So, remember my trip to New York last August that got aborted by Hurricane Irene? Over Memorial Day, I decided to attempt the trip again. And this time, things went much more smoothly! No hurricanes or tropical storms, although there was a bit of rain that prevented me from doing a couple of things I’d wanted to do (didn’t get to go to Coney Island). But for the most part, it was a great trip. Here are some of the highlights from it:

• I got tickets for Mary Poppins at the Times Square ticket booth and ended up with second-row seats for 40% off! The show was great, too. Mary Poppins was like the movie of my childhood, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen it—years later, my mom told me that she was so happy my sister and I liked it because it’s long for a kids’ movie, and whenever she and my dad wanted a break, they’d put on Mary Poppins. The plot was a lot different from the movie, and only about half the songs came from the movie, but it was pretty awesome. The “Step in Time” scene, which is my favorite in the movie, was awesome on stage, too—Bert even dances on the ceiling at one point!

• I wandered around Fort Greene in Brooklyn and found the Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument, which had made an appearance on Ghostwriter, as well as the street corner where the bodega used to be!

 

 

• I went to Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

 

• I bought some pink and purple M&Ms at M&M World and looked around the Disney Store and FAO Schwarz (because, at heart, I’m five years old).

 

• I had some great pizza, bagels, garlic knots, and desserts.

 

• I went to the Museum of Natural History, where I went to the planetarium and saw the dinosaurs (I know there are plenty of other things in the museum, but again, I’m five).

• I hung out in Central Park for awhile, reading a book on the grass.

All in all, a very fun trip! But of course, I wouldn’t be me if there wasn’t an awkward moment in there.

On the second day of the trip, I had tickets to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, and the boat left at 9:00AM. When I’d left the day before, I’d been wearing a nice dress I’d gotten for my cousin’s wedding last year—I know you don’t have to get dressed up for the theater, but I like to. I’d planned on wearing jeans when going to the Statue.

Except—oops. I’d forgotten to pack the jeans, and I hadn’t brought any other pants. I looked frantically through my bag, but no sign of them. Crap, I thought. It’s only eight in the morning and I have to be on the boat at nine—where can I get something to wear at this time of day? I don’t want to wear this dress and get it dirty!

I looked online to try to figure out if there were any clothing stores in the immediate area that were open, but no luck. So, wearing the shirt I’d planned on wearing that day, pajama pants, and sandals, I headed down to the lobby of Hotel 17. I explained the situation to the guy at the front desk and asked if there were any clothing stores near the hotel that were already open. He didn’t know of any. “Why don’t you just wear what you’re wearing?” he asked.

I glanced down at my navy-blue pants with lighter blue fish printed on them. “They’re pajama pants.”

He shook his head. “Yeah, sorry,” he said. “That’s never happened to me!”

Well, of course it hasn’t. YOU’RE A GUY. Most of you people wear pants every day!

I checked a couple of Duane Reades on the off chance that they sold shorts or something, but no luck. I didn’t want to miss the boat, so…I got on the subway and left.

And that is how I ended up at the Statue of Liberty in my pajamas.