Tour, Shop, Show, Top - Day Three

Another busy day today!

After a good night's rest, we started at 9 AM with a guided tour of the NBC studios at Rockefeller center and Radio City Music Hall. We saw where Saturday Night Live, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Newsroom, MSNBC and other shows are filmed, and some of us even got to give the weather report using green screen technology.

For lunch we stopped into a deli that had lots of great options, so everyone got something they liked before we headed back to Times Square to shop and sight-see before our matinee performance of The Lion King began. The show was AWESOME--amazing puppetry, singing, sets, and dancing. It was very different than West Side Story, so we're happy to have seen various facets of "Broadway" during our short time here.

After the show we hung out in the lobby, admiring the hustle and bustle of Times Square through its windows before making the short walk over to Bubba Gump Shrimp for dinner. We had to wait outside for a few minutes and it was cold, but that made it feel even better once we finally got seated. No surprise as to what most of us had for dinner: SHRIMP! We took our time, enjoying the friendly service and each others' company. After we polished off our ice cream sundaes it was time to walk back out into Times Square and make our way (singing all the way) toward our final event of the night: the Top of the Rock Observation Deck.

Seventy-three stories high, the observation deck sits atop Rockefeller Center and boasts incredible views. From it you can see three states: New Jersey, Connecticut, and, of course, New York. The night lights were fabulous, and the kids had a great time exploring all three floors of the observation deck (they also got a kick out of this very cool 'light room' up there that made you feel like you were inside a video game). In addition to the stunning views, it's also remarkable how quiet it is up there given how noisy the streets can be.

Once we all gathered back on the earth's surface, it was time to head home. There's one experience that's central to being in New York, though, that the kids hadn't yet had: riding in a taxi. Some students decided they'd like to give it a try so we hailed a cab to zip us home, weaving and honking through traffic the whole way (short as it was). Back at the hotel there was a surprise waiting for us: Jake and John Paul (Fel) Metsa from Cook were there to greet us. The Mesta boys live in New York most of the year, working on various film and photography projects. It was nice to have a little bit of home here in the city, and we'll look forward to seeing them back in Cook when they're home this summer.

Hard to believe tomorrow is our last day! We have to get to bed so we can be bright eyed and bushy tailed at 7 AM to head over to The Today Show. Keep your eyes peeled--hopefully we'll make it on camera!