The Big Apple

Last weekend I had the opportunity to travel once again to New York City with some students from our radio program for the Intercollegiate Broadcast System conference located at the Hotel Penn in midtown Manhattan.

The conference itself was a huge success, which is good for me since I am also the president of the organization.  But more importantly I was able to not only spend some quality time in a city that I love, but I was also able to take six of my students around the town and show them the sights.  I swear in a previous life I must have been a tour guide or travel agent.

The coolest part about taking the kids on this trip?  None of them had ever been to NYC before.  So in a span of about 72 hours, here is what we managed to squeeze in (in addition of course to the conference itself, which accounted for 15-17 hours of our time):

- Appearance on Today Show on NBC.
- NBC Studio Tour
- Dinner at McGee's (the pub the television show How I Met Your Mother is based in)
- Taking in Times Square
- Walk down Broadway to see the lights
- A trip up to the top of the Empire State Building
- Record (yes, vinyl) shopping in Greenwich Village
- Dinner at John's Pizza (also in Greenwich Village)
- A stop at Grand Central Terminal (which turned 100 years old in February.  See photo above).
- A stroll through Rockefeller Center to take in the sights.
- Several stops for "street meat" over the course of the trip
- Breakfast at Doughnut Plant (as seen on Travel Channel and Food Network)
- A visit to the 9/11 Memorial (aka Ground Zero)
- A ride on the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
- A walk around Macy's Department Store

Add in some random lunches and several trips on the subway system and that pretty much sums up the trip.  Not bad considering the short amount of time we were in the city, huh?

If you are a frequent visitor, what do you think of our list?  If you've never been to The Big Apple, trust me when I say, our above list is a good place to start

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