Day 22: First Day in NYC - LAST DAY OF TRIP

Saturday, March 6, 2017

          TODAY WAS OUR LAST DAY OF SCAVENGING OMG OMG OMG!!!!!! This was a very happy and sad day. Sad because this was the last day of seeing everyone, but happy because today was a good day. Because we kind of already knew what the end results were going to be, we just spent the day relaxing and doing what we wanted. 

          We went to the top of the Empire State Building first, which was super cool and also super touristy. I saw where daddy proposed (it was next to a trashcan) but it was cute. We also got really good pizza, and spent like an hour eating it. After that we just walked around for a little bit and kind of went where we felt like it. We were going to go to the Met, but I was doing the directions and I sent us to the MetLife Building. Which is more of a life insurance place than an art museum so, that didn't really work out. 

          I had wanted to buy a pair of heels to wear the last night, so we were going to go shopping. I found a place on the way that had really cheap but cute clothes so I was there for an hour, not looking at shoes. Daddy acted like Cooper, I gave him my phone and he just sat in a corner til I was done. I didn't end up buying anything because I was worried about not having any room in my suitcase, which I was disappointed about. Another shopping example: We went to the NBA store and I found the COOLEST JACKET. It was a throwback Cavs letterman jacket, and because it was based off of them in the 80s, the colors were blue and orange. I thought it was so cool, and daddy totally LOVED IT. We would've bought it, but the smallest size they had was a men's medium, which was way too big on me. 

          We went to Times Square for a little bit to do some more shopping, and I just love Times Square. We went into Forever 21 to look. It's 3 stories which is AWESOME, but the all of the neon clothing just blinded me when I walked in. I didn't even know neon was trending again, but I'm not really a fan. All of the mannequins looked like those Japanese girls with their neon and weird shoes and blue/pink hair in ponytails. Needless to say we didn't find what we were looking for. Also, in this 3 floor clothing store they are unable to provide a restroom, so we had to go to the Disney store (which I had no problem with because I LOVE DISNEY). 

          After all of this we headed back to the hotel to rest before our last meeting. We spent like 40 minutes talking to Victor, one of the hotel staff working outside. We talked to him about the trip, and he said he wanted to take his daughter, so that was cool. 

          We chilled at the hotel and during our last meeting I got a Shirley Temple (which was REALLY GOOD). This was our little awards ceremony in the lounge next to the lobby. Bill and Pamela gave speeches, everyone got cool shirts (which has all the places we travelled shown on a map). All the awards were given out after this. Tom and Paula got 3rd, which they've never gotten before so that was super great! Mike and Gilly got 2nd, which they deserved because they went totally full out. And then...... WE GOT FIRST!!!!!!! We actually were crowned World's Greatest Travellers (with a medal not a crown). But it was so amazing!! I was glad that our hard work gave us the results we wanted, and I was really happy that we were the first daddy-daughter team to win. I am so so so happy we won!! I knew that we had one once Europe was over, but to actually be told by Bill and Pamela that we won was pretty spectacular. It made it all official instead of just in my head. AND, we got medals, a certificate, a super fancy glass plaque and a free around the world trip! Overall I am really really happy that we won.

          After this all happened everyone went up to their rooms to go and get ready for dinner, except me and Catherine. We went with our dads to go look for shoes in Times Square. We didn't have a lot of time, so we ran around from store to store. She finally found a pair and went to go buy jeans, but I didn't find shoes that I actually loved so I just went back to the hotel and got ready. It was a very fun mini adventure, and it involved shopping IN NY which made it even better.

          We went to a fancy Greek restaurant near the hotel, and Jenny was super psyched about that. The food was really good, but the appetizers totally filled me up. Everyone just talked and made toasts and we told stories and laughed and people were drinking wine and it was just really nice. By the end everyone was giving hugs and standing up and eating ice cream and balancing spoons on their noses. 

          This was such a nice experience and I met so many great people. I am going to miss everyone so much and I now have so many amazing memories to share. I am sad to be leaving everyone and the trip, but I miss home and everyone so much so I am really excited to get home. This was a great way to end the trip, and I am so grateful I got to do this trip. Until next time!! ;)

Daddy's View:

We had scavenges to do this day.  The only scavenge we did was go up to the top of the Empire State Building.  Sydney wanted to see where Daddy proposed to Mommy.  I hadn't been back since, so this seemed like a good idea.

This is the inside of the bathroom on the 86th floor observation deck.  In 1996 when I was waiting to surprise Anita to propose on the observation deck, I waited in this bathroom.  Back then, this room had a urinal, a stall, and a sink.  There was not a lot of room, obviously.  People were coming in and out, and I'm standing in there in a suit, with flowers, waiting until Ken Lee came in to tell me Anita was there.  It was awkward - I got a lot of sideways glances of the "what the heck is this weirdo doing hanging out in this tiny bathroom?" variety.  Anyway, I thought it was funny that they thought the bathroom was too small for multiple occupancy, and converted it into a single use facility.

We had the awards ceremony that night.  We won!  That was nice validation.  Sydney was the first kid to win, I think.  We go these much nicer than expected trophies and gold medals.  Apparently the "Greatest Travelers in the World" is a trademarked slogan, so that's us for this year.

Winning was not the very last thing on our minds going into this, but it was among the last three things that came up in my brain at least.  So this was a nice surprise.

Some notable items:

-  we went to the NBA store.  sydney really liked the 80s era cavaliers clothing.  here she is super psyched about the throwback jacket that she wanted (and I wanted) me to buy.  alas, not my style.

-  tom and paula are awesome.  i hope one day to be them.  they're such lovely, charming, funny, laid back, humble, delightful people.  here they are getting their bronze medals.  if we're lucky we'll see them again in the future.  love those guys.

-  mike and gillian are fantastic.  they are on a gap year for his work and are really sucking the marrow out of life, and they certainly did that on this trip.  they're a great team and funtastic folks to be around.  i think the only disappointment for them was the surprisingly few (to me as well) redheads in ireland - gilly was looking forward to seeing more of her "people!"

-  here are a few more shots of the celebration evening.  i'm sure bill and pamela have more.  here's pamela, very humbly not taking enough credit for all the work she does.

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