Enjoying the (really) Big Apple

By Christi Chesnut
Special to The Star
03-16-2006, 2:30 p.m.

Christi Chesnut, 17, a senior member of the Oxford High School marching band, is writing a daily journal for The Star’s Web site about the band’s trip to New York for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Christi, who plays the saxophone, will enroll in Auburn in the fall, where she will study veterinary medicine. This is her fifth journal entry, as told this afternoon to editors at The Star. She filed her journal from one of the band’s sight-seeing trips in Manhattan. The band will march Friday morning. NEW YORK – It is going great, just so great. Right now we’re at Rockefeller Center, and it’s just awesome. The last time we talked to y’all, we were already in Manhattan. Since then, we’ve gone to the Empire State Building and went up to the top in shifts. It was incredible going up there and then just watching everybody. It was fun to see them get up there and look out and go – Whoa! This is all of New York? Whoa! It was awesome. Everybody really loved it, and it was amazing to look out and see the whole city. So many people say they didn’t realize how big it really would be. They knew it was big, but that’s not the same as seeing the whole city, and it’s so big. I love it. I just love the city. Everybody’s like ‘I see a celebrity’ and ‘I didn’t think it was this big.’ Everybody’s just really excited. We’re all really tired, but we’re all just so excited to be here. Tonight we’re going to eat in two shifts at Bubba Gumps. We’re gonna play for Rick and Bubba in the morning and go to the parade. We’re hoping to get back to the hotel tonight around 11 and crash. And we’re all looking forward to a shower, cause, boy, it’s been a long time….