Carnegie Hall Chronicles: No New York Today After All

We all got up early this morning, ready for a long flight across the country. Destination, JFK Airport, New York City. It’s an exciting trip for us, because this Friday, April 9th, our daughter Jenna is singing at Carnegie Hall with the Valencia High School choir. The choir is amazing, and the director gets the kids in some great venues– last June they sang at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Italy. Ron and I were fortunate to go to Italy and it was a thrill to hear the kids sing in such a magnificent setting. The choir sounded like angels. It was a highlight of our family’s life and a memory we will cherish always. So we have been eagerly anticipating this trip to New York and the choir’s Carnegie Hall performance.

Since we’ve been to New York with Jenna several times before and done all the touristy things, she opted to travel independently from the choir and stay in the hotel with Ron and me, and meet up with the choir kids for rehearsals and the big performance. Jenna and I planned to arrive in NYC today and spend the next couple days shopping and exploring Central Park (the Balto statue is a favorite). Ron would fly out on the Red-Eye on Tuesday night and meet us Wednesday morning at the hotel. (He’s a CPA and it’s close to April 15th, so he’s working Monday and Tuesday).

All went smoothly in the morning. We had to be out the door at 8:30 am, but Ron and Jenna were up early and even made chocolate chip pancakes. The coffee smelled great as I headed down the stairs. Love that husband of mine! The bags were packed. We got out the door on time. Drove an hour to LAX. Kissed Ron goodbye and watched him drive off. (He planned on getting a few hours of work in, then meet his mom for Easter lunch.) Got the bags checked in and went through security no problem. The security gates always stress me out– having to take off shoes, unload the computer, get through the metal detector without being frisked– but this time it was easy and stress-free. It was relatively quiet at LAX at 9:30 AM on Easter Sunday. Yay.

A few minutes later Jenna and I were seated comfortably at American Airlines Gate 39, with an hour and a half to spare before boarding. I was happy for the long wait actually, as it would give me more time to explore my new iPad (which I got yesterday, the day it launched, and will tell you more about in a future post.) Jenna grabbed a $20 out of my purse and got us some pretzels, water, and the latest Teen Vogue for her to read. We settled in.

At 9:50 AM I was absorbed in my iPad, but was distracted by Jenna cocking her head listening to an announcement. It was hard to hear, but sure enough, the man on the speakers said “Flight 40 cancelled.”

Checked the ticket, and saw it was our flight. So I made a mad dash for the ticket counter. Found out the flight was cancelled because of mechanical problems. All Sunday flights to New York were full. So we’d have to wait until Monday. It took another 45 minutes but we got tickets on the Red Eye to New York, arriving Tuesday morning. We’re only missing one day in New York.

The only big glitch is that our checked bags were routed to JFK, so we don’t have our clothes– hopefully they’ll be waiting for us when we get to the airport Tuesday morning! And luckily Jenna listened to Miss Tazares, the choir director, and packed her choir dress in her carry-on. That move saved us a LOT of drama!

Ron came back to the airport and picked us up, and we were able to meet his mom and a couple of her friends for Easter lunch. It was a lovely day, the restaurant is on a lake, we sat outside and they played Italian music; it was almost as good as being at Lake Como in Italy! Much better than spending Easter in an airplane.

Luggage snafu aside, I like to look on the bright side– two fewer nights in NYC means we save a boatload of $$$ on the hotel– which pays for my new iPad! Whoo hoo!

Here’s Ron and Jenna at the restaurant; you can see the Westlake Lake in the background.

Coming up the next post of @ Home With Cheri: Exploring New York. (Hopefully!)