Why I Love New England

So Saturday at 3 pm, Andrew and I had no plans for the next 24 hours and what plans we did have got canned! We were discussing the relocation of the Cubs vs Houston game as a result of Hurricane Ike, which naturally led to discussing the Cubs standing...which naturally led to discussing the Rays. Well, while checking the Rays lead we also noticed that they were playing in Yankee Stadium Saturday and Sunday. Andrew and his dad travel a lot to see baseball games all over the continent (including Canada!) and he mentioned that he had never seen Yankee Stadium, which will be demolished after this season.

Well I watched the Bucket List a couple weeks ago (courtesy of Redbox) and instead of waiting until the end to seize the day, I decided to conquer this world in a piecemeal fashion. My new life policy: do one thing everyday that is fun, crazy, or spontaneous. So far, I'm achieving about one a week. And generally, my extent of "craziness" involves splurging for take out or making a last minute decision to go out with friends in the evening. Well, not this time. This time doing something crazy and spontaneous meant throwing logic and planning to the wind.

At about 4:00 pm we purchased two tickets for Sunday's game and then rushed out the door to meet Fran and Dave for the Philharmonic Orchestra. We spent the evening with the Sadeehs and Norquists eating fancy Italian appetizers, enjoying Italy's delightful Chianti wine, and indulging in exquisite desserts--Pierson style, of course (we all shared and just passed the plates round and round til they were finished). Well, as is required with any spontaneous decision, planning is strictly prohibited, so naturally, the Internet was down Saturday night forcing all planning aspirations to be abandoned.

Sunday morning we set out for New York City! All we knew was that there was a train track that rain through Southern Connecticut and we would rely on Nigel (my British GPS) for the rest! With Nigel in hand we started randomly selecting train stations and calling to get the schedule and Park & Ride information. No surprise, I was late, so we couldn't make the New Haven train, but if we drove a little further to Stamford, we could be 20 minutes early for that same train!

We got to Stamford, grabbed a Boston creme donut at the train station and headed for Harlem! We walked a few blocks through Harlem to the subway station and then got off in the Bronx! We got roasted by the blazing sun and smoked by the Yankees, but it was nevertheless an historic and exciting game in the Stadium!

We left the Bronx and headed for Midtown. We strolled through Central Park, eating a stale and terrible cheese-filled soft pretzel, and laid in the meadow with hundreds of other people on what I believe was a field of poo and grass patches (Andrew assured me it was "dirt"). We then walked along the Mall (promenade) past all sorts of characters--creepy statue people, a crazy rollerblading club, and lots of European tourists who apparently were informed that all pictures in Central Park must be taken individually and seductively. Lastly we walked 30 blocks up 5th Avenue, past Radio City Music Hall, to Rockefeller Plaza where we sat outside my mecca (the Today show studio) eating some greasy pizza! We enjoyed a lively discussion about the proper age to take children on vacation (inspired by many annoying children who seemed too young to enjoy the city or even remember their trip and appeared to tirelessly wear their parents out and go through cash like it was toilet paper). We briskly walked through Grand Central Station directly onto our train and headed back home. All the while repeating how surreal the spontaneous trip was.

So as I sat at work today I texted Andrew to remind him that it wasn't a dream. Twenty-four hours prior we really were in Yankee Stadium, lounging in Central Park, and eating in Rockefeller Plaza. Unfortunately, he was also not dreaming that he was actually back in Champaign after a brief affair with the City and side trip through Chicago. This my friends is why I love New England. There are not many places where you can go to so many incredible destinations in such a short amount of time.