Overheard at Borders:
"There sure are a lot of rap songs about paperchase."
Monday, June 30, 2008
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Day 35
So my first day home. What do I do? I jump back in the car at 9 AM and go to Michigan. I had other things I considered doing today like going to church, going to a barbecue, or seeing Stevie Wonder at Taste of Chicago. But I have not seen my grandparents in quite a while and the next few weekends are packed so I decided it would be a good time to go.
The real story was that Dzia Dzia wanted to go out on the boat with the Coast Guard. Yes, my 76-year-old grandfather is the one keeping the coasts of Michigan safe from an Illinois invasion. And Babcia can't stay alone, what with the dementia and all. So I was going to spend the day with her so that he could do the whole Coast Guard thing.
I actually picked Babcia up at Krissy's house in Kalamazoo. We went and got some food at Olga's. Of course anywhere with Babcia is an ordeal. Everything is about money. "We can't do that. It costs money. Don't waste your money on me. I don't have any money to give you. Gas!"
And then we sat for a while. We took another ride. We sat. Babcia talked about eggs. Etc.
I stayed at Krissy's house. She wasn't there. So I had the place to myself. That was nice.
The real story was that Dzia Dzia wanted to go out on the boat with the Coast Guard. Yes, my 76-year-old grandfather is the one keeping the coasts of Michigan safe from an Illinois invasion. And Babcia can't stay alone, what with the dementia and all. So I was going to spend the day with her so that he could do the whole Coast Guard thing.
I actually picked Babcia up at Krissy's house in Kalamazoo. We went and got some food at Olga's. Of course anywhere with Babcia is an ordeal. Everything is about money. "We can't do that. It costs money. Don't waste your money on me. I don't have any money to give you. Gas!"
And then we sat for a while. We took another ride. We sat. Babcia talked about eggs. Etc.
I stayed at Krissy's house. She wasn't there. So I had the place to myself. That was nice.
Day 34
So Friday was spent driving home. Nothing too eventful. Sat in a traffic jam outside of Columbus because the lake flooded the road. That was about it. So here is where I choose to end the narrative of my trip.
Instead I think I am going to summarize the trip a little. Here is a list of the top five memorable moments of the week (in no particular order):
1) Horatio Sanz seeking me out to give me the Cubs score.
2) Ken Griffey's home run.
3) Tie between being the last ones admitted into Seinfeld's club and being the last ones admitted to Asssscat.
4) QUACK! QUACK! QUACK! QUACK!
5) Sitting on the balcony at Growler's with Isaac.
Instead I think I am going to summarize the trip a little. Here is a list of the top five memorable moments of the week (in no particular order):
1) Horatio Sanz seeking me out to give me the Cubs score.
2) Ken Griffey's home run.
3) Tie between being the last ones admitted into Seinfeld's club and being the last ones admitted to Asssscat.
4) QUACK! QUACK! QUACK! QUACK!
5) Sitting on the balcony at Growler's with Isaac.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Day 33
So it turned out that my dad was in Washington for some reason. So he canceled his plane ticket home and I canceled my train and we decided to drive his rental car home. This worked because it meant I did not have to wake up at 6 AM to drive to NY to return my rental car and then sit on a nineteen hour train ride. So that’s good. The less I have to deal with those Amtrak bastards the better.
But I still had a full afternoon to haul luggage around. My dad was about three hours away from D.C. and would not be able to pick me up until seven. I had to drop my car off at National (I refuse to call it Reagan) Airport by noon. This gave me seven hours with my luggage and not a whole lot to do in Washington, D.C. I took the Metro to D.C.’s gallery stop.
So what to do…it was a few minutes before one and I decided I might as well check out another movie. I was worried that they wouldn’t let me in with all my luggage but they did not seem to mind. So I went all the way to the top of the theatre where there is a lot of leg room in the corner, put my luggage down, and watched Hulk. It was great. Much better than the first one. Especially the ending.
So then it was three. And I only had four hours left. I decided to go for a walk. This was probably a bad decision but I also probably lost about ten pounds carrying my backpack all over the city in the ninety-degree heat. I was sort of half-heartedly looking for a sports bar that would be showing the Cubs game. I didn’t see anything of the sort. But I did find a library. I went inside for about 45 minutes, checked my e-mail, the score (not good news), and paid some bills. I also used the bathroom. And goodness sakes…I think there was some kind of homeless convention going on up in there. There were like eight of them in there, brushing their teeth, shaving, washing their underarms, etc. They probably saw me with my suitcase and thought I was a new recruit. “No recession my ass.”
And then I started walking again. I went to Chipotle and got myself a good meal and some cold water. Then I decided I might as well go see another movie. I decided to see Get Smart. And it was about what you would expect. Won’t win any awards but it was pretty funny.
My dad picked me up on the corner in front of the theatre at about seven. We drove up to BWI to exchange rental cars. By the time we got out of there it was about 8:30. We stopped in Frederick at a Cracker Barrel. This was nice because we used to live in Frederick. Then we drove until about two in the morning and spent the night in Morgantown. And that is all.
But I still had a full afternoon to haul luggage around. My dad was about three hours away from D.C. and would not be able to pick me up until seven. I had to drop my car off at National (I refuse to call it Reagan) Airport by noon. This gave me seven hours with my luggage and not a whole lot to do in Washington, D.C. I took the Metro to D.C.’s gallery stop.
So what to do…it was a few minutes before one and I decided I might as well check out another movie. I was worried that they wouldn’t let me in with all my luggage but they did not seem to mind. So I went all the way to the top of the theatre where there is a lot of leg room in the corner, put my luggage down, and watched Hulk. It was great. Much better than the first one. Especially the ending.
So then it was three. And I only had four hours left. I decided to go for a walk. This was probably a bad decision but I also probably lost about ten pounds carrying my backpack all over the city in the ninety-degree heat. I was sort of half-heartedly looking for a sports bar that would be showing the Cubs game. I didn’t see anything of the sort. But I did find a library. I went inside for about 45 minutes, checked my e-mail, the score (not good news), and paid some bills. I also used the bathroom. And goodness sakes…I think there was some kind of homeless convention going on up in there. There were like eight of them in there, brushing their teeth, shaving, washing their underarms, etc. They probably saw me with my suitcase and thought I was a new recruit. “No recession my ass.”
And then I started walking again. I went to Chipotle and got myself a good meal and some cold water. Then I decided I might as well go see another movie. I decided to see Get Smart. And it was about what you would expect. Won’t win any awards but it was pretty funny.
My dad picked me up on the corner in front of the theatre at about seven. We drove up to BWI to exchange rental cars. By the time we got out of there it was about 8:30. We stopped in Frederick at a Cracker Barrel. This was nice because we used to live in Frederick. Then we drove until about two in the morning and spent the night in Morgantown. And that is all.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Day 32
Ok...now I'm way behind. Still I think I am only going to do one tonight. Never fear. I plan to be caught up by Sunday.
Wednesday.
So after several days of having fun with friends, this was my first day of the trip (aside from Friday) that was spent mostly in solitude. It was also the first day of the trip with very few solid plans. I really had no idea what I was going to do. I just knew I was going to go to Washington.
I ended up sleeping till about ten. I called John because we had talked about getting some lunch. He was unable to make it because he was swamped at work. It happens when you work for the government.
I didn't end up leaving Isaac and Lauren's place (they live in the suburb of Gaithersville) until after eleven. I went to the Shady Grove Metro station and boarded a train. I ended up getting to D.C. a little after noon.
So what did I do? Not a whole lot. I saved money. I have done mostly every site in Washington before so I did not feel too stressed out about seeing a lot. I mostly just walked. And walked. And snapped pictures of buildings and monuments. I sat for a while at the World War II Memorial, which is very nicely done. Thank you Tom Hanks. There were a lot of old WWII vets checking it out. Of course none of them cry because WWII vets are real men. They know how to keep their emotions bottled up inside. Also, a lot of them were wearing shirts that said, "If you can read this thank a teacher. If you can read this in English thank a vet."
I also spent some time at the Lincoln Memorial. I think this may be my favorite place in Washington, D.C. When I was little and we went to Washington for the fireworks we would always sit out on the big stone at the base of the memorial starting at about 3:00. It was a perfect spot, looking out of the reflecting pool and the Washington Monument. It also feels very cool in the shade of the memorial which is nice. And I went around back where there was nobody else and looked out over the Potomac. It was all very peaceful.
There was also something called the Folklife Fair put on by the Smithsonian. The themes were Bhutan, Texas, and Space. Manatees. It was okay. But it was hot and not very interesting.
So after several hours of this I was hot, tired, hungry, and extremely thirsty. I wandered off the mall and into downtown D.C. searching for some food. (There is of course absolutely nothing of interest to eat on the mall.) I finally stumbled upon a Chipotle. And right next door was a movie theatre. A sign across the street told me it was 91 degrees out. I literally said, "Fuck it. I'm going to eat some Chipotle and watch a movie."
So now I know my limit. Four days of walking around hot cities looking at buildings and then I hit the wall. I had a great lunch. I filled my Mr. Pibb three times. And I saw Iron Man. I loved it. Especially the ending.
I caught the Metro back to Gaithersburg at about 6:45. I ended up getting back to Isaac's place at about eight. Isaac, and Lauren, and I headed across the street to Isaac's local brew pub. It is called Growler's and Wednesday nights are $2.50 draft nights. Lauren stayed and had supper with us. Then Isaac and I went out onto the balcony and hung out for a few hours enjoying the night. It was a great time...maybe the best time of the trip, albeit the most relaxed.
Wednesday.
So after several days of having fun with friends, this was my first day of the trip (aside from Friday) that was spent mostly in solitude. It was also the first day of the trip with very few solid plans. I really had no idea what I was going to do. I just knew I was going to go to Washington.
I ended up sleeping till about ten. I called John because we had talked about getting some lunch. He was unable to make it because he was swamped at work. It happens when you work for the government.
I didn't end up leaving Isaac and Lauren's place (they live in the suburb of Gaithersville) until after eleven. I went to the Shady Grove Metro station and boarded a train. I ended up getting to D.C. a little after noon.
So what did I do? Not a whole lot. I saved money. I have done mostly every site in Washington before so I did not feel too stressed out about seeing a lot. I mostly just walked. And walked. And snapped pictures of buildings and monuments. I sat for a while at the World War II Memorial, which is very nicely done. Thank you Tom Hanks. There were a lot of old WWII vets checking it out. Of course none of them cry because WWII vets are real men. They know how to keep their emotions bottled up inside. Also, a lot of them were wearing shirts that said, "If you can read this thank a teacher. If you can read this in English thank a vet."
I also spent some time at the Lincoln Memorial. I think this may be my favorite place in Washington, D.C. When I was little and we went to Washington for the fireworks we would always sit out on the big stone at the base of the memorial starting at about 3:00. It was a perfect spot, looking out of the reflecting pool and the Washington Monument. It also feels very cool in the shade of the memorial which is nice. And I went around back where there was nobody else and looked out over the Potomac. It was all very peaceful.
There was also something called the Folklife Fair put on by the Smithsonian. The themes were Bhutan, Texas, and Space. Manatees. It was okay. But it was hot and not very interesting.
So after several hours of this I was hot, tired, hungry, and extremely thirsty. I wandered off the mall and into downtown D.C. searching for some food. (There is of course absolutely nothing of interest to eat on the mall.) I finally stumbled upon a Chipotle. And right next door was a movie theatre. A sign across the street told me it was 91 degrees out. I literally said, "Fuck it. I'm going to eat some Chipotle and watch a movie."
So now I know my limit. Four days of walking around hot cities looking at buildings and then I hit the wall. I had a great lunch. I filled my Mr. Pibb three times. And I saw Iron Man. I loved it. Especially the ending.
I caught the Metro back to Gaithersburg at about 6:45. I ended up getting back to Isaac's place at about eight. Isaac, and Lauren, and I headed across the street to Isaac's local brew pub. It is called Growler's and Wednesday nights are $2.50 draft nights. Lauren stayed and had supper with us. Then Isaac and I went out onto the balcony and hung out for a few hours enjoying the night. It was a great time...maybe the best time of the trip, albeit the most relaxed.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Day 31
Okay. I'm going to do this now. I probably should wait til morning but I'm already a day behind. So don't blame me if there are a bunch of typos or if I forget some key points from yesterday. After all. It is yesterday.
I don't know if I mentioned this yesterday but I decided to rent a car and drive to Washington. Once I made the decision to rent the car I was torn between Boston and Washington. Since I was unable to get a Red Sox ticket and the sites in Washington are more centrally located I went with D.C. The kicker came when I talked on the phone Monday night with my friend Isaac (who lives in D.C. and was in NY for the weekend with us.) It just so happens he landed four free tickets to Tuesday night's Nationals game. So that settled it.
I slept late on Tuesday. Jose left early in the morning, leaving me as the last one left in New York. I packed my stuff up, called a cab, and checked out about 11:15.
My taxi ended up costing 42 bucks. Another fee I can thank Amtrak for. It took me to the Avis in Midtown Manhattan. And this is where I experienced driving in Manhattan for the first time. That was a blast. Now I drive in Chicago all the time and have no problem. Now granted that may have something to do with the fact I know the city much better. But in New York the general rule seems to be just don't hit anyone or anything. Other than that it is a free-for-all. Luckily I didn't hit anyone and continued on my way.
I exited the island through the Lincoln Tunnel. I was in New Jersey. And the first thing I did in New Jersey was blow through the EZ Pass on the turnpike. You aren't supposed to do this in New Jersey. And thus I did not have a ticket for the turnpike. Regardless, my drive through Jersey was very pleasant. People like to bitch about New Jersey but it didn't seem so bad to me. Of course, when I got to the border they charged me full fare for the toll road, but it turned out to only be $6.70 so I can live with that.
An interesting thing about this drive was that I had no way of plugging in my iPod. So I was stuck listening to the radio for five hours. Now I listen to the radio for time to time to keep up on what is being played, but I can't remember the last time I listened to the radio for such an extended period of time. Pretty much I heard about three songs over and over. It was that new Usher song, that "she's my little hood thing" song, and "Lollipop". Now I don't really hate any of these songs but the fact that I heard each one over five times in this time span is proof that the radio is a dead art. It is ClearChannel's fault. Every station is exactly the same. Oh well.
Delaware was quick. And seven dollars. Amtrak.
I ended up getting to my destination, the Shady Grove Metro station, at about 5PM. I got on the Metro into Washington and arrived at the Nationals Stadium at about 5:30. I was ridiculously hungry and thirsty by this time. And I wasn't meeting Isaac and Lauren, who had the tickets, until 6:45. So I planned on finding a restaurant or bar to hang out in for a little while. Well guess what...there are none. There are lots of signs for restaurants and bars that are going to open in 2009. That doesn't help me much. I walked all the way around the stadium. Finally I found a lady with a cart. She sold me a Dr. Pepper and a bag of Doritos for two bucks. That worked for the moment.
Isaac and Lauren showed up right on cue. The fourth ticket went to my friend John Gagnon who I had not seen in quite some time. So basically it was a great group of old friends for this game, which was great. With such good company I even decided not to keep score. Which was a little bit ironic considering this was the first park I have ever been to that provided free score cards to all the guests.
What I will say about Nationals Park is that it is magnificent. They pulled out all the stops in this ballpark. Absolutely beautiful. Apparently if you go upstairs you can see all kinds of monuments and such. Which makes sense. I was too tired to go up there though.
My favorite thing at Nationals Park was that it was the first ballpark I have ever been to that sold a veggie hot dog. Of course I had to buy one. It was 5.25 and it looked like crap. But you must understand...in all my years of going to double digit baseball games every year I have never had the privilege of eating a hot dog at a ballgame. That all changed Monday night. It wasn't bad. Not great. But I enjoyed it anyway.
I also ate some cheese fries.
The game was terrible. The Angels scored six times in the top of the first inning, so it was never even remotely close. But we all had some good conversation and a few drinks and had a great time.
The trip is coming to a close. Just a little while longer. But a little more fun. And there is lots of fun stuff coming up this summer. So rock on.
I don't know if I mentioned this yesterday but I decided to rent a car and drive to Washington. Once I made the decision to rent the car I was torn between Boston and Washington. Since I was unable to get a Red Sox ticket and the sites in Washington are more centrally located I went with D.C. The kicker came when I talked on the phone Monday night with my friend Isaac (who lives in D.C. and was in NY for the weekend with us.) It just so happens he landed four free tickets to Tuesday night's Nationals game. So that settled it.
I slept late on Tuesday. Jose left early in the morning, leaving me as the last one left in New York. I packed my stuff up, called a cab, and checked out about 11:15.
My taxi ended up costing 42 bucks. Another fee I can thank Amtrak for. It took me to the Avis in Midtown Manhattan. And this is where I experienced driving in Manhattan for the first time. That was a blast. Now I drive in Chicago all the time and have no problem. Now granted that may have something to do with the fact I know the city much better. But in New York the general rule seems to be just don't hit anyone or anything. Other than that it is a free-for-all. Luckily I didn't hit anyone and continued on my way.
I exited the island through the Lincoln Tunnel. I was in New Jersey. And the first thing I did in New Jersey was blow through the EZ Pass on the turnpike. You aren't supposed to do this in New Jersey. And thus I did not have a ticket for the turnpike. Regardless, my drive through Jersey was very pleasant. People like to bitch about New Jersey but it didn't seem so bad to me. Of course, when I got to the border they charged me full fare for the toll road, but it turned out to only be $6.70 so I can live with that.
An interesting thing about this drive was that I had no way of plugging in my iPod. So I was stuck listening to the radio for five hours. Now I listen to the radio for time to time to keep up on what is being played, but I can't remember the last time I listened to the radio for such an extended period of time. Pretty much I heard about three songs over and over. It was that new Usher song, that "she's my little hood thing" song, and "Lollipop". Now I don't really hate any of these songs but the fact that I heard each one over five times in this time span is proof that the radio is a dead art. It is ClearChannel's fault. Every station is exactly the same. Oh well.
Delaware was quick. And seven dollars. Amtrak.
I ended up getting to my destination, the Shady Grove Metro station, at about 5PM. I got on the Metro into Washington and arrived at the Nationals Stadium at about 5:30. I was ridiculously hungry and thirsty by this time. And I wasn't meeting Isaac and Lauren, who had the tickets, until 6:45. So I planned on finding a restaurant or bar to hang out in for a little while. Well guess what...there are none. There are lots of signs for restaurants and bars that are going to open in 2009. That doesn't help me much. I walked all the way around the stadium. Finally I found a lady with a cart. She sold me a Dr. Pepper and a bag of Doritos for two bucks. That worked for the moment.
Isaac and Lauren showed up right on cue. The fourth ticket went to my friend John Gagnon who I had not seen in quite some time. So basically it was a great group of old friends for this game, which was great. With such good company I even decided not to keep score. Which was a little bit ironic considering this was the first park I have ever been to that provided free score cards to all the guests.
What I will say about Nationals Park is that it is magnificent. They pulled out all the stops in this ballpark. Absolutely beautiful. Apparently if you go upstairs you can see all kinds of monuments and such. Which makes sense. I was too tired to go up there though.
My favorite thing at Nationals Park was that it was the first ballpark I have ever been to that sold a veggie hot dog. Of course I had to buy one. It was 5.25 and it looked like crap. But you must understand...in all my years of going to double digit baseball games every year I have never had the privilege of eating a hot dog at a ballgame. That all changed Monday night. It wasn't bad. Not great. But I enjoyed it anyway.
I also ate some cheese fries.
The game was terrible. The Angels scored six times in the top of the first inning, so it was never even remotely close. But we all had some good conversation and a few drinks and had a great time.
The trip is coming to a close. Just a little while longer. But a little more fun. And there is lots of fun stuff coming up this summer. So rock on.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Day 30
Monday...
Gotta tell you guys. I'm getting a little tired of writing these. It's mostly just because I have been so tired by the time I actually get to work on them. But I am already behind so I need to just keep cranking away at them. So here we go.
Monday. Monday was easily the most relaxed day of the trip so far. Isaac left last night and Jeff woke up at the crack of dawn to catch his flight. That left Jose and me. And we had sort of plans to get up early but that didn't pan out of course. We ended up sleeping till after ten and didn't leave the hotel till about 11:30. Sure is a good thing we got a hotel with free breakfast, seeing as we missed it just about every day.
The best thing about today is that the 7 line running into Manhattan was open. It was closed all weekend and this was one of the key sources of all our travel difficulty. But now it is open. We got on the 7 and in about ten minutes we were in midtown Manhattan. It was that easy.
We didn't have a whole lot on the agenda. It was mostly just walking around and seeing what we saw. But first we were hungry. We stopped at a place called the Great American Health Bar or something along those lines. Don't let the name throw you. It was really good. I had some sort of pasta with sundried tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, mushrooms, etc. And some great falafel. And a real fruit smoothie!
Next we walked through Central Park. I am actually quite blown away by the sheer magnitude of Central Park. And the fact that it is a sanctuary set in the middle of one of the busiest hubs of humanity in the world is astounding. We only touched the tip of the iceberg in the park, sticking to the southeastern corner. They had a cool little carnival for the kiddies set up on the ice skating rink so that was cool. It is nice that a parent living in a surrounding neighborhood can just up and walk their kids down to the carnival in Central Park. And I bought a map and a postcard from a homeless guy who asked me to take him back to Chicago to take Michael Jordan's place or something of the sort.
Then we walked some more and some more. We passed Radio City Music Hall and came to Rockefeller Plaza. We decided to drop the twenty bucks and take the ride to the top of the Rock. At this point I realized how little I know about John D. Rockefeller (aside from the fact that he died, thus ending his chapter, and that THIS is the guy Sean Carter chose to name his company after.) There was a very small exhibit on his life and the history of the building. He seems like a fascinating individual. I think I am going to read a biography before the summer is over.
The elevator to the top was fun. We got up there in just a few seconds and there was some kind of sensory show on the ceiling of the elevator. And the roof was great. It is open air and it is literally the roof of the building. Unfortunately it was a little hazy out and we couldn't see all that far. But it really put the city in perspective. It also made the park look even more incredible. You can really tell the size of it from up there. It is stunning.
Afterwards we went into the NBC shop. I got to talking to the host. Actually, he got to talking to me. He saw my Cubs shirt and that got him going. He lives in Brooklyn and he showed me on the map. We talked about the Cubs, the Bears, the Bulls, Yankee Stadium, the Coney Island Cyclone, food, WBBM, sporting goods, and on and on like that. It was kind of funny. He was just this kind-of old retired guy who I'm sure does this all the time. At one point in the middle of all this a big black guy in a suit (presumably the manager) walked by and touched him on the arm and he snapped back into work mode, so I'm assuming this is what no out of the usual. His name was Donald. Remember.
Now we were ready to eat again. We ate pizza. It was yummy.
And the 7 was working. So we made it to Shea in about twenty minutes. The subway was sort of crowded with people, including a group of young people from New Zealand. One of the guys was a scary looking fellow with all kind of tattoos and piercings and he kept taking deep sniffs of a newspaper and staring people down on the train. Then we got to talking to them and it turned out they are a Christian rock band. This floored me. Then they got really defensive about how Christian rock is not a genre and Jose got really excited because he tells me that all the time and I don't understand what he is talking about and I still don't. Genres are useless anyway, but Christian rock fits the description of a genre as much as anything. But they were very nice. They were called The Parachute Band.
I found Shea Stadium incredibly relaxing. After the hustle and bustle and stress of Yankee Stadium it was nice to just sit back and enjoy a game with a sparse crowd, leg room, and no lines at the concession stands. And I don't think it is a terrible looking ballpark. It's not that interesting. There is nothing that really makes it stand out. It is the definition of a cookie-cutter park. But there is nothing terrible about it either. I found it a delightful place to watch a ballgame.
The game wasn't terribly exciting. Felix Hernandez, the Mariners' pitcher, hit a grand slam and that was the most eventful thing. Then he got injured, which annoyed me because he is on my fantasy team. The Mariners ended up winning 5-2, but the Mets made it interesting, bringing the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth. So we got the chance to hear the Mets fans make a little noise.
We sat with a father and son who seem to specialize in sports themed vacations. They live on Long Island and are Mets fans. The father seems to have been to practically every stadium in existence. He gave me a few tips on the Washington Nationals' stadium (where I will be tomorrow.) He also says that he will not cry to see Shea go at the end of the year. They were fun, probably among the most enjoyable company I have had at ballgames.
After the game we caught the 7 back. We made it in no time and walked to the hotel. Another day is over. I am going to Washington next.
Gotta tell you guys. I'm getting a little tired of writing these. It's mostly just because I have been so tired by the time I actually get to work on them. But I am already behind so I need to just keep cranking away at them. So here we go.
Monday. Monday was easily the most relaxed day of the trip so far. Isaac left last night and Jeff woke up at the crack of dawn to catch his flight. That left Jose and me. And we had sort of plans to get up early but that didn't pan out of course. We ended up sleeping till after ten and didn't leave the hotel till about 11:30. Sure is a good thing we got a hotel with free breakfast, seeing as we missed it just about every day.
The best thing about today is that the 7 line running into Manhattan was open. It was closed all weekend and this was one of the key sources of all our travel difficulty. But now it is open. We got on the 7 and in about ten minutes we were in midtown Manhattan. It was that easy.
We didn't have a whole lot on the agenda. It was mostly just walking around and seeing what we saw. But first we were hungry. We stopped at a place called the Great American Health Bar or something along those lines. Don't let the name throw you. It was really good. I had some sort of pasta with sundried tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, mushrooms, etc. And some great falafel. And a real fruit smoothie!
Next we walked through Central Park. I am actually quite blown away by the sheer magnitude of Central Park. And the fact that it is a sanctuary set in the middle of one of the busiest hubs of humanity in the world is astounding. We only touched the tip of the iceberg in the park, sticking to the southeastern corner. They had a cool little carnival for the kiddies set up on the ice skating rink so that was cool. It is nice that a parent living in a surrounding neighborhood can just up and walk their kids down to the carnival in Central Park. And I bought a map and a postcard from a homeless guy who asked me to take him back to Chicago to take Michael Jordan's place or something of the sort.
Then we walked some more and some more. We passed Radio City Music Hall and came to Rockefeller Plaza. We decided to drop the twenty bucks and take the ride to the top of the Rock. At this point I realized how little I know about John D. Rockefeller (aside from the fact that he died, thus ending his chapter, and that THIS is the guy Sean Carter chose to name his company after.) There was a very small exhibit on his life and the history of the building. He seems like a fascinating individual. I think I am going to read a biography before the summer is over.
The elevator to the top was fun. We got up there in just a few seconds and there was some kind of sensory show on the ceiling of the elevator. And the roof was great. It is open air and it is literally the roof of the building. Unfortunately it was a little hazy out and we couldn't see all that far. But it really put the city in perspective. It also made the park look even more incredible. You can really tell the size of it from up there. It is stunning.
Afterwards we went into the NBC shop. I got to talking to the host. Actually, he got to talking to me. He saw my Cubs shirt and that got him going. He lives in Brooklyn and he showed me on the map. We talked about the Cubs, the Bears, the Bulls, Yankee Stadium, the Coney Island Cyclone, food, WBBM, sporting goods, and on and on like that. It was kind of funny. He was just this kind-of old retired guy who I'm sure does this all the time. At one point in the middle of all this a big black guy in a suit (presumably the manager) walked by and touched him on the arm and he snapped back into work mode, so I'm assuming this is what no out of the usual. His name was Donald. Remember.
Now we were ready to eat again. We ate pizza. It was yummy.
And the 7 was working. So we made it to Shea in about twenty minutes. The subway was sort of crowded with people, including a group of young people from New Zealand. One of the guys was a scary looking fellow with all kind of tattoos and piercings and he kept taking deep sniffs of a newspaper and staring people down on the train. Then we got to talking to them and it turned out they are a Christian rock band. This floored me. Then they got really defensive about how Christian rock is not a genre and Jose got really excited because he tells me that all the time and I don't understand what he is talking about and I still don't. Genres are useless anyway, but Christian rock fits the description of a genre as much as anything. But they were very nice. They were called The Parachute Band.
I found Shea Stadium incredibly relaxing. After the hustle and bustle and stress of Yankee Stadium it was nice to just sit back and enjoy a game with a sparse crowd, leg room, and no lines at the concession stands. And I don't think it is a terrible looking ballpark. It's not that interesting. There is nothing that really makes it stand out. It is the definition of a cookie-cutter park. But there is nothing terrible about it either. I found it a delightful place to watch a ballgame.
The game wasn't terribly exciting. Felix Hernandez, the Mariners' pitcher, hit a grand slam and that was the most eventful thing. Then he got injured, which annoyed me because he is on my fantasy team. The Mariners ended up winning 5-2, but the Mets made it interesting, bringing the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth. So we got the chance to hear the Mets fans make a little noise.
We sat with a father and son who seem to specialize in sports themed vacations. They live on Long Island and are Mets fans. The father seems to have been to practically every stadium in existence. He gave me a few tips on the Washington Nationals' stadium (where I will be tomorrow.) He also says that he will not cry to see Shea go at the end of the year. They were fun, probably among the most enjoyable company I have had at ballgames.
After the game we caught the 7 back. We made it in no time and walked to the hotel. Another day is over. I am going to Washington next.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)