One of my favorite cities to visit is New York City. There are always fun things to do, and once you get yourself to the city it’s pretty easy to get around. I spent a couple of days this weekend in New Jersey visiting old friends. We had a great time, and I decided to spend an afternoon/evening in NYC before heading out. I took a $16 train ride from Hamilton to Penn Station, and it was great. The train was clean, and on time and it didn’t get crowded until near the very end of the trip.
Once in the city I could easily walk to my hotel, where I dropped my bags off before heading to see Burn This on Broadway. I used a Groupon to stay at the Row Hotel near Times Square, and had hotel rewards points that I was able to use to cancel out the cost, so the hotel was free. I also had rewards points to cancel out the cost of the ticket to Burn this, which means I only had to pay for food and any transportation once there.
That evening I went to the Assscat 3000 show at Upright Citizens Brigade, which is always enjoyable. I love good improv! The Tony’s were happening the same night, and I started to head toward Radio City Music Hall to stalk famous people, but I’m 100 years old and found myself back at my hotel, in bed, watching the show instead.
The hotel was comfortable, and in a great location. The staff was accommodating, and the room was a decent size for being in the city! It had a bedroom as well as a living room with a pull out sofa.
As for my all time favorite things to do in NYC, I’d say any sort of Broadway play (this year my favorite has been Waitress) or going to Saturday Night Live when it’s on. My friends and I have camped out multiple times for free tickets and found it worth it each time! Plus, when you camp out for tickets, you don’t have to pay for a hotel, so that’s a win in a city like New York.
***I realize this is kind of detailed. However, I found the blogs of other people SUPER helpful when I was searching for information on camping out for tickets- so figured I should include some details that may help other people***
Back in August, Liz and I decided to enter the SNL ticket lottery and we won. Once we found out that Christina Applegate was hosting, we knew we had to go. Courtney decided to go and this meant we needed a third ticket.
So, we googled the mess out of the whole “how to get standby tickets” process and found out it would involve camping out the night before at NBC studios.
So, that’s what we decided to do.
Friday night Liz got into NYC at about 5:00 and went straight to the studio to get in line. There were about 35 people in front of her. Courtney and I arrived at about 9:30 that night and got to the line as soon as possible.
We brought with us sleeping bags, blankets and lots of layers. There were others in line who brought air mattresses, folding chairs, laptops. By morning time there was around 90 people in line I assume.
Sleeping out there wasn’t bad. There’s even a security guard who watches the line all night. I did have some moments in the middle of the night where I thought, “How does one know when they’re too cold? Would I know if my toes were frostbitten? Why did I think this sleeping bag would be warm enough?”
Around 6:45 a.m. a man came by and gave out free donuts and hot beverages to the people in line. Then at 7:00 the NBC staff came out and started handing out tickets. You could choose between tickets to the rehearsal (right before the show) or the live show. Courtney chose the dress rehearsal ticket since that’s what we had. Also, the dress rehearsal has more sketches. She got number 11, so we felt like her odds of getting into the show that night were pretty good.
That evening, Liz and I went in to the studio about 30 minutes before standby people could, and then we sat and watched for Courtney. I was SO excited when she came through the door and even more so when they seated her near us.
It was an incredible experience. The amount of time these people have to change for each skit, and the amount of dialogue they need to be able to spout off each week is unreal. And the constant set changes? All of it was just crazy to watch.
The host of the show has a staff member assigned to them. This person would literally grab Christina off the stage and drag her to her next location. It made me laugh to watch this. If people got in her path, that lady just shoved them out of the way. It was fantastic.
