The day was on a chilly Thursday on December 29th, 2016. Today was the second day of the High School Band trip. We had just gotten to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, located in New York City. Claire, Grace, Sylvia, and I gave the security guard our tickets as we walked into the majestic entrance to one of the one of the most well-known museums in the world. We decided to take a right towards a whole room full of statues. We gazed mesmerized at all these wondrous sculptures around us. I took multiple photos of my favorite ones. After walking around this exhibit, we found the entrance to the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. A massive room filled with ancient pottery and a massive hand-made canoe that covered the ceiling.

“What time do we have to be back near the entrance again?” asked Claire
“2:00PM sharp, we have plenty of time to look around and stop for a bite to eat.” I say with complete assurance.
“We should head over to The American Wing. I think it’d be more interesting than this,” said Sylvia.

“I don’t care where we go, I just want some food! My stomach feels like my throats been cut!” Claire growled.

We continued through trying to find our way to The American Wing. About 20 minutes later we came upon the entrance, it was filled with Native American huts, axes, and even clothing. After looking inside a huge hand-made canoe we decided to travel back to the indoor restaurant. For the duration of the time, Claire constantly complained about her hunger.

“I just want some food! Is that too much to ask?” Claire hissed annoyingly.
“If you say one more word about your starving stomach, I’m going to lose it!” I grumbled.

After wandering around aimlessly, we finally came across a security guard.

“Can you please, show us how to get to the Petrie Court Café?” Sylvia asked politely.

The security guard said nothing, then simply pointed us toward another room and mumbled, “Go straight until you reach the end of the rooms. Then take a right and follow the hall down to a room filled with Egyptian artifacts.  Finally, from there you’ll take a left and you should find yourself there in no time.”
Claire, Grace, Sylvia, and I all looked at him confused and said, “Thank you so much!”

None of us were good with directions so we were definitely lost. Grace and I attempted to look at a map we found, and with no luck we ended up going in complete circles and even back in the same room. We must’ve wandered around for about 30 minutes until we somehow ended up in the Egyptian Room. Remembering what the security guy said we took a left and followed it down. Finally, we came across the café. There was one problem though; the café was completely full. There was not even a stool available. Claire saw how long the line was and almost looked like she was ready to cry.

“I’m so hungry, I could eat the stuffed mammoths we passed earlier.” Claire whimpered.
“Well I would love to see you try!” I teased. Claire glared at me but said nothing.
“I guess we should try to go outside and find a street vendor, because this one’s full.” Sylvia uttered.
“I guess you’re right, but only if it’ll make Claire stop being difficult. I’m in!” I grumbled.

I whipped out the crinkled map from my handbag. “It looks like we just need to get to the other side of the museum and head down a flight of stairs. I think we can handle this one on our own without any assistance, right guys?”

“Right, except everyone’s getting done with eating lunch, let me see what time it is. Oh Geez! Guys it’s 1:30PM! We have half an hour to get out of here!” cried Grace.
“Calm down, you spaz! We can get out of here just go through these doors and down the elevator, and we are there.” I scream.

We entered a wrong room, one that we knew we shouldn’t be in. We wandered around going though random rooms. As we ended up back in the American room, we started racing against the clock. We come across another security guard, “Excuse me Sir, can you show us how to get to the front doors? We’ve been looking for it everywhere.” I say as the thought of the bus leaving us started to set in.

*The man starts speaking in a foreign language that none of us understood. We noticed that he’s not wearing a uniform like the previous guard.*

“I don’t think he’s going to be much help.” Whispered Grace.

“I don’t think he’s a security guard either. We should just slowly start backing away now.” Muttered Sylvia.
We slowly thank him, and leave utterly speechless. As we disappear down the hall we all burst out snickering. As our laughter died down, familiar faces came around the corner. Hailey, Ayla, and Annika appeared from what seemed to be nowhere.

“What are you guys doing here?” Ayla asked giggling.

“We managed to get ourselves horribly lost, and Claire is acting like she’s going to die of starvation.” Grace replied vigorously.
“Well I’m sorry that my stomach was empty and that the café was full but that’s not my fault.” Claire sassed.
“You should’ve eaten something at the hotel like we told you too!” I barked.
“Well sorry I took a 45 minute shower and was late to breakfast!” Claire snapped.
“We all told you to shower last night! You’re the one that didn’t listen!” scorned Grace.

“Guys! Leave poor Claire alone! It’s not her fault she took the longest shower in the world!” smirked Sylvia.
“Poor Claire! We ended up eating the café but we had to sit on the floor because there was no chairs. However, we still got food though!” Hailey crowed.

“Well, we can help you guys get back to the bus. In fact, we were just heading there now. What do you say?” asked Annika graciously.
“I think we’ve done enough museums for quite a while, lead the way girls!” Sylvia exclaims.

As we made our way out the majestic front door, we knew that we would always remember the day we were lost in the Met.