New York City: Day 4

Saturday, June 13. Today was the day I was able to go jogging in Central Park. What a beautiful day for a run. The sun finally broke through the clouds and the park was full of activity. There was a bike race, a road race, and I think every dog owner in New York City was there walking their dogs. I explored the park for over an hour. I ran around the Jackie Onassis Reservoir and explored an area called "The Remote." Despite all the activity at the park, I found relatively few people and/or dogs in this area. It was a wooded area of meandering paths. I wondered if I should feel threatened being along in the park, but I really felt very safe. I had meant to emerge from the park near W58th street where I entered, but I came out in front of the Museum of Natural History at W81st street. Just a little off course! I would have loved to have time to visit this museum but you have to have a reason to go back to a place, right? I made my way back to 57 Street where the hotel was located. It ended up being a longer run than I had planned, but it was well worth it.

The kids had their final rehearsal in the morning and then we were free until the afternoon. We went to Grand Central Station where we had lunch and a New York pretzel. We then went to the Rockefeller Center and road up to the "Top of the Rock." That was an awesome view of the city. I really enjoyed that. It was fun to see the view of Central Park from so high above. It made my run seem all the longer! After this, we got the kids back to the hotel to get ready for their big performance at Carnegie Hall.

The big night finally arrived. The kids were very excited. They performed a wonderfully entertaining repertoire of songs including "Where the Music Comes From" (Hoiby), "Regina Coeli" (Haydn) "Laudate Dominum" (Mozart), "Walk in Jerusalem" (Dilworth), "Servant's Chorus from Don Pasquale" (Donizetti), and "How Can I Keep From Singing?" (Walker). They received a standing ovation after the spiritual "Walk in Jerusalem" as well as at the end of the performance. They were by far the most entertaining of all the performances that night. I'm not just speaking as a proud parent either! They really did a nice job.

After the concert we hurried back to the hotel to change our clothes and wait for a bus to take us to the harbor where we boarded a boat for a nighttime cruise around the harbor. They had kid-friendly party food (Chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, cookies), a dance floor, and a wonderful cruise near the Statue of Liberty. It did rain most of the night but that didn't stop anyone from having a great time. We got back to the hotel about 1:30 in the morning so the kids (and grownups) were quite pooped!