Phantom of the Opera

I first saw the Phantom of the Opera in New York City during the Summer of 1996. My best friend and I had just graduated high school and her Mom gave her an awesome 4 day trip to NYC as her graduation present and allowed her to bring a friend. She picked me.

So I took my first airplane flight with her and took a taxi from La Guardia Airport to the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. It was like a dream! I can not believe that it was over 13 years ago now....

                                        

The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, NYC

We went shopping on 5th Avenue, went to SAKS and ate at fancy-smancy restaraunts (that looked at me funny when I asked for sweet tea). We saw the Statue of Liberty and the Twin Towers and did all the things tourists were supposed to do when in the city. We saw not one, but 4 celebrities....whose names I don't even remember now.  My favorite part of the city was Times Square and seeing all the lights, people, and theater pictures that lined Broadway.

We saw not one, but 3 plays on Broadway during this wonderful trip. I fell in love when we saw Phantom....I sat there the whole time, mesmerized by the songs, the music, the lyrics, the passion and when it was over I just cried. It was so beautiful.

The play is now on tour and is coming through Raleigh over the Holiday season, and although I would love to go see it this December, what I would love even more is to go back to NYC and see it on Broadway again. So, that is what I plan to do. Now that I am a mere 17 months from graduating not that I am counting or anything I think I can go ahead and plan my next graduation celebration ~It will be exactly 15 years since the last one (!!!) That sounds perfect.

I would love for Chris and I to escape to NYC for a long weekend to see the city and to see Phantom. As we know, time sure does have a way of flying by...so I am going to go ahead and start planning and dreaming about it now.