Labor Day 2011

Yep, I'm a little late with this post, but if I don't do it now, I'll never get around to it.

We spent Labor Day weekend in New York City this year!  My pen-pal from third grade (with whom I've kept in touch all these years) is playing one of the lead roles in the Phantom of the Opera on Broadway right now and we just HAD to go see her. (and I got a text from her the other day saying she's just been offered a 6-month extension!  I'm so proud of her!!!)  Labor Day seemed to be the perfect time to go see her and get to spend time with her.  So, we sucked it up, bought 4 plane tickets, and vowed to have an excellent time.

And we did!  We arrived on Friday evening and had tickets to see the matinee on Saturday afternoon.  We traveled into the city (we were staying at my pen-pal and her husband's house in Newark), walked around a bit, left my pen-pal at the theater to get ready for the show, grabbed some lunch, and then went to the show.

I had never seen the Phantom of the Opera until that day and it was such a great experience.  I feel so lucky to have gotten to see it for the first time when one of my dear friends was playing one of the lead roles!  She was afraid that the kids were going to be freaked out by the Phantom's make-up during the show, so she talked to Hugh Panaro and he agreed to let us watch him put on his make-up.  That was cool!  (And, for the record, Hugh Panaro is a really, really nice guy.)  The kids thought it was neat to see him put on his make-up, but they especially liked meeting his dog, Soot (whose name is also on the dressing room door). :)

Before the show

After the show - on stage with the chandelier

This is one of her dresses - some of her dresses weigh up to 50 pounds!

After the show, my pen-pal gave us a back-stage tour and we all grabbed a bite to eat. She needed to get back to the theater for the evening show, so we headed off on our own to go to the top of the Empire State Building.

There were some guys outside the building telling us it was a 2.5 hour wait and that we could pay them for the "Express Tour".  We figured that was a scam, but it turned out to be pretty accurate!  It was around 10pm by the time we made it up to the observation deck!  :o

On Sunday, we all walked across the Brooklyn Bridge.  My husband and I had to read the book, The Great Bridge, in college so it was particularly interesting to us because we learned a lot about the building of the bridge.  It's amazing that this bridge is almost 130 years old!

The Great Bridge

It had gotten to be late in the day by the time we made it across the bridge, so we found a restaurant in Brooklyn to get some dinner.  Marxo was ready for a rest.

And after dinner, we took the ferry across the river to the Financial District, where we were able to get a shot of the new World Trade Center building.

Our flight didn't leave until late Monday afternoon, so we decided to make the most of it and head to Central Park for a carousel ride!

Hard to take a picture of a moving horse while also sitting on a moving horse...

Fellan is the King of Central Park!

And, on the way to the subway/train/plane that afternoon, my pen-pal informed us that you can't go past the pig in front of Rudy's without giving it a high-five!  :)