Day 7: The Day We Met Famous People

So, we got up this morning before 5AM (that's 4AM at home!) to get ready and walk to the NBC studio for the filming of the Today Show. We waited in line for nearly an hour before they let us on the set, but we made it fine. There was a vendor giving out free coffee and breakfast to those waiting in line. We found out upon arrival that today's special guest was Kristen Stewart (Bella of the teen sensation Twilight.) They were passing out Burger King Twilight crowns to everyone, but we decided to pass on wearing ours. Wouldn't want to look silly on national television. So what did we do instead? Jump madly up and down, flailing our arms about our heads, to find ourselves on the monitors. We received text messages from several friends and family back home saying they saw us. We also got to meet some of the anchors. Dad high-fived Al Roker, and we all spoke to Meredith and had our picture made with her. They were very nice! Even though the crew kept begging Meredith to come back inside the studio, she stayed outside talking to people. We were there in Rockefeller Center for a few hours and saw the filming of many different segments of the show before we went back to the hotel to check out of our room.

There were a few more stops to make before leaving the city, so we walked to Central Park from our hotel. On the way, we passed Carnegie Hall and turned down what appeared to be Music Street. We happened upon the gorgeous headquarters of Steinway & Sons piano company and made ourselves at home.


Passing the famous Plaza Hotel, we made our way to one of the world's most famous toy stores, F.A.O. Schwarz. We saw the Big Piano and a myriad of toys. We walked from the toy store to the park (very close.) Central Park is HUGE, and unfortunately predominantly manmade. It's very pretty though with many nice trees and lakes.



After seeing the park, Daddy waved down a taxi to take us back to the hotel. Much to our disappointment, it was not Cash Cab. We made it back to the hotel, grabbed lunch, and waited for our car to return from... well... wherever they parked it for the past three days. By God's grace, we safely made it out of the city and were stuck in a traffic jam for an hour an a half. We eventually made it to Connecticut, though, and pressed on to New Haven where we would spend the evening.

We went straight to the campus of Yale University (the second Ivy League college on this trip) and visited the campus bookstores before and after having dinner at the Bulldog Burrito. The campus, like Princeton, is old and beautiful with elaborate Norman arches and, you guessed it... ivy.


At the bookstore, I bought tons of shirts, caps, sweatpants, lanyards, notebooks, etc. Hopefully it will be sufficient to convince everyone at graduate school that I did my undergraduate work at Yale. Of course, you know I'm kidding, but the thought did enter my mind. We drove around campus and saw some of the athletic facilities before checking into our hotel.

At this time, the weary blogger will join the other sleeping members of her family. Mom still happens to be doing laundry. Yes, we do laundry on the trip, so if you see outfit repeats in photographs, don't judge. There's a good chance we're actually clean... most of the time.

Tomorrow we are going to Providence, Rhode Island, the city I was responsible for researching. Stay tuned!