BSC in NYC!
Dear Shannon,
I'm writing this letter on the train on the way to New York! Even though this will be my third time I've been to the Big Apple since I turned 13, I'm psyched! David Michael, Karen, and Andrew really want to see the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum, so we'll probably go there first. Hope the neighborhood is keeping you busy with baby-sitting!
Kristy
Finally, we were in New York! It had been pretty hectic that morning when we were getting ready to board the train. I have a large (or ginormous, as my sister, Karen, would say) family and to other people we can be pretty overwhelming when we're all together.
"I cannot wait to see the dinosaurs at the American Museum of Natural History!" Karen exclaimed as she jumped up and down.
"That's going to be so cool," agreed David Michael.
Nannie and Emily Michelle had come to see us off. I took my youngest sister from Nannie's arms. "Hey, Em, want me to bring you home a present from New York?"
"Choo choo!" Emily Michelle grinned at me, spit running down her chin. I wiped it off with a Kleenex. (A good baby-sitter is always prepared). "If I find a little train, I'll bring it home for you," I promised her.
"Kristy, come on! The train is about to leave!" I heard Mom shout at me.
I handed Emily Michelle over to Nannie, who I kissed on the cheek before dashing after the rest of my family and the BSC.
I sat with my friends. "This special meeting of the Baby-Sitters Club will now come to order. I move that we suggest what our first order of business should be when we arrive in Manhattan."
Stacey rolled her eyes at me. "Are you kidding me, Kristy? We're having a BSC meeting in a train?"
I ignored her. "David Michael, Karen, and Andrew are all dying to go to the Natural History Museum. I told them I'd take them on our first day, so how does that sound?"
"Ooh! One of my favorite New York sites!" exclaimed Mary Anne. "Did you know that it's the largest history museum in the world? And that it covers three city blocks and holds over thirty six million artifacts?"
"Yes, Mary Anne, we know," I replied, hoping I didn't sound too testy.
Mary Anne didn't seem to notice my tone, though. She had her nose stuck in a brochure about the latest attractions at the museum.
We decided that when Mary Anne, Dawn, Mal, Jessi, and I were done unpacking, we would call Stacey and Claud, then meet at the museum.
When we reached Grand Central Station, Mr. McGill was waiting to pick up Stacey and Claudia. He greeted his daughter with a kiss on the forehead. Stacey and Claud waved good-bye to us and I shouted after them that'd we be calling them soon. The rest of us took a limo (yes, a limo!) to the Plaza.
"Ooh, I feel like a movie star!" Mary Anne squealed.
Mom and Watson had gotten three rooms. It was decided that the members of the BSC would room together (we would have an extra cot), Karen and Andrew would be in Mom and Watson's room, and my brothers would all share a room. My friends and I took the elevator up to the 15th floor which are room was on. (My brother's room was on the 23rd floor, and Mom and Watson and Karen and Andrew were on the 12th floor).
After we unpacked (Dawn got the cot), I called Stacey. Half an hour later the seven of us, plus David Michael, Karen, and Andrew had met up at the front steps of the Natural History Museum.
"I'm starving!" Claudia said eyeing a hot dog vendor. "Let's get some chow."
"Claudia!" exclaimed Jessi. "How could you be starving? You only had two packs of M&Ms, a Milky Way, nachos, and a whole bag of Doritos on the train ride over here!"
"Disgusting!" added Dawn.
Claudia just shrugged.
"Well, is anyone else hungry?" asked Stacey.
"I am! I am!" shouted Karen.
The rest of us nodded. We hadn't had as much on the train as Claudia had.
"Let's get some hotdogs!" Claudia exclaimed, running towards the vendor, which was a little hard for her to do since she was wearing clunky black clogs.
"Claudia, do you know what they put in those things?" Dawn wrinkled her nose.
"I don't care." Claudia was already paying for the hot dog and a drink.
The rest of us decided that also sounded good, so we also paid for a hot dog and a drink (a diet Coke for Stacey) and sat on stone benches in front of the museum. Dawn just stood in front of us, her hands on her hips, glaring at us. But we ignored her.
"You know, you really shouldn't let your child eat that!" Dawn shouted at a woman who was walking with her son who was happily eating cotton candy. The woman put her hands on her son's shoulder and hurried past us.
"Dawn!" hissed Stacey. "Don't be such a-"
She was cut off by Mallory who suddenly shrieked. "Oh no! I got mustard all over my shirt!"
Mal was wearing a white shirt and had squirted a packet of mustard all over it.
"Here," I said handing her some extra napkins.
She tried to wipe it, but it only smeared.
"I have some water, maybe that will help." Mary Anne unscrewed the cap to the bottle and poured some on Mal's shirt. The only problem was that it came out a little too fast and now Mallory's mustard stained t-shirt was drenched. "Oh no!" Mal moaned.
"I don't think you can go in the museum like that," Stacey said. "Why don't you buy one of those souvenir t-shirts?" She pointed to a vendor that was selling I 3 NY t- shirts.
When Mal came back, we crowded around her, so nobody could see her changing. In a flash, she had her old shirt off and the new one on. "God, how embarrassing," she said as she took her seat on the bench.
"Mal watch out!" Jessi shouted, but it was too late. Mal had already sat on her hot dog. Lucky for her though, there were no condiments on it, it was squished.
My siblings giggled uncontrollably.
"This is so stale," Mal said glumly.
"Well, don't worry, you don't have anything on your butt," I offered helpfully.
"Why don't we just go in now," suggested Stacey. "I don't want any more accidents happening out here!"
A long line had formed, so we had to wait awhile to pay for our tickets.
"Kristy, may we please see the dinosaur bones first?" Karen asked.
"Sure," I replied. "Should we all start there or should we split up?"
"Count me out," Dawn said in a disgusted tone. "It's so inhumane that they set up those bones for display!"
"Uh, I guess that means we're going to split up."
"I'll come with you, Kristy," Mary Anne volunteered.
We decided that we would all meet at the gift shop in three hours. After we paid for our tickets, Mary Anne, David Michael, Karen, Andrew, and I headed for the elevator.
"Wow, this is so cool!" David Michael breathed as we entered a large room filled with all kinds of extinct animals. Not only did we see dinosaurs, large and small, but also extinct birds, a mammoth, and a saber tooth tiger.
"Kristy, I have to use the bathroom," Andrew whined to me fifteen minutes later.
"Yeah, I have to go to," David Michael decided.
"Me too," replied Karen.
I sighed. "I asked you guys if you had to go before we left the hotel and you said you didn't."
"Well, yeah, that's because we didn't have to go then," David Michael told me in his "Duh" tone.
I remembered seeing a restroom facility right outside the large room we were in, so I led them to it.
"You two come right out here and wait at the water fountain when you're done," I told my brothers who nodded.
Mary Anne and I ushered Karen into the women's bathroom. I waited patiently for Karen as she washed her hands diligently, separately scrubbing each finger as though she were a doctor about to perform surgery.
"Are you ready, Karen?" I asked after she had soaped up and rinsed off her hands.
"Yep."
Mary Anne was waiting with David Michael and Andrew by the water fountain.
We continued looking at the other exhibits, such as dioramas of animals in their natural habitats, minerals and gems, and a huge replica of the blue whale that stretched from one end of the ceiling to the other in the Ocean Life room. We still had half an hour before we had to meet the others, so we headed to the gift shop. My siblings had received twenty dollars from Mom and Watson to spend at the gift shop and they would need some time to decide what they wanted to buy.
"Kristy, I want to get this!" David Michael showed me a thick book full of glossy photos about dinosaurs. It's what Mom and Watson would call a "coffee table" book. I turned it over and exclaimed, "David Michael! This is fifty dollars! You don't have that kind of money!"
"I saw some books on dinosaurs that might be more affordable for you," Mary Anne told him. She led him over to a kid's section of books.
I followed Karen and Andrew as they tried to decide what to buy. Andrew settled on a lot of small things: three pencils, each a different color with a different dinosaur on each of them, three erasers in the shape of dinosaurs, two postcards, a dinosaur coloring book, dinosaur stickers, and those pellets you stick in water and they turn into tiny foam dinosaurs.
David Michael had decided on two small books on dinosaurs, but Karen was still browsing.
"Kristy, do you think I would look beautiful in this necklace?" she held up a gaudy looking gold and silver necklace decorated with glittered beads. I saw the price tag read 15.99.
"You would look absolutely stunning," I replied.
Once Karen, Andrew, and David Michael had paid for their purchases, I saw the rest of my friends enter the gift shop.
Karen proudly showed off her new necklace. Claudia liked it so much that she bought one for herself.
"Hey, do you guys want to go to Times Square tonight and hang out?" Stacey suggested.
"Times Square?" Dawn looked uncertain. "Isn't that where a lot of mugging takes place in Manhattan?"
Everyone ignored her. "Sounds great," I replied. "Why don't we meet there, say, around seven?"
"Seven! But it will be dark then!" Dawn was looking even more uncertain.
"I feel so grown up!" squealed Mallory.
Stacey, who was standing behind Mal, rolled her eyes.
Our first day in New York was almost over, but we still have thirteen wonderful days left!