I hit the ground running today after spending some of last night planning. My first order of business was to get ready and gather my things to check out. (With the way that I booked my room, I had to move rooms one night.) There are two showers for 12 people. You might be thinking...Yikes! two showers for 12 women! Oh my goodness!! -- What you may or may not have realized is that I am staying in a hostel. Not a HOTEL, but a HOSTEL. (Cap-locks for demonstration purposes only. I promise I am not screaming at you.) You take one part hostel and two parts New York City and you get -- foreigners. What I am learning from these people from beyond our borders is that many either shower at night or do not shower at all. (I have also learned that their Mommas must not have taught them that some clothing is NOT optional as well.) All this to say, showering was not a problem.
It took me a bit longer to gather my thing and get ready, but if you know me we enough, you are probably not surprised by that statement. I stowed my valuables in the locker and dropped off my big bag at the luggage storage room and was off!
First order of business: Jimmy Fallon
Conan O'Brien will always be my number one late night man, but I do enjoy Mr. Fallon immensely. Stand by tickets are available at 9:00am out side the NBC experience store -- I'm thinking of the nice man from Yonkers who so helpfully answered my question yesterday. Well, little miss self-confident me thought all it took was one afternoon of riding the subway to have it mastered...WRONG. I took the wrong train and had to get off and get on the right one. I finally made it at 9:15. Luckily, the 'Fallon Girls' were still there and I secured a stand-by not-quite-a-ticket. I had to come back at 3:15 for the next step in the process.
Almost-ticket secured, I grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed off to try and secure a RUSH ticket for How to Succeed at Business Without Really Trying. The box office opened at 10am, so I should have a decent place in line if I can get there soon. This is where I learned that my trusted iPhone was not so trustworthy. I typed in my locations, --
(Before I get into this, I must tell you that I typically have a great sense of direction. I mean I get turned around every once in a while, but I figure it out quickly. I am also very good at reading maps...which is why I do well with my iPhone GPS, for the most part.)
-- looked at my directions, looked around to establish my starting point, double check the next street I should run into, and off I went. I am trucking it down the block when all of a sudden, I notice that the 45th Street sign that I should have been seeing read 43rd Street. I had walked the wrong way!! I checked my phone and sure enough, my little blue dot telling me my current location is nowhere to be found on the path given on my GPS screen. Rolling my eyes at my stupidity, I turned around and rewalked the block I had just completed.
(Again, I need to clarify...some of these blocks are 5 skyscrapers long.)
I finally found my way to the dot on the map on my GPS. The trouble was, it was not the right theater. I checked the information again and even copied and pasted the address from the website into the phone. It still brought me to the same spot. A light bulb then went off as I realized I could just read the address and figure out where I was. I figured out that I was a block away from where I should have been. I kept walking and found I was still in the wrong place. I ended up circling the entire block 1.75 times. I say 1.75 because I did complete that last quarter of a rotation because it finally dawned on me that I should look to the next block behind me. Sure enough, I turn around and there is a HUGE marque with what I am looking for. All that made me too late to have a prayer of a RUSH ticket, but I tried it anyway.
With all that behind me, I decided to go to the Empire State Building as a part of my City Pass Ticket Book. (You should really get this if it is your first trip to NY.) I find the subway station, find the truing I need, and start walking the direction I think I should walk. Once again, even though I had checked and rechecked, I had walked the wrong direction again. Grumbling to myself, I double-backed and headed the right direction. I happened across and CVS and stopped in to get a bottle of water. I had the sense to ask the cashier which direction to go.
The ESB is massive! I had no idea! It felt a bit like six flags having to walked around roped off line corrals. Thankfully my little City Pass book let me skip line and get a free audio tour. I had a little device that I could hold to my ear and listen as Tony the Cab Driver told me about that particular section. It was very informative and interesting and I liked it! It was pretty windy up there, but so beautiful!
I then caught the Subway to Battery Park to take the Liberty Cruise line to The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. (Again, part of the city pass book.) I was a bit nervous to get on when I got there because it was past 1:00 and I really wanted to leave in time to get to see LNwJF. Once I boarded the ferry, I decided to stay on the ferry and not get off to see Lady Liberty and Ellis Island up close. I took some good pics that I would not have had the chance to otherwise. The boat ride was nice and still learned a few things from the pre-recorded lady on the boat.
I then hustled back to the subway, got on the right train, then started studying the map. My phone died as soon as I got to the subway station, but had already looked at my options. I had this brilliant idea to get off one train and go to the next to try and save time. Surprise, surprise...I was wrong. I had to get back on the train and was now running behind. Not to mention, that I had to walk 3 blocks once I left the station.
Thankfully, I walked the right direction and was only a few minutes late to check in. I was still not guaranteed a seat, only the probability of filling one. The first group I was with was whittled down to 45. We then went upstairs and were whittled down again to 28. I made the cut!!! I was 25th in line! :)
The taping was very cool. The warm-up guy was pretty good, the Roots played a number for us -- with a Susaphone!! -- Steve spoke to us and made us "practice" using the applause sign, lol. Then Jimmy came out! I was really excited. Listen and you might be able to hear me cheer or laugh. Betty White was the guest and Jimmy played Password with her. Jeff Gordon was next -- apparently he is doing a voice in cars -- Jeff Gorvettte. They debuted a new video game -- neither Jimmy or the game guy could play it well. Then, to end the show, Jimmy came out into the crowd and ran up through the aisles. I was at the end of the very top row. Jimmy came by and said, "Thanks for coming out tonight." I said, "Oh my word, Jimmy you're the greatest." He said, "Well, thank you!" Then he hugged me. Jimmy Fallon that little cutie!
--His suit was really nice. I guess NICE suits all feel that way, but I think I want everything I own made out of whatever that material was!--
Before I went to the room, I tried in vain for standing room only tickets to The Book of Mormon. Oh, well. There's always tomorrow!
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