We last saw our heroes burning the midnight oil as they packed and prepped for the end of their big city adventure until the wee hours of the morning. In this case, “wee hours of the morning” means “two hours before they have to get up to go have breakfast with Beth.” I don’t know why this trip is brought to you by tired eyes and two-hour nights, but it’s happened again, so I guess it’s a thing. It’s probably for the best that this is the last day of New York. We might have dropped dead of exhaustion in another couple of days.
We met Beth at Ellen’s Stardust Diner, an amazing restaurant where the waiters are all aspiring Broadway stars and perform songs between waiting on their tables. A man that we met during our last trip gave us the super helpful tip to go to Ellen’s for an earlier breakfast. Otherwise, there’s usually a significant line outside.
We got to see a pair of waiters sing Suddenly Seymour from Little Shop of Horrors and, at the end of the number, confetti exploded in the restaurant! Amazing!
We met Beth early, because she had to be at a recording studio at 10am for the project which brought her to New York. That would have been when we said goodbye, but the guy Beth is working with invited Katrina and I to come along to the session today, which turned out to be amazing. The recording studio is called Power Station and has hosted many, MANY popular artists, acts, and broadway cast recordings. The full list is too long to include here, but we’re talking anywhere from Lady Gaga to Madonna to Aerosmith to Journey to Josh Groban to the cast of Hamilton. That’s just a few from the list. They were recording ensemble vocals for a number of Broadway tune covers. The singers were amazing. The music director has done the music direction for multiple Broadway shows. The studio staff were of course super knowledgeable. It was so cool to just hang out off to the side and watch the magic happen. It was a real and really unexpected treat and a great way to end the trip.
We finally said our goodbyes to Beth and headed out for one last stop before we picked up our stuff at the apartment and it was...Schmackary’s!!! AND!!! I REMEMBERED TO TAKE A PICTURE OF MY COOKIES!!!
You’re welcome.
Then, it was back to the apartment. I was determined not to fall asleep until the plane. I managed to stay conscious for about...70% of the cab ride to the airport and 100% from there until we boarded. Once I finally got to my seat, I was out cold before take off...for about 45 minutes and then was awake (mostly) for the rest of the six hour, or something like that, flight time.
Oh, I guess that I should mention where this plane was taking me. I’m now in...SEATTLE!!! Surprise. I actually did take a day to regroup between the end of New York and when I start out again. I will do a blog post for tomorrow as well, but hopefully by the end of tomorrow I’m ready for the big trip! Wish me luck!