On May 10-13, the class of 2017 traveled to New York City for the annual senior trip. We drove into the city listening to “Empire State of Mind” over the loud speakers; this was a great way to get our first glance of the “city that never sleeps.”

First, we stopped at the Madame Tussaud’s New York Wax Museum. Among a few of the figures were Barack Obama, Eli Manning and Derek Jeter. Donald Trump even made an appearance in the “oval office”, but was unfortunately sectioned off. The next stop was the Broadway show, Aladdin, which was a big hit amongst all. The Genie was one of the best characters in the play, and we could hear Mr. Hazelton laughing the entire time. We learned that in order for a theatre to be considered a Broadway theatre, it must be over 399 feet high. We found this to be very intriguing.

After the Broadway show we returned to our hotel in New Jersey. The hotel had a nice appearance, but once they fed us french fries for breakfast, many were disappointed. The next adventure for the senior class was the guided bus tour. Our tour guide was an older woman who has lived in the city for quite some time. She taught us how to think like real New York pedestrians (which we personally didn’t enjoy). We saw the “home alone bridge” in Central Park, which was pretty neat. A few more of the things that we saw was the Trump tower, Chinatown, SoHo, and Little Italy. We even had time to shop and barter in Chinatown. The seniors enjoyed their freedom of being able to go off on their own for a while before meeting back up.

A few more things that we enjoyed on the trip were The Bronx Zoo, the Empire State Building, free time in Times Square, Bubba Gump’s Shrimp Shop, and the Yankees game. One of the biggest hits on the trip was the Blue Man Group. The seniors were led into a small, underground theatre that was tightly packed. We were all expecting a theatre like the one on Broadway, but were far from it. We filled the first three rows, and some enjoyed the luxury of sitting front row. The front row was close enough to the stage that you could even put your feet up on it! We were all given a poncho to wear and green paper to wrap around our heads. After sitting for awhile, we witnessed a proposal before the show started! We thought that was neat, but once the show began we were even more intrigued. It was one of the funniest things most of us had seen, and Mike Vanbuskirk was even noted to have said, “I’ve never laughed so hard in my whole life!” This was relatable to all.

After the show was over, we boarded the bus to return to the hotel. On the way back, we danced down the aisles and sang our hearts out. It was one of the best nights by far. On the last day, it was cold and rainy. We took a ferry to Ellis and Liberty Island, and then walked around some more. We couldn’t board our bus because our bus driver, Doug, had accidentally broken the mirror off of the bus in the Lincoln Tunnel. Oh, Doug. Once we finally boarded the bus after being cold and miserable, we were home bound. The cold and rainy day made it easier for us to come back home. Many memories were made that we will never forget. The class of 2017 senior trip was one for the books.