AN EXPERIENCE TO REMEMBER

When our trip first started, I didn’t think we would ever get there. Five girls and two leaders cramped into an Excursion with enough luggage for an entire year and enough food to feed an army; it wasn’t exactly a comfy situation. After the initial cries of “Ouch! That’s my foot,” we were finally on our way. The first day was all driving, and it went great with seemingly no complications, but the second day harbored a few more memorable events.

We had reached our hotel in Gettysburg, PA the night before, and then went to Boyd’s Bear Country on Day 2 of our journey. It was a great time and we all had fun looking at the thousands of different bears that were spread out on multiple floors of the Boyd’s Bear Country Barn. After we finished looking and shopping here, we headed off for a 4-hour drive to our cabin, which was to be our humble abode for the upcoming week.

After reaching the campground in Plattekill, NY, we unloaded all of our luggage into the cabin and tried to get situated in our “rustic” surroundings. We girls then decided to go look around at the camp store and play the games in the arcade, leaving our leaders back in the cabin. There was no way we could have known that at this same time, our leaders were stuck in the cabin and were desperately trying to get out. When we returned at around 11pm, we thought their struggles were a joke, but after our unsuccessful efforts at opening the door, we knew this was the case. Two girls then went to look for a security guard, hoping there was one still on duty. Indeed there was, and he came to help us right away. He ran into the door several times, but to no avail; the door did not budge. Finally he kicked the door in and our leaders were able to leave the cabin once again.

We slept the entire night in fear of becoming trapped again, so we never fully closed the door. We also knew that we could not lock our door during the day, leaving our belongings unsecured. After these happenings, we decided that this Girl Scout troop was never meant to be jolly little campers; we were in dire need of a hotel. The next day, we promptly found a hotel in New Jersey, a short bus ride away from New York City.

Our first day in the city was amazing! We could not believe the unimaginably high buildings, huge flashing signs, and masses of busy people in the streets. The New Yorkers’ complete disregard for tourists led us to make a constant joke about the wonderful “Eastern hospitality” we experienced. In one particular instance, road construction workers went out of their way to swear at our small, Midwestern Girl Scout troop. We felt a little less than welcomed as we walked down the streets. After shopping nearly our entire first day, and buying innumerable “I LOVE NY” t-shirts from street vendors, we headed back to our hotel.

Once again we had issues with our lodging. In the smoldering 95-degree heat, our hotel’s air conditioning had stopped working. Each vent now emitted warm damp air into our room. We were miserable but we decided that anything was better than the cabin!

The next day in the city was a little less shocking, as we became more settled in our new urban environment. We decided to go on a bus tour of the city that was offered by our hotel. It was a great time, and we got to see many famous attractions in the area. We walked through Central Park, and actually witnessed the taping of a commercial. Our tour guide then took us all around the city pointing out many well-known buildings, and showing us the sites of many celebrity homes; something you definitely don’t see back in Indiana!

The bus tour also included a short trip to Ground Zero, which was a moving experience for all, including our tour guide. The somber grounds were given an atmosphere of respect by a lone flautist who played “Amazing Grace” for visitors to hear.

We then continued our journey through the city to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. Though these were incredible and very interesting, they were difficult to enjoy in the extreme heat and humidity. After a long day of touring, our bus brought us back to our un-air conditioned hotel rooms.

Our troop decided late Tuesday night that we wanted to go to the Today Show the next morning. We needed a sign to say hello to Fort Wayne, and we scoured the hotel for the materials needed. Our search produced 2 empty beer boxes from the restaurant downstairs, price labels and Band-Aids for tape, and embroidery floss and bobby pins to sew the boxes together. This very homemade-looking sign was far from professional caliber, but it would serve its purpose. We decided to wake up at 4:30am just to be sure we’d make the 5:15am bus. However, our wake up call never came, and we finally rolled out of bed at 9:30am that morning. Our late start did not ruin our day; we simply had to come up with another plan.

All of us decided that a Broadway Play in New York City would be a once in a lifetime experience, so we got on the bus and headed into the city once again. We waited in what seemed like a never-ending line in order to get our discounted tickets for a matinee. Our first and second choices did not have enough tickets for our group, so we finally decided on Chicago. It was an amazing production and we all loved it. After the show, we went to Ellen’s Stardust Diner where our waitress was also a singer, and while we ate, other waiters and waitresses sang as well. It was awesome and we had never seen anything like it!

Thursday morning, we tried again to go to the Today Show and this time we succeeded. We even appeared on TV back in Fort Wayne, even if only for a few seconds. We then walked from Rockefeller Center to Little Italy, which was about a five-mile, 46-block walk. We had lunch at La Mela and had a great authentic Italian meal. After looking around some shops, we took the #6 subway back to 42nd street. Some of our group members went back to the hotel, and a few stayed behind to shop.

Friday morning we left New Jersey and headed to Hershey, PA where we visited Chocolate World and took a trolley tour, a 3-D virtual tour, and visited the gift shop. It was a lot of fun and the whole place smelled of fresh chocolate!

We stayed the night in Chambersburg, PA and the next morning we continued our voyage home to Indiana. We were all exhausted and slept most of the way home, but once in awhile we’d wake up to make some unintelligible remark to the other girls. We returned home at around 6pm and sleepily wondered out of the vehicle.

This trip was definitely memorable and is an experience I am so glad to have been a part of! So many times when trips include 5 sleep-deprived teenage girls, spats are prevalent everyday, but I felt that we behaved quite well (although our leaders might have a different story to tell…). We were so glad to have this opportunity, and it would not have been possible without our favorable cookie sale outcome this year. So many times I have been joked about STILL being in Girl Scouts during my senior year in high school, but this trip was well worth all the criticisms I received. I had a great time and wouldn’t trade this experience for any other!