, and she told me that she could not sign my book. Of course, I was disappointed, and a few of the other people I was waiting with were kind of surprised as well, since the handler had said that she would sign an Blithe Spirit memorabilia. Oh, well, chalk it up to lesson learned: Don't listen to the handler, they usually don't know what they're talking about. So, Mom and I headed back to the hotel, after at least getting some pictures of Angela, when we noticed that Mary Stuart had just let out. Figuring that I had nothing left to lose by meeting the stars earlier than expected, I talked Mom into waiting there with me.
Eventually, about a half dozen people gather to wait for Harriet and Janet, which was a lot less than I had expected, seeing as how Harriet, at least to me, is such a star. Then again, I'm probably biased by all my online friends that love her to death along with myself. So, Harriet and Janet come out together, and I'm totally excited and nervous and insanely up to see them so close. Did I mention there were no grey gates by the stage door? Yeah, up close and personal with Harriet and Janet! It was so awesome!
So, Harriet goes stage right, and I approach Janet, since I was stage left. I asked her to sign my autograph book, and she did, and then I asked if I could get a picture with her. She graciously agreed, and as Mom goes to take the picture, Janet slings her arm around me like she had known me all her life. I seriously felt faint for the first time in my life, because here was an award winning actress just being so totally awesome and friendly and it was amazing! In that instant, I completely fell for her as an actress. I do believe that I would watch her in just about anything and will totally make the effort to go see her again, should she come back to Broadway.
Then, I approached Harriet, who was talking to another couple, who had been there the previous night as well. Once she was finished speaking to them, she also signed my book and took a picture with me. By this time, I am floating so high on cloud nine that nothing could make me any happier. I had met two of the most amazing women in acting, one of whom I had admired for a very long time, and the other who just captivated me, that I was barely registering answers to their questions and comments on my camera (a Canon Rebel XSi, which I love!). Somehow, I give cogent responses, still not really certain how that happened, and then we went our separate ways. On the way back to the hotel, I managed to get us going in the opposite direction of our hotel, and we walked an extra three blocks than we had expected to, but it was so worth it!
There ends day one of my New York Trip. Day two should appear soon, even though it seems to be taking me forever to get this typed up!