We arrived at the mall a little late but still in time to join the hundreds of thousands who were already there. It was overwhelming to be a part of a crowd that size, everyone there for the same purpose. The crowd was quite diverse as well. There were young families, retired couples, veterans and soldiers, church groups, motorcycle gangs, punksters, college frats, etc. The best part- everyone was kind, respectful and attentive. It was quite an uplifting experience. The message conveyed encouraged everyone to turn to God, understand your relationship with Him and what He expects of you. Remember that Heavenly Father had a hand in establishing this country and its constitution and He expects us to protect it. The first step is to live honorably. Participants were encouraged to pray, be completely honest, and to serve others. These seem like simple things but if you think about it, if everyone did this, we would have a very different government. There would be no more corruption, selfishness would fade away and we wouldn't need such big government programs because we would be taking care of each other. It sound utopic but things actually used to be more that way. Many different religious leaders were present and heard from. Medals of valor were given out, John Huntsman receiving one of them. Overall, it was a unique and uplifting experience. I'm glad James had the idea to go.
James and I got to spend a few days in Washington DC after the ralley. We visited some of the sights we had missed on previous trips. We went to the Library of Congress and actually got library cards so we could go into the reading rooms. We saw the Supreme Court building and the remodeled American History Museum and the Korean War Memorial (in the daytime). I know I've mentioned it before, but I'll say it again, Washington DC is always an inspiring place to visit.
After a few days, we took a train up to New York City where we planned to meet up with our friends, the Freis and spend some time there. We arrived in New York just in time to buy some tickets and see a play. We got to see "The Screwtape Letters," which is based on C.S. Lewis' book. It was basically a two man show, Screwtape and his sidekick acting out the writing and recitation of the dialogue between Screwtape and his nephew, Wormwood. It was well done, but would have been difficult to follow in some spots if I hadn't read the book. We actually got to meet the actor that portrayed Screwtape after the show. He told us they were actually considering Utah as a venue for the show when they took it on the road. We informed him that a lot of Utahns/Mormons were familiar with C.S. Lewis' works and would probably be interested.
The next day our friends arrived. They had tickets to see Lady Liberty that morning. Since James and I had had that opportunity more than once, we split up and went to the US Open. I could tell James was very excited to see some tennis matches. I was less than enthused but ended up really enjoying it. We got to see two matches before it was time to meet up with the Freis. We got back to Times Square in time to get tickets to "The Addams Family." What a treat that was. I don't think I've ever laughed so much during a broadway show. The music and set was amazing and the actors were top notch.
Thursday was the Yankee's game which was the main reason we had come to New York. James and Greg (Frei) had talked about how much they would love to see a Yankee game and so a trip was planned. Despite the extra hot and humid weather, the game was great. We got there early enough to go through the Yankee museum and see some of the history of the team. The Yankees played the A's, beating them. We were all decked out in our Yankee gear, looking like true blue fans.
Our last day was spent exploring 5th Avenue and Central Park. Just wandering around the city is an experience. Going into the stores and watching the people is fun. Central Park was beautiful. We visited the castle in the center and walked through the zoo area. We also got lost, more than once, along the many paths that wind through the greenery. Eventually, we made our way back to Times' Square in time for one more play. The Frei's had tickets to Wicked, we had already seen it so decided to try our luck elsewhere. We chose a play called "True Crime." The pamphlet claimed it was the longest running play on Broadway. We discovered that always isn't a good thing. After we climbed the five flights of stairs to get to the theatre, we realized we may have made a poor choice when there were only about 20 people in the theatre. Just before the show started, the usher came in started asking everyone if they would like to move closer to the front. I don't know if he didn't see us or what but everyone was seated in the first four rows while James and I were still sitting five rows behind all of them, by ourselves. We finally asked if we could move forward too. He seemed surprised we would to move but agreed to let us. As we looked over the playbill, we realized the lead had played the same role for the past 22 years. Can you imagine playing the same part in a play for 22 years, and missing only 4 performances?! I don't consider that an accomplishment, I think it's strange. When this actress entered the stage, we quickly realized that the picture they use in the playbill was probably taken during the first year of the play because she doesn't look much like it anymore. I'll sum it up by saying that the play was interesting and we laughed a lot, even though it wasn't a comedy. James was unsure of the plot and had to ask for a "key" to the play at the end. It probably wasn't the best two hours of my life but the company was good. James and I had fun despite the performance. We made it back to our motel before the Frei's who got held up because Times' Square was shut down due to a bomb threat. It turned out to be nothing but they got to go home with the tale of being a part of a real life bomb threat in Times' Square.
Overall, we had a great vacation together. It is always fun to get away and reconnect.
