Monkey Tales from New York

3/26/13

Greetings! Just a few short days ago I was in the Georges' closet reminiscing about past adventures with no prospects for a new one, when "Voila!", Abby told me I was heading to NYC as the mascot/head chaperone for the Tri-Center music trip. I am highly qualified for the position as I clearly know monkey business when I see it (apparently my past exploits are not being held against me).  I got a new set of TC apparel and I was ready to roll.

 

 

 

I neglected to read the fine print in my contract, however, and I learned that I was assigned to the last flight in the group which meant 5 1/2 hours in the Omaha airport before I got to go anywhere at all. I passed the time by crashing with some of the sleepier members of the group.

 

 

Finally we got to board our flight. I stopped in the cockpit to give everything a good once-over and offer my services as co-pilot. It's probably a good thing they didn't take me up on the offer, because a little turbulence on take-off and landing got the best of me and a few others in the group. Apparently my ancestors did not hail from the land of Oz.

 

We finally arrived in New York and were reunited with the rest of our group. We met our tour guide, Elise, and boarded our Leprechaun tour busses into Manhattan. Our first stop was Rockefeller Center. We were ahead of schedule so we got some time on our own to look around. I hope no one noticed the mess I left in the Lego store when I scaled the Empire State Building replica--it was a King Kong fantasy thing I just couldn't control.

 

After dinner at Cucina & Co., we enjoyed the amazing panoramic view of the city from the "Top of the Rock".

Then it was back on the Leprechaun busses to head to our hotel in New Jersey. Bus 2 got a special narration from our new buddy and self-appointed tour guide, Joe. I was his side-kick for the journey, but due to his animated story-telling I was just happy to make it back in one piece.

 

 

P.S. To avoid being confused with other members of our group named "Kevin" and to give my name a more sophisticated flair appropriate to the cosmopolitan nature of New York, it was decided that for the duration of the trip I would be known as "Kevon"...emphasis on the second syllable.

    
3/27/13

Today was performance day. We started off at the Cathedral of St. John the Devine where the choir gave a touching performance. The cathedral is the largest in the world and had amazing acoustics. It was fun to hear the echoes of the notes at the end of each song. The cathedral has been a work in progress for over a century (300 monkey-years) and is still not complete.

 

 

 

After that, we headed to the atrium of 590 Madison Avenue to get ready for the band performance. We ventured out on our own for lunch and I met some new construction worker friends, Pat and Jose, in line at a street vendor cart. They were surprisingly friendly for the stereotypical New Yorkers we were expecting. My first experience with a street vendor hot dog was a positive one, but I wasn't too impressed with my first knish. Next time I'm sticking to bananas...we saw plenty of them at open markets on the streets today.

 

 

The band put on a good show after lunch and sounded three times as big thanks to the acoustics in the space. The crowd was really getting into their performance.

 

 

After our work was done for the day, we boarded our busses for a tour of Manhattan. We had a stop in Central Park to visit Strawberry Fields and look around. Luckily we didn't get too close to the zoo, so no one would think I was an escapee.

 

 

We crawled through Manhattan traffic (actually I think crawling would have been faster, and I know swinging through the trees would have been) and finally made it down to the World Trade Center area. We heard about the tragic events of 9/11 but also saw the new Freedom Tower and memorial in creation.

  

Some of the other interesting things we saw out our bus windows were a guy peeing in a bottle on the street, the original naked cowboy with his white boots and guitar, and a naked cowboy knock-off (more of a puny caballero, really) with his well-endowed female sidekick in Times Square. People think the zoo is in Central Park, but actually Times Square seemed more zoo-like to me--the animals were just a little more bizarre and the cages were not as obvious. It's definitely not a place you want to be if you can't handle crowds. Now imagine 80 people trying to stay together as a group--thank goodness we had Joe and his whistle!

    
Next we enjoyed dinner at Planet Hollywood, and then we ushered/herded the group up Broadway to "Cinderella". Unfortunately we missed the first part of the show due to a scheduling mistake by the travel agency. The show was amazing anyway, and we felt lucky to have seen it since it has been open on Broadway for less than a month. I even got a photo with one of the cast members after the show...incredible!

 

 

Another amazing day in New York City…I can’t wait to see what's in store for us tomorrow!

 

3/28/13

 

Day 3 of our NYC adventure started with a ferry ride around the harbor and up the river to get some awesome views of the New York City skyline, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. I'm not a big fan of water, but the kids kept me moving around enough that I avoided getting seasick.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After that, we had a Subway experience (not the sandwich kind) up to Grand Central Station for lunch. People on the subway acted like they'd never seen a sock monkey before...like I'm the only freak walking around this city.
 

 

After lunch we toured the USS Intrepid. I found plenty of trouble there as they have lots of really big, dangerous toys. Hopefully I won't get demoted from my head chaperone position for being such a bad role model.

We got to experience a re-creation of the Japanese kamikaze attacks that nearly sunk the Intrepid in November 1944. It was terrifying.

This also turned out to be a great place to play "Where's Kevin?"  Can you spot me in the picture below?

      

 
Just as interesting as the Intrepid museum was the cultural diversity we experienced there. We happened to be visiting on Chol Hamoed festival day at the museum so we saw a large contingent of Hasidic Jews enjoying family outings.

When I get back home, I'm going to ask for a full set of black duds, complete with beard, side curls (peyos) and a big old round fur hat (shtreimel) to wear on all the Jewish holidays.


 

 





Then it was back to the sensory overload of the Times Square area. We had just enough free time for me to check out the Manhattan branch of the Cake Boss Cafe.  I think I may have to administer daily insulin shots to some of our group members if we keep consuming desserts at the current rate.

Dinner at Dallas BBQ was fast, efficient and delicious.

After dinner, we visited Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. I was a little skeptical that it would be anything but completely cheesy, but actually it was pretty entertaining. I had my picture taken so many times I was seeing stars by the end of the night, but it was great to get up close and personal with so many famous people. Technically I was probably being exploited, but I'm not complaining.

 

We hiked up to Times Square for a group photo, then back to the busses for our daily pilgrimage to our New Jersey quarters. There were no lost cell phones, wallets, or people today, so we all considered it a successful one.

 

3/29/13

 

Our busses full of teenage zombies departed at 6 am today to get to Times Square bright and early for the Good Morning America broadcast.

Despite our overwhelming numbers and matching orange t-shirts, I'm not sure we got much air time. We heard rumors that the folks back home did see one of our students and signs. I talked to Sam the weather guy, but I'm not sure I got on TV. If not. I'm going to be disappointed--I'm becoming quite fond of my celebrity status.

Even though it's spring, it was a little brisk that early in the day, so most of the group ended up in the Starbucks next door at one time or another.

 

The next stop on the trip was a surprise to the kids, and I was sworn to secrecy (good thing I can't speak or I probably would have cracked under the pressure of constant inquiry). Since we missed the first part of the Cinderella production, our tour guide arranged a question-and-answer period with a musical director and Robert Hartwell, one of the Cinderella cast members.

We learned a lot about the behind-the-scenes workings of a Broadway show and the lives of the performers. Since I haven't noticed any other sock monkeys running around New York, I might have a pretty good shot on Broadway...does anyone know if "Lion King" is hiring? We did find out more about how the amazing magical costume changes happened in Cinderella. I wish I could see the production again now that we know all the details!

 

After our chat with Robert, we turned everyone loose in Times Square for a couple hours. Unfortunately one of the kids had a first-hand encounter with a genuine New York pick pocket, bringing our loss tally to 1 wallet, 1 cell phone, and 1 envelope of money, but fortunately no kids.

Some of my bus buddies bought me a New York souvenir. To be honest, I don't think I'm wearing it as intended, but I love my new garment anyway.










 I enjoyed meeting the Abercrombie model, and some of us caught another glimpse of the naked cowboy (for the record, he is wearing underwear). I bet that dude is glad that summer is just around the corner. Moving around Times Square was challenging, especially in a pack of 80. One can only imagine what New Year's Eve is like there.





 

Our next adventure was a tour of the NBC Studios. I think we spent as much time getting through security and being counted every time we went around a corner as we did looking at things. You would have thought we were touring the Pentagon. We saw the set of the Dr. Oz show and Saturday Night Live. They definitely make it look much bigger on TV than it is in real life.  There will be no physical evidence of my visit there as photos were strictly prohibited.

After that, the jazz choir and a few others visited the Engine 54/Ladder 4/Battalion 9 firehouse. This group lost 15 members on 9/11. Joe had a connection there and thought it would be nice to pay our respects by singing a song for them, so the jazz choir performed "Temporary Home". The firefighters appreciated it; I got a little misty-eyed. I wish I could have stayed and gone on a call, but actually I'm not 100% positive that I'm flame-retardant.

 

We capped off the night with a bowling party in a retro-style alley complete with glowing pins and big screens playing music videos. Even the skeptics in the group had a fun time. They did not have a small enough ball for me so I just had to hang out and eat pizza and onion rings.

It was another awesome day of adventure in the Big Apple!

3/30/13

We loaded the trailer and had an emotional send-off for our new friend Joe (and Pete, of course). They are making the cross-country trek to transport our luggage and instruments home by tomorrow morning.

Then we headed into the city for our final adventures. First stop was Chinatown for cheap souvenirs, designer knock-off merchandise, and an education in haggling. A few brave souls followed the purse whisperers into back alleys and basements for the good stuff. I was content to stay on Canal Street, but was disappointed when I couldn't get any of the purse sellers to take a picture with me. Apparently if you want to be left alone in Chinatown the only weapon you need is a camera. Two hours later, we loaded the bus looking super fly with our new sunglasses, scarves, watches and bags. I even got a FDNY jacket to help "macho-up" my image (I'm a little worried about perceptions after my encounter with the Abercrombie model).

The final stop on our NYC tour was the World Trade Center memorial plaza. We were excited to have this last minute addition to our itinerary. The museum is not open yet, but it was well worth the stop. Two pools with the largest manmade waterfalls in the US cascading down their sides are located in the footprints of the twin towers. The pools and the seemingly bottomless hole in the center symbolize the void left by the terrorist attacks.

The falling water represents tears and drowns out the surrounding city noises creating a sanctuary for reflection. The names of the victims surround the pools. 

Another feature of the site is the large number of trees, including the special "Survivor Tree" that was recovered from the rubble long after workers expected to find anything alive.

 

         
















From there we were airport-bound. We caught our last glimpse of the Manhattan skyline on the way to LaGuardia. We bid farewell to Elise and our bus drivers, Phil and Marvin, who did an amazing job getting us around this incredibly congested city. NYC bus driver would not be at the top of my list for stress-free jobs I'd love to have some day.

 

I made it through airport security (sure hope all these x-rays aren’t doing long term damage…I’d hate to have my tail fall off someday when I’m least expecting it).

Our return flights were thankfully without incident (all on time and no one airsick), and we all arrived to the anxiously awaiting arms of our loved ones (except for those who had their loved ones with them on the trip, who were just thankful to be on speaking terms after 5 days of togetherness).



I can't believe what a great trip it was...I hope I get a chance to get out of the closet for more adventures like this in the future!

  

P.S.  This is goodnight, but not good-bye.