12 HOURS in NEW YORK CITY

The Justin Nozuka tour took us through NYC for one day, and you can bet I made the most of my time. Ry and I took a cab into the city...apparently bus's are now against the law on the streets. I dropped my stuff and went out to find a fantastic museum I read about in an airplane magazine. It is THE TENEMENT MUSEUM at 97 Orchard St...one of the oldest apartment buildings in the United States (pictured). A museum group bought it up in the 1980s, and restored a handful of rooms for exhibit. They did this with the help of family accounts, birth/death certificates, and public records.

The tour guide took us (for $20) through several apartments, telling the stories of 2 families. The first apartment was kept the same as it would've been in the 1860s, when a woman named Natalie lived there with her husband and their 4 children (pictured). They travelled from Prussia in search of a good life, and ended up in this dank 300 sq. foot apartment. One day Natalie's husband went to work and never came back...he might've been killed, but he more likely fled with the shame of not being able to care for his family. Our guide said newspaper adds for missing husbands were common in this day. A short time later, Natalie's toddler son Isaac died in the apartment. It was incredible to be standing in the very space where these people went through so much emotion and loss.

We then moved next door and jumped forward 60 years, to the 1920s (pictured). This apartment belonged to an Italian family and was left the same as they had it. Our guide said that one day an old woman came to their office and said 'I want to know what you're doing with my apartment!'. She had lived there as a young girl! It is from her recorded accounts that they refurnished the apartment, and her stories brought my experience to life!! As you're standing over the kitchen table, her recorded voice is describing how her father would make them a fried egg on saturdays...which they ate on that very table. Magical!!!! The museum really did her memories justice, for every detail was exactly where she described it...right down to her mother's pink soap at the sink.

Since the building was built in the 1860s, 7,000 people have lived there! These were brave human beings...coming from a tough life wherever they were, to live in this depressing place and hope that hard work would change their fate. Imagine no running water, hardly any light at all, no building codes, and sometimes several families to a room with a curtain seperating them. I was truly humbled and inspired.

When the tour ended I grabbed a very unique and creative meatball sandwich and lavender iced tea at 'White Slab Palace' next door (pictured). I took my sweet time going uptown by subway, and made it to WEBSTER HALL, where we performed for about 1,000 lovely screaming people. My bff Emily and her boy toy Mike came for the show, and we all had a blast.

Dynamic day! I am living a dream...to explore historical sites by day and entertain by night.

Goodnight.

LINK TO WHERE I VISITED-

Tenement Museum.....................................http://www.tenement.org/tours.php

White Slab Palace (Restaurant)................77 Delancey Street. (212) 334-0913

Webster Hall...............................................http://www.websterhall.com