Since knowing I'm soon to be an empty nester, I have been planning for the changes in my life, working at facing my fears and forcing myself to step outside of the box. After coming across the beginnings of old romance manuscripts while cleaning out old files and having my friend Kelly put the idea into my head, I decided, after researching and finding that romance is a big seller, to finally put those stories puttering around in my head to paper. Uh, a computer file, I mean and become a romance writer.
That led to researching the genre I once devoured in high school which led to joining the Romance Writer's of America (RWA), the upper echelon of the business. RWA just happened to be having its annual conference in Walt Disney World this summer, and taking that as a sign, I registered to attend. I have been in Orlando since Monday living alone in one of my Wyndham resorts and flitting from workshop to workshop in learning all about the romance industry and romance writing.
I don't know when the last time was that I was alone like this. I have a lot of anxiety about traveling alone and being responsible, but this is my year of stepping outside that comfort zone and so I'm hanging out in my two bedroom suite and telling myself daily that I.AM.A.WRITER. I learned that at the conference. I am a writer. A professional writer.
Every morning I drive to the conference center in Walt Disney World to spend nine hours immersed in romance. I move from one cold room to the next taking workshops and hearing lectures of my choosing. I feel like I'm back in school again taking notes, asking questions, and talking to tons of strangers. At night I return to my abode and go through the stuff I've accumulated and compile the notes I've written and plot my next day. It is all exhausting, yet it is giving me something to focus on besides my soon to be empty children's bedrooms.
I'm not running full steam ahead, but taking it slow with small goals like writing a thousand words a day, so that I can complete the major goal of finishing my story. From there I shall take the information I'm learning at this conference to move to the next step and the next goal with the end goal being to publish. There are so many more options open to writers now with self publishing and the indie market, and I've tapped into learning a bit about that here at the conference. I'm not putting a lot of pressure on myself, but exploring other avenues and maybe, just maybe, going to put that college degree to use. FINALLY.
No matter what it is me moving forward from my SAHM job, and getting reacquainted with the side of me I used to be while learning to mesh that girl with the mother to decide who the woman will be when she finally emerges. Fingers crossed she is dappling in the romance industry.
Saturday, July 29, 2017
Friday, July 28, 2017
Out of the mouths of my babes
Standing in line at the airport Starbucks in Tampa, Darcy saw the following:
Darcy: "I can honestly say that there is nothing more disgusting then thinking about eating Moon Cheese. That is the last thing that I would ever put in my mouth."
Two seconds later she saw this:
Darcy: "I stand corrected."
Darcy: "I can honestly say that there is nothing more disgusting then thinking about eating Moon Cheese. That is the last thing that I would ever put in my mouth."
Two seconds later she saw this:
Darcy: "I stand corrected."
Thursday, July 27, 2017
*Wyndham Midtown 45
I am a Presidential Owner of Club Wyndham and thus the following review is based solely on my experience from that side of things. I was booked into a two bedroom/two bathroom presidential in the Wyndham Midtown 45 in Manhattan in New York City. We arrived early and pre-registered and our bags were held for us so that we could leave and tour the city.
The hotel location is centrally located. Many things are within walking distance including Grand Central Station, Times Square, the Chrysler Building, and the Empire State Building. There are plenty of restaurants within walking distance, a Walgreens, and a small market for incidentals you might have forgotten or for a late night snack.
The desk staff was courteous and Elvis the man on luggage and door duty was tremendous. Once we got our keys we were moved to the next desk where the fun always begins. As an owner you are rarely safe from the host staff whose job it is to get you to the sales people so that you can purchase more points in Club Wyndham. I get it, I really do, but if you are not interested in partaking that should be the end of it. Unfortunately, the host crew gets paid to get you upstairs and so they keep right on working you despite the no, no, no thank yous you utter time and time again. Wyndham is really good about offering money for your time and I was offered $100, but I was going to be in Orlando at another Wyndham three days after my return from New York and preferred to deal with the sales people there.
As soon as I got upstairs and showered and changed for our Broadway show, my downstairs hostess was on the phone telling me that all I had to do the following morning was eat breakfast and fill out a survey. For this I would receive 3,000 points toward a hotel stay in Wyndham Rewards. Like an idiot, because I was tired and because my husband thought it a fine idea, I gave in and said yes. It was not my smartest moment.
The breakfast was good. I'll give them that. Most of the time the breakfasts consist of bagged muffins and pastries and poor coffee. This breakfast included eggs, bacon, potatoes and fruit and flavored coffee with flavored creamer, a plus with me. It was good food despite eating it at a little round table with our salesman breathing down our necks. I enjoyed my salesman. He asked if I had signed up for the 30 minute or the 1 hour spiel and when I said neither I was to fill out a survey he sighed and shook his head because there was no such thing. Strike against my hostess who I attempted to ignore the rest of the vacation, but didn't quite manage because she was just too darn kind.
I should have just taken the thirty minute spiel, but I again opened my trap and the next thing I knew I had gone through two other salespeople who were not as kind as my main man and we ended up spending three and a half hours in the salesroom. I don't know about you, but I have got to believe there are better ways to do this. I'm on vacation. I have a limited amount of vacation time and spending it sitting with salespeople is not how I choose to spend it. Plus, I don't like having to make a decision right then and there about spending an exorbitant amount of money. On the other hand, I do have questions regarding my ownership and would love to sit down with someone to discuss this WHEN I'M NOT ON VACATION. Yet, I can't seem to find anyone willing to do that with me. I live in Florida so to drive over to the Orlando area to accomplish this is doable for me, but no one seems to want to help me on this issue. I received 3,000 points in Wyndham rewards which amounts to a big bunch of nothing for three and a half hours of my time. That was the worst thing about the experience.
We were told that the rooftop lounge was for owner's only, but it is advertised on the hotel's website and is accessible to anyone. Some Wyndham resorts have these lounges that are only available by using your room key. This one was wide open to whomever appeared to wander off the elevator on to the 33rd floor.
On a more positive note, the lounge was clean and nice. I went to the lounge around eleven o'clock and there was quite a bit of leftover alcoholic beverage containers and wine glasses inside and outside, but within five minutes of arriving someone was cleaning that up. I was told that there was a morning bagel tray and coffee offerings in the morning, and Tom did see that the last day. I've written earlier about my "pancake" breakfast and that isn't anything I would tout. The view, however, from the rooftop was nice.
The suite itself was quite large by New York standards, clean and very comfortable. Since Wyndham took over from Fairfield they have done many upgrades that I find delightful including the comfortable beds and duvet covers. Darcy slept on the pull out sofa bed and she said it was the best she had ever slept in as she was unable to feel springs and bars. The views from the suite were incredible and we were very happy with the accommodations. Although there were no instructions for using the dishwasher, we figured it out and found the hidden microwave oven. I've always said that Wyndham really needs to have a framed instruction sheet for all guests, but so far they have not taken me up on that idea.
Things that I thought they did above and beyond then some of the Wyndham resorts I have stayed in included choosing a welcome package - mine was chocolates, nuts, and a bottle of wine -, and extra toilet paper and Kleenex in the closet. Little things that go a long way.
We also enjoyed the iced water and Arnold Palmer iced tea that was in the lobby every day. That was nice to come back to after walking in the heat around the city. Madison and I had Arnold Palmer teas daily. There is a twenty four hour exercise room, but it was under construction and guests were rerouted to a fitness gym around the corner. We didn't visit this having little time, but the option was nice. We did use the computer and the printer station in the lobby to print our boarding tickets on the last day and they were Apple computers with large monitors and very nice.
I would highly recommend this Wyndham. While it wasn't as large and spacious as the one in San Francisco it is a comfortable higher end resort in the heart of the city that meets the needs of tourists and travelers. I would give it an 8 out of 10, taking away the points for the sales debacle. If you have a stronger backbone than I do and can avoid that then the resort would be a 10.
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
NYC - Day 4 & 5
Wednesday, July 19, 2017 & Thursday, July 20, 2017
Today was pancake morning in the Wyndham's owners lounge so while Darcy and Tom were up and out early to score tickets to see a straight play that Darcy thought interesting I went up to the thirty-third floor to eat some cakes.
I was the only person interested apparently in scoring pancakes and when I entered the kitchen where the employee was "cooking" I immediately saw why. She had two devices that looked like George Foreman Grills with quarter size pancake holes in them that she was filling with pancake mix. There was all sorts of toppings to put on my pancakes from syrup to sprinkles and chocolate chips, but I just had mine with butter and a side of syrup.
There was no coffee to accompany my pancakes and when I inquired as to this missing link she told me the coffee was downstairs in the lobby. Because that made perfect sense.
Fortified by my free breakfast, I returned to the room to find the other two back, the third dressed, and we headed out into the city. We HIKED to Times Square so Darcy could do some shopping in a few of the shops specializing in Broadway, and then we headed off for show #5 Groundhog Day.
I'm not a big fan of the movie. I mean, it was fun, but I couldn't imagine how they would make it into a musical. Grandma and Darcy's theater peeps had suggested Waitress, but since we won the lottery for these tickets we hit this show instead and it turned out well. It was good. The set was amazing with a revolving stage floor and tons of scene changes. It was the biggest cast out of the five musicals we saw and the lead was easy on the eyes and a good singer.
There was a lot of humor in it and a lot of surprises and I enjoyed it more than I enjoy the movie version. Darcy and I were in the mezzanine, second row. It would have been great seats, but like most of our seats we had tall people in front of us and we spent considerable time moving left and right to peer between them. Tom and Madison were on the floor, but farther back from the stage and said they were decent, but they couldn't see the stage as closely as we could.
We grabbed dinner in between shows and then HIKED to the next theater for our final Broadway show. Darcy had chosen this one in researching and none of her NY theater pals had seen it. I looked it up and agreed it would be a good one and we voted for The Play that Goes Wrong over Waitress.
We loved it! It was hysterical. The premise is that a college theater group somehow lands on Broadway and everything that can go wrong does. The show never stopped. It started a half an hour before the play was scheduled to start while people where coming in to be seated. The ticket lady had warned Darcy to be there early and so we expected it, but I don't believe many people did.
The two college kids, one on sets and one on lighting, show up on stage to fix a few things like a door that won't close and a loose board. The set girl in overalls kept hiding her face from us using different props. The lighting guy kept getting frustrated. He had his set up in the balcony to our right and would periodically appear upstairs to mess with lights and sound. They pulled a guy from the audience to help out and had him doing hilarious things like holding items on the wall and trying to lift a tool box that wouldn't come off the floor. That was all great fun, but the play itself was just fun, fun, fun.
It was a murder mystery, but everything went wrong with the play from the props to the set to the actors getting knocked out and dragged off stage. As the audience, we couldn't stop laughing. Madison and I were laughing so loud that the guy next to Darcy at intermission commented on how loud we were, but frankly, I couldn't help it.
At intermission things were happening everywhere. Madison went to the bathroom and one of the actors went to purchase candy at the bar with the college drama teacher running after him telling him he couldn't be off stage in costume. Darcy went to get a drink and another actor was out there running around telling people to stop laughing that the play was not a comedy and very serious. In the theater where I stayed the lighting guy went through the audience from the orchestra, to the mezzanine, to the balcony looking for a lost dog and shouting at people regarding all sorts of things. I think had he come near me I would have played along with him. I wondered later if sometimes the audience shouted out things to the actors on stage because it was that kind of play.
We agreed it was a great show to end our NY Broadway visit. We spent more time in Times Squares shopping and then we HIKED back to the Wyndham for the night. The next morning we had to check out and store our luggage, but since we weren't leaving until that evening we agreed to tour the Empire State Building.
It wasn't far from our hotel so off we set to HIKE there. It was packed with people. We forked over the money to ride to the 86th floor, but the elevators drop you off at the 80th floor first where there are exhibits of the construction that was all quite interesting. There are windows everywhere for viewing, but after ten minutes an employee began yelling at the top of her lungs, "People! Stop! Head to the 86th floor and see this view from outside. See this view from outside instead of windows!" I not only found her screaming annoying, but I also didn't appreciate her acting like we had stopped here on purpose when they dumped us on this floor. I later decided that they do that to keep people moving in sections. Whatever. It was still annoying and I ignored her and went when I was damn well ready.
Then of course we headed to the 86th floor and found the shrieking lady was correct. The view from outside was spectacular. It was crowded, but there was plenty of room to be up close to the railing to take photos. So many people were taking selfies which I thought silly since there were all sorts of safety features to prevent people from climbing and falling. To take a good photo you had to put your camera lens through those safety wires, but I took a selfie just to see what all the fuss was about.
Yeah. Not a good pic. Compared to this:
I got to see the Statue of Liberty up close through one of those binocular devices which were on each side of the building. We spent about two hours in the building before leaving and eating lunch at a deli where a guitarist played and sang next to our table. I kept singing along with him and clapping when he finished and he kept smiling and thanking me. Darcy and I gave him money when we left.
We took an Uber back to the Wyndham, and because he was the best Uber driver we had had this entire time we hooked him up to Uber us to the airport. He entertained Tom with all the information on Uber and becoming a driver so this will just fuel him to push me in that direction, something he has mentioned previously.
It was a great trip to the city, the best I've had out of my three excursions there. Darcy did a wonderful job with the choosing of the Broadway musicals and the last show and other than not having Grandma with us, it was a grand trip.
Unfortunately, by the time we landed I was sick. I blame all the HIKING.
Today was pancake morning in the Wyndham's owners lounge so while Darcy and Tom were up and out early to score tickets to see a straight play that Darcy thought interesting I went up to the thirty-third floor to eat some cakes.
I was the only person interested apparently in scoring pancakes and when I entered the kitchen where the employee was "cooking" I immediately saw why. She had two devices that looked like George Foreman Grills with quarter size pancake holes in them that she was filling with pancake mix. There was all sorts of toppings to put on my pancakes from syrup to sprinkles and chocolate chips, but I just had mine with butter and a side of syrup.
There was no coffee to accompany my pancakes and when I inquired as to this missing link she told me the coffee was downstairs in the lobby. Because that made perfect sense.
Fortified by my free breakfast, I returned to the room to find the other two back, the third dressed, and we headed out into the city. We HIKED to Times Square so Darcy could do some shopping in a few of the shops specializing in Broadway, and then we headed off for show #5 Groundhog Day.
I'm not a big fan of the movie. I mean, it was fun, but I couldn't imagine how they would make it into a musical. Grandma and Darcy's theater peeps had suggested Waitress, but since we won the lottery for these tickets we hit this show instead and it turned out well. It was good. The set was amazing with a revolving stage floor and tons of scene changes. It was the biggest cast out of the five musicals we saw and the lead was easy on the eyes and a good singer.
There was a lot of humor in it and a lot of surprises and I enjoyed it more than I enjoy the movie version. Darcy and I were in the mezzanine, second row. It would have been great seats, but like most of our seats we had tall people in front of us and we spent considerable time moving left and right to peer between them. Tom and Madison were on the floor, but farther back from the stage and said they were decent, but they couldn't see the stage as closely as we could.
We grabbed dinner in between shows and then HIKED to the next theater for our final Broadway show. Darcy had chosen this one in researching and none of her NY theater pals had seen it. I looked it up and agreed it would be a good one and we voted for The Play that Goes Wrong over Waitress.
We loved it! It was hysterical. The premise is that a college theater group somehow lands on Broadway and everything that can go wrong does. The show never stopped. It started a half an hour before the play was scheduled to start while people where coming in to be seated. The ticket lady had warned Darcy to be there early and so we expected it, but I don't believe many people did.
The two college kids, one on sets and one on lighting, show up on stage to fix a few things like a door that won't close and a loose board. The set girl in overalls kept hiding her face from us using different props. The lighting guy kept getting frustrated. He had his set up in the balcony to our right and would periodically appear upstairs to mess with lights and sound. They pulled a guy from the audience to help out and had him doing hilarious things like holding items on the wall and trying to lift a tool box that wouldn't come off the floor. That was all great fun, but the play itself was just fun, fun, fun.
It was a murder mystery, but everything went wrong with the play from the props to the set to the actors getting knocked out and dragged off stage. As the audience, we couldn't stop laughing. Madison and I were laughing so loud that the guy next to Darcy at intermission commented on how loud we were, but frankly, I couldn't help it.
At intermission things were happening everywhere. Madison went to the bathroom and one of the actors went to purchase candy at the bar with the college drama teacher running after him telling him he couldn't be off stage in costume. Darcy went to get a drink and another actor was out there running around telling people to stop laughing that the play was not a comedy and very serious. In the theater where I stayed the lighting guy went through the audience from the orchestra, to the mezzanine, to the balcony looking for a lost dog and shouting at people regarding all sorts of things. I think had he come near me I would have played along with him. I wondered later if sometimes the audience shouted out things to the actors on stage because it was that kind of play.
We agreed it was a great show to end our NY Broadway visit. We spent more time in Times Squares shopping and then we HIKED back to the Wyndham for the night. The next morning we had to check out and store our luggage, but since we weren't leaving until that evening we agreed to tour the Empire State Building.
It wasn't far from our hotel so off we set to HIKE there. It was packed with people. We forked over the money to ride to the 86th floor, but the elevators drop you off at the 80th floor first where there are exhibits of the construction that was all quite interesting. There are windows everywhere for viewing, but after ten minutes an employee began yelling at the top of her lungs, "People! Stop! Head to the 86th floor and see this view from outside. See this view from outside instead of windows!" I not only found her screaming annoying, but I also didn't appreciate her acting like we had stopped here on purpose when they dumped us on this floor. I later decided that they do that to keep people moving in sections. Whatever. It was still annoying and I ignored her and went when I was damn well ready.
Then of course we headed to the 86th floor and found the shrieking lady was correct. The view from outside was spectacular. It was crowded, but there was plenty of room to be up close to the railing to take photos. So many people were taking selfies which I thought silly since there were all sorts of safety features to prevent people from climbing and falling. To take a good photo you had to put your camera lens through those safety wires, but I took a selfie just to see what all the fuss was about.
Yeah. Not a good pic. Compared to this:
I got to see the Statue of Liberty up close through one of those binocular devices which were on each side of the building. We spent about two hours in the building before leaving and eating lunch at a deli where a guitarist played and sang next to our table. I kept singing along with him and clapping when he finished and he kept smiling and thanking me. Darcy and I gave him money when we left.
We took an Uber back to the Wyndham, and because he was the best Uber driver we had had this entire time we hooked him up to Uber us to the airport. He entertained Tom with all the information on Uber and becoming a driver so this will just fuel him to push me in that direction, something he has mentioned previously.
It was a great trip to the city, the best I've had out of my three excursions there. Darcy did a wonderful job with the choosing of the Broadway musicals and the last show and other than not having Grandma with us, it was a grand trip.
Unfortunately, by the time we landed I was sick. I blame all the HIKING.
Tuesday, July 25, 2017
NYC - Day 3
Tuesday, July 18, 2017
We sat at bar stools facing the street and watched the people come and go as we dove into our lunch. It was SO good. Darcy has been on a health kick this summer, and so she has been trying foods she would never have allowed touch her lips previously, so eating in New York was a joy when we did eat.
From our restaurant, we took an Uber to Central Park. I'm not sure that Darcy understood how big Central Park really is, but we were dropped off somewhere in the park's less urban area. Our Uber driver was a talker this time, something rare in our experience thus far, and it was an interesting ride. He dumped us off on the side of the road with wooded areas on both sides. Darcy led us into the park, and from then on, it was HIKING, HIKING, HIKING with no real destination in sight.
On my last visit to NYC, we went into Central Park near the University, where there was much more activity and scenery. Darcy wanted to hike to the lake and sit a spell, but by the time we got anywhere near enough to water, I had hit the wall. I'm not good with just wandering without a plan. Darcy and Tom went one way, and Madison and I hiked to find a bathroom and eventually sat and relaxed by some water we found.
The other two caught up with us after some time, and off we went back out to hail another Uber to return us to the Wyndham to get pretty for Dear Evan Hansen. We had plenty of time to shower and relax before we took another Uber to our show.
I wandered around the Wyndham this morning, checking out the rooftop owner's lounge. As I waited for the elevator to take me back to my floor, I received a text saying I had won tickets to see Groundhog's Day. Since I hadn't entered to win tickets for this show, I wasn't as enthusiastic at winning as the rest of my crew when I arrived back at our room, but Darcy had entered me, and so we purchased the two discount tickets, and Tom purchased two more, and we were signed up for another show for the following day.
Tonight's show was Dear Evan Hansen, the reason we were really in New York, and so Darcy had our entire day planned out. I insisted on eating something besides hamburgers since we were in NYC, for heaven's sake, and Darcy found a delicious Mediterranean place around the corner from my Wyndham. We only seemed to eat twice a day on this vacation because a two o'clock show and a seven o'clock show didn't allow time for much eating in between rushing hither and yon.
We sat at bar stools facing the street and watched the people come and go as we dove into our lunch. It was SO good. Darcy has been on a health kick this summer, and so she has been trying foods she would never have allowed touch her lips previously, so eating in New York was a joy when we did eat.
From our restaurant, we took an Uber to Central Park. I'm not sure that Darcy understood how big Central Park really is, but we were dropped off somewhere in the park's less urban area. Our Uber driver was a talker this time, something rare in our experience thus far, and it was an interesting ride. He dumped us off on the side of the road with wooded areas on both sides. Darcy led us into the park, and from then on, it was HIKING, HIKING, HIKING with no real destination in sight.
On my last visit to NYC, we went into Central Park near the University, where there was much more activity and scenery. Darcy wanted to hike to the lake and sit a spell, but by the time we got anywhere near enough to water, I had hit the wall. I'm not good with just wandering without a plan. Darcy and Tom went one way, and Madison and I hiked to find a bathroom and eventually sat and relaxed by some water we found.
The other two caught up with us after some time, and off we went back out to hail another Uber to return us to the Wyndham to get pretty for Dear Evan Hansen. We had plenty of time to shower and relax before we took another Uber to our show.
I have to say that I contemplated writing just an entry for this show. It deserves its own entry. Truly. I didn't do that because I'm not sure I can convey just how spectacular this show was to see.
Going into it, I knew very little. Originally, we only had four tickets, and since the show had since sold out, no way of getting another ticket that didn't cost less than $400, so I hadn't planned on going at all. With Grandma MIA on our trip, I won the lottery, so to speak. The girls had given me some background, but it was all muddled, and I went into this show a newbie.
The theater was very cramped. Our tickets had us spread out across the room on the main floor and sitting solo. My legs were practically up under my chin, and I was literally touching the people on either side of me. It was a good thing we had gotten to shower. When the show began, I didn't even care.
People. Listen to me now. Seriously. Dear Evan Hansen is incredible, but Ben Platt...BEN PLATT is beyond that. Ben Platt IS Evan Hansen, and his performance is gut-wrenching. If you truly want to see the BEST performance by an actor, spend the money. I would pay $500 to see this man perform in this show again.--hands down. No questions. I'd open my wallet and fork it over.
From the moment he walks on stage, you believe. You are this kid. You know this kid. You parent this kid. No matter which side you relate to, and I related from every side--myself, friend, and parent--having experience from all sides, you will feel for this character, root for this character, and hurt for this actor. In all my social media, I said, "The best performance I have ever seen and will ever see from an actor." And I mean that. There is no way that I will see what I saw this night on that stage from this man. No one is that good, night after night, eight shows a week, pulling off what I saw.
Yes, yes, Hollywood has great actors. Yes, yes, my nephew is planning on being a great actor. Yes, yes, Darcy's friends want to be great actors. But people, this man, Ben Platt, doesn't get a chance to take a break. There is no cut. There is no take two. There is no, please come back and try again. He comes out night after night after night, eight times!! a week and does this same thing over and over. It is extraordinary.
By the end of the show, he is wrecked. He stands at his ovation with red-rimmed eyes from sobbing as part of his character (and he sings while he cries and has so much snot in his throat OMG), and his face is emotionally exhausted. I just wanted to wrap my arms around him and tell him everything would be alright.
My main concern after the play ended was for this man. How does one do this again and again? How can he put himself through this emotional roller coaster? The things he does to his body to play this part...how? How can he go about a normal life when he goes home? I cried and cried for the character, for the mother, for the play, and for Ben Platt. I know that I truly witnessed greatness in all its form.
At the end of the show, Madison told me when I was crying and worrying about Platt that he sees a therapist to deal with this role. In searching for information while writing this entry, I found THIS. The best article I have found says everything I wanted to say and tells everything you need to know about this performance and what Platt goes through. Please read it.
The second picture in this article is what I saw on that stage. That is what I'm saying. Night, after night, after night. Incredible. Spectacular. There is no adjective to aptly describe that performance. When he sings a solo on the couch while his castmates sit and listen, I thought these people must get chills every night and then too must worry like crazy about him, and in this article, I found out they do. How can you not?
Maddy and I stood outside and waited for Tom and Darcy, and then the four of us stood there. We were incapable of moving. It was such an emotional show and performance; you just needed some time before you went on with life. At some point, I realized I had lost my phone, and so I went against the crowd and back inside to find it on the floor beneath my seat. There was a vendor selling items, and since Madison wanted something, I motioned for her to come inside. By that time, a hulking security guard had appeared, but he let Maddy in to purchase a cup. He looked at me, tears still leaking out of my eyes, and I said to him, "My god, how does he do this every night?" He grimly shook his head in disbelief and replied, "He is unbelievable."
Darcy stood with the crowd by the stage door. Ben Platt doesn't do the stage door except for once a month, so we knew he wouldn't be there, but Darcy just wanted that experience. The rest of us stood aside by the front door, still just taking our moment. At some point, I turned around and noticed that the black SUV that I had seen pull up to the front door as I exited the first time was still there, and as realization entered my head that this was most likely Platt's ride, the entrance to the theater opened, and security men stood side by side to build a wall away from where I stood. The security guard I had spoken was one of them, and he turned and looked at the crowd at the stage door, oblivious to what was happening at the front door, and grinned. Before I could blink, a guy I am sure was Ben Platt was out the door, a ball cap pulled over his head, and into the blacked-out windowed SUV. As it pulled away from the curb, I put my hands together and bowed to where I believe he was sitting.
Thank you, Ben Platt, for that experience. Thank you for believing you must give 100% to everyone who comes to Dear Evan Hansen. I wish all good things to come your way. Namaste.
Monday, July 24, 2017
NYC - Day 2
Monday, July 17, 2017
There was no sleeping in, but that has to do with my Wyndham ownership and will be discussed in a separate entry for all those searching for this resort. Suffice it to say we didn't get out and about New York until noon, but Maddy caught up on sleep and the rest of us were treated to a full breakfast of eggs, bacon, potatoes, fruit, and coffee.
Monday is a slow day on Broadway with most shows closed. Darcy decided we would attempt to get tickets to School of Rock later in the day and I insisted we DRIVE to the Statue of Liberty. Instead we took the subway. We aren't far from Grand Central Station and so we HIKED there and then spent considerable time trying to figure out which sub to take to get where we wanted to go. Jeez. What did people do before the Internet?
We talked to people rushing by. We talked to the people in the Information booth. Eventually Darcy talked to her friend Noah in Florida. Noah then became our tour guide for the rest of the trip as he got us on the correct sub and we headed to Battery Park where Noah assured me I would see the statue. I did.
We sat and stared at her for a long time watching the people as they came and went via ferry. No one in my party was all that keen to ride the ferry, although if I had insisted they would have done it. So instead I insisted they see the 911 memorial. We set off and HIKED to the memorial following phones GPS systems which were very iffy and had us turning around in circles. That did not go over well with me my hips aching, but we finally ended up in correct area and hiked to where the twin towers once stood.
It was a very different experience then my previous one. Then it was raining, a light mist that seemed so appropriate among the light crowd. Everyone was somber, quiet, and reflective. This day was bright, sunny and the square was packed with people who were talking, talking, talking and taking selfies and pictures. I tried to get that feeling I had the first time I was here, but it wasn't happening. I stood, my hands on the names etched in the stone, and closed my eyes for a moment. They say time heals, and maybe lightness is better than darkness at this memorial, but I'm thankful for my first encounter.
We split up from here. Darcy and Tom went off in an Uber to score tickets for School of Rock and Maddy and I took an Uber back to the Wyndham. It was a long trip back through tons of traffic and Darcy texted us that they were just going to go straight to the theater because of that. Madison and I got to freshen up at the hotel, enjoy some of their complimentary Arnold Palmer iced tea, and chill for twenty minutes before we then took another Uber to the theater.
We beat the other two to the theater so we got a Starbucks and waited for them before entering. The place was packed with small children. Darcy was horrified to think that parents paid that kind of money to introduce their children to Broadway, but I understood it. My mother would have done the same thing had we ever gotten to New York because she was big on introducing us to the theater. My brother and I had yearly tickets to our university's children's theater program for several years.
Broadway theaters were not at all what I expected. I guess I thought they were large like our local theaters, but of course they aren't. This is New York City and no building is large. The Broadway theaters are beautiful buildings, small, and frankly some of them are quite cramped. I was trying to imagine how celebrities sit among the general public and wonder if they are treated differently because there really isn't anywhere to be separated except the balconies, and having sat in one of those it certainly isn't front and center for a great view.
The show was fabulous! The children actors all play their own instruments on stage and were phenomenal. I've never seen the Jack Black movie so it was new to me and so good. The audience was fun, the cast was great, and we stood outside the stage door after so that Darcy could get autographs on her playbill. We decided this show tweaked just a tad over Book of Mormon as the fav thus far.
Darcy: "Jeez, what must it feel like to be in your second Broadway show by the time you're nine years old?"
The kids were pros at the autograph signing and taking of selfies. Of course, they have tons of energy at that age so eight shows a week isn't probably as difficult for them as it is for the adults, but throw in school and other activities on top of that...wow.
We walked Times Square and visited a few shops before HIKING back to the Wyndham for the night. Tom disappeared and returned with some food staples, but it was almost eleven by then and I opted for dressing my blisters and hitting the hay.
New York HIKING is way different than San Francisco hiking.
There was no sleeping in, but that has to do with my Wyndham ownership and will be discussed in a separate entry for all those searching for this resort. Suffice it to say we didn't get out and about New York until noon, but Maddy caught up on sleep and the rest of us were treated to a full breakfast of eggs, bacon, potatoes, fruit, and coffee.
Monday is a slow day on Broadway with most shows closed. Darcy decided we would attempt to get tickets to School of Rock later in the day and I insisted we DRIVE to the Statue of Liberty. Instead we took the subway. We aren't far from Grand Central Station and so we HIKED there and then spent considerable time trying to figure out which sub to take to get where we wanted to go. Jeez. What did people do before the Internet?
We talked to people rushing by. We talked to the people in the Information booth. Eventually Darcy talked to her friend Noah in Florida. Noah then became our tour guide for the rest of the trip as he got us on the correct sub and we headed to Battery Park where Noah assured me I would see the statue. I did.
We sat and stared at her for a long time watching the people as they came and went via ferry. No one in my party was all that keen to ride the ferry, although if I had insisted they would have done it. So instead I insisted they see the 911 memorial. We set off and HIKED to the memorial following phones GPS systems which were very iffy and had us turning around in circles. That did not go over well with me my hips aching, but we finally ended up in correct area and hiked to where the twin towers once stood.
It was a very different experience then my previous one. Then it was raining, a light mist that seemed so appropriate among the light crowd. Everyone was somber, quiet, and reflective. This day was bright, sunny and the square was packed with people who were talking, talking, talking and taking selfies and pictures. I tried to get that feeling I had the first time I was here, but it wasn't happening. I stood, my hands on the names etched in the stone, and closed my eyes for a moment. They say time heals, and maybe lightness is better than darkness at this memorial, but I'm thankful for my first encounter.
We split up from here. Darcy and Tom went off in an Uber to score tickets for School of Rock and Maddy and I took an Uber back to the Wyndham. It was a long trip back through tons of traffic and Darcy texted us that they were just going to go straight to the theater because of that. Madison and I got to freshen up at the hotel, enjoy some of their complimentary Arnold Palmer iced tea, and chill for twenty minutes before we then took another Uber to the theater.
We beat the other two to the theater so we got a Starbucks and waited for them before entering. The place was packed with small children. Darcy was horrified to think that parents paid that kind of money to introduce their children to Broadway, but I understood it. My mother would have done the same thing had we ever gotten to New York because she was big on introducing us to the theater. My brother and I had yearly tickets to our university's children's theater program for several years.
Broadway theaters were not at all what I expected. I guess I thought they were large like our local theaters, but of course they aren't. This is New York City and no building is large. The Broadway theaters are beautiful buildings, small, and frankly some of them are quite cramped. I was trying to imagine how celebrities sit among the general public and wonder if they are treated differently because there really isn't anywhere to be separated except the balconies, and having sat in one of those it certainly isn't front and center for a great view.
The show was fabulous! The children actors all play their own instruments on stage and were phenomenal. I've never seen the Jack Black movie so it was new to me and so good. The audience was fun, the cast was great, and we stood outside the stage door after so that Darcy could get autographs on her playbill. We decided this show tweaked just a tad over Book of Mormon as the fav thus far.
Darcy: "Jeez, what must it feel like to be in your second Broadway show by the time you're nine years old?"
The kids were pros at the autograph signing and taking of selfies. Of course, they have tons of energy at that age so eight shows a week isn't probably as difficult for them as it is for the adults, but throw in school and other activities on top of that...wow.
We walked Times Square and visited a few shops before HIKING back to the Wyndham for the night. Tom disappeared and returned with some food staples, but it was almost eleven by then and I opted for dressing my blisters and hitting the hay.
New York HIKING is way different than San Francisco hiking.
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