Tour was amazing. Since this was my first one, I have no other tours to compare it to. But it exceeded my expectations and I feel extremely blessed to have been able to go. Listed below are ten reasons as to WHY tour was so amazing (no particular order). NOTE: Picture gallery at bottom of post. More pictures forthcoming!
THE VENUES: So we sang at 6 venues in all. Strathmore, Bethel Woods (Woodstock site), Carnegie Hall, Yankee Stadium, West Point Military Academy, and the Wang Theater. They were all unique and beautiful in their own way. Where was my favorite place to perform? The outdoor venues were fun. In fact the day we were at Bethel Woods, it was actually rainy and cold. But the crowds still came and we put on a good show for them. It was actually nice to perform in cooler weather as usually the bright lights of an indoor stage make us hot. Cargenie was great, just because it was on the bucket list. West Point was unique as we sang patriotic songs to 1400 new cadets and other audience members with a feeling of patriotism permeated the air. Gosh, they were all fun to be at.
BOB IN THE CITY: So you're probably wondering what this is. Well, a group of us decided to kind of stick together during the tour--which was particularly helpful for the spouses of us choir members since they had more free time than we did. Anyway, we made a chat group called "Bob in the City" (random) to stay in contact with each other was figured out what to sightsee, where to go eat, and a host of other things. It was very handy!
BUS RIDES: OK. So the bus rides weren't so popular. But they were memorable! Because they didn't want to keep us moving from hotel to hotel, our central "hub" was the Marriott Marquis right there in Times Square. Having a central location though meant being bused to various venues, sometimes 3-5 hours away. While being on the bus that long wasn't exactly fun, conversations, texting, looking at all the Facebook posts coming in, and having time to think were all positives. I'm thankful for our excellent bus drivers who got us where we needed to go, safely.
THE FOOD: Probably a third of the meals were provided by the hotel or venue we were at, while the rest were on our own. This was a good mix. The provided food was excellent--particularly the food at Boston the first night we got there. Best clam chowder I've ever had. We also hit a lot of yummy restaurants--from Mexican to Italian to classic American fare. Yummiest dessert by far was the banana pudding at Magnolia Bakery. Let's just say we were rarely hungry.
THE VIDEOS: While on the bus, we were able to watch some videos produced by the video committee of the choir. These included interviews of current and past choir members, a tour of the organ pipes, interviews of children of choir members, and some hilarious commercials. All interesting and fun. Thanks to everyone who helped put those together!
JENNIFER: Of course one of the great things of this trip was spending so much time with my wife! It's true the performers were away at sounds checks and performances a lot, but we still had lots of time to be together--to see the sights and converse and enjoy.
FRIENDSHIPS: It's challenging to build good friendships among choir members when we usually are given 5 min here and 10 min there to converse--let alone go on non-choir related activities together. Being on tour provided lots of opportunities to go below the surface talk and to also see the great sites of the East coast together.
THE SONGS: I could spend a lot of time talking about the songs we sang. Many of them came to have a special meaning to me. Whether they helped me feel patriotic or excited or grateful or contemplative or somber, the songs really were the heart of the tour. The audience loved them, giving us several standing ovations, and I was grateful for the wide variety. The one song that will always epitomize this tour is called "Epilogue". It closes the first half of the concert after we've sung about many aspects of Christ's life and teachings. The song evokes a lot of emotions and also makes me think about the time when this earth life is over and we stand before our Maker. I can't really describe more as these feelings are very personal, but I'll always be very grateful that Bro. Wilberg composed that song.
CONNECTION: One of the things I love most about being part of this Choir is the sense of connection. Our goal is to bring the gospel to people through music and that seems to get amplified on tour. As a friend of mine said about his East coast experience, "it's the sense of purpose and of mission that bind us all together. I love feeling connected to something bigger than me that also unites individuals around a common goal." Part of the connection happens through having that common goal, and part of it happens when we are actually singing to the audience. We connect with each other as we connect with the notes and lyrics and it's all a very beautiful thing.
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| Deboarding the plane in Baltimore |
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| Making our way to the buses on the tarmac |
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| View of New York City as we were on the bus |
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| A group of us visiting the Baltimore Temple |
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| Having a meal at the hotel |
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| Jennifer and I in front of the Washington Monument |
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| I've always wanted to see the Lincoln Memorial! What a great man he was. |
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| Going across some cool moving sidewalk inside an art museum in DC. |
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| Fun on the bus! |
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| The view outside our room at the Marriott Marquis |
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| First night there, we went to a very happening place: the Shake Shack L to R: Jennifer, Siope, Dennis, Alicia, Greg, myself |
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| Smack dab in Times Square. Definitely the city that never sleeps |
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| Our friends the Parker's came to the Strathmore concert. Was so good to see them. |
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| At Bethel Woods, doing a sound check. Here's Michelle Blauer and Jennifer |
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| Bethel Woods selfie |
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| The Bethel Woods concert hall |
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| Some fellow basses waiting to get started |
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| Bethel Woods performance |
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| Getting lined up for our concert at Strathmore |
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| A group of us waiting for the subway |
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| A view from within one of the historic churches in NYC |
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| Outside the church, in the gardens |
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| Taking a creative pose in Central Park |
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| We solved the Mystery Room puzzle within the allotted 1 hr. It took everyone's brain power--a lot of fun. |
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| Jennifer visiting the MOMA in New York and enjoying all the wonderful art on display. |
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| The mess hall at West Point. They feed 4400 cadets three times a day, in only 20 min each time. We thought it had a Hogwarts resemblance |
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| Eating some food at West Point |
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| Another view within the mess hall. Love stained glass windows |
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| Jennifer, overlooking the Hudson Bay at West Point |
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| At one of the performances outside Carnegie Hall with Desiree and Dennis |
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| Singing at Yankee Stadium! |
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| Lined up, ready to go on stage at West Point. The new cadets pictured were going to march on and do a salute for each state and territory (each salute was accompanied by the shot of a canyon) |
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| Our performance at West Point. You can see all of the new cadets in white, in front. |
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| During one of our bus stops, en route to a concert. |
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| Lobster--part of the dinner at the Boston Marriott hotel |
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| At the top of One World Observatory |
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| At the STRAND bookstore. Unique used/new bookstore with very tall shelves and interesting people. |
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| This was SUCH a good musical. Loved it. FINDING NEVERLAND |
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| Outside the theater before going in to watch. |
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| Enjoying some empanadas at Empananda Mama. |
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| Bicycling through Central Park was a blast. So pretty and peaceful. |
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| Siope, Dennis, and Ben waiting for the sound check to start at Carnegie Hall. |
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| Before the sound check at Carnegie |
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| Waiting outside for the Carnegie Concert to start |
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| My friend Dennis Flynn, ready for the Carnegie Concert |
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| Concert at Carnegie |
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| Bus ride over to Yankee Stadium, with good friend Ryan Bateman |
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| On Yankee Stadium field for the sound check |
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| Before our 2nd Carnegie Hall performance |
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| After the concert with my beautiful wife |
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