The Big Apple

Now that I've had some time to slow down, relax and reflect, here's a synopsis of last weekend's trip to New York City.

I caught up with Jason around 4:30 on Friday to head to Monroe and catch our 6:30 flight to Newark, N.J., with a layover in Atlanta. The flights were pretty much uneventful, and thankfully when we arrived in Newark around midnight (EST), our luggage had made the trip as well. That's always my main concern -- please don't lose my luggage.

After turning on the TV and catching up with a little SportsCenter, we both decided to call it a night. I slept well, which meant that 8 a.m. came pretty quickly. Due to some problems with our room when we checked in (it hadn't received maid service, so we were switched to another room), we had free vouchers to grab some breakfast. Then we hit the trolley system back to the airport to hook up with the Jersey transit system.

Believe it or not, we didn't have much problem with the public transportation system in Jersey or NYC. Sure, it took some getting accustomed to, but it really wasn't that difficult riding the train, bus or subway. To get from the airport across the river and into Penn Station cost $14 one way. Then for $7 a day (cheaper if you purchase by week or month), you could go anywhere on the subway system. Not that bad a deal. It's easy to see how someone could survive without driving in the city. In fact, I would suggest that's the best route to take. The only problem with the transit system is you spend a lot of time waiting. It's not necessarily quick. To get from the hotel (waiting on the shuttle) to the airport (waiting on the train) to the Bronx (waiting through all the many stops on the subway) took us close to 2 hours.

Jason and I thought the Yankees-Blue Jays game was a 1 p.m. start, which would give us plenty of time to head back downtown after the game to catch some of the sights before dark. However, the 1 p.m. start was changed to 4 p.m., so we found ourselves doing a lot of waiting (grabbing a quick lunch, searching for souvenirs and then waiting to enter the park). Getting into the park was a story all to itself; in fact, it might have been the most interesting story of the day.

The gates didn't open until 2 hours before the first pitch. But around 1 p.m., when we made our way to the gates, there were plenty of people already there waiting. And the crowd kept growing. About 15 minutes to 2, the security workers come out and tell everyone to back up beyond the security gates (which for us was about 40-50 yards). You would have thought someone asked them to shoot their own mothers or something. The uproar was amazing. Granted, if they didn't want people going past a certain point, it's not that hard to put up a barrier. But still, the reaction was a little over the top. But, again, it's New York. After being threatened to not be allowed in the ball park, everyone finally complied and backed up to get ready for the security check.

Then it gets even more funny. Jason came prepared -- or so he thought. He brought a backpack to carry things in, just to make it easier. Except no backpacks are allowed in Yankee Stadium (ever since 9/11 security everyone, especially New York, has just gone crazy). So we have to go over to a table, where they provide a clear plastic bag to put all the contents of the backpack in. Jason rolls up the backpack -- which is empty, I might add -- and puts it in the bag. No sir. You can't do that. But it's empty. Check it. Nothing in there. It's rolled up. Sorry, can't help you. You have to go store it in a locker. Well, where are they? Around the corner. That's it. That's all the directions Jason gets. So he goes around the corner and doesn't see any lockers. After asking directions, he finally deposits his backpack and we actually enter Yankee Stadium.

Yankee Stadium was cool. Very old. Lots of history. In fact, the stadium was basically the purpose of our whole trip. Across the street from where we were waiting to enter the stadium, ground has been broken on a new Yankee Stadium, which should be ready for the 2009 season. Jason wanted to see a game in the old one before it's torn down, and being the baseball historian that I am, I was more than willing to oblige him. I'm not a Yankees fan. Nor a Toronto fan. It was the next-to-last game of the regular season. The Yanks had clinched homefield advantage in the playoffs, while the Blue Jays were eliminated from playoff contention. Therefore, the game meant nothing. But it was still a good game.

Jeff Karstens, a 24-year-old rookie for the Yankees, threw 4 innings of no-hit ball before Lyle Overbay hit a home run to break it up. Alex Rodriguez and Gary Sheffield had hit back-to-back homers for New York the inning before to take a 3-0 lead. NY made the game 4-1 when Derek Jeter scored on a Miguel Cairo double in the bottom of the 4th. Then Toronto rallied, scoring 4 runs in the 7th inning. The bullpen couldn't hold the lead for the rookie. The big blow was a 2-run triple by Alex Rios, which gave the Jays a 5-4 lead. Toronto added another run in the top of the 8th before the Yankees chipped the lead to 6-5 when Jeter scored on a single by Bobby Abreu. But Toronto closer B.J. Ryan -- Heath, remember that name? You played against him in legion ball. He played for Airline -- came in and retired the side in the 9th for his 38th save of the season.

After the game, Jason and I decided we'd just head back to the hotel, grab some food at the grill there, watch some college football and hit the sack early. The plan was to get up at 5 a.m. Sunday morning to head downtown, since we missed out on that stuff after the game Saturday. Bright and early, we went to downtown Manhattan to check out Ground Zero. We took some pictures, looked at the monuments. I'm not trying to downplay the gravity of this situation, but after 5 years, I think we all know about 9/11. The loss there, and how our world has changed since, simply is dramatic. However, if you didn't know the story, if the scene of the plans crashing into the towers and the towers crumbling wasn't engrained in your mind, it would simply look as if a massive construction project were going on in downtown Manhattan. New York is rebuilding. It's resilient. The people there are moving on. It has changed, I believe. I never went there before 9/11, but I believe the people are slightly more congenial, a little more friendly, than they were before that tragic day. But they're healing. One day, in the not-so-distant future, there will be a new tower standing in that place.

Unfortunately, it was raining Sunday morning. Not hard. Not a drizzle. Just enough to make you not want to be outside. So we didn't really get to make a whole lot of rounds in town. We did jump on the subway and run up to Times Square. We saw the ESPN Zone in Times Square, where they film the Sports Reporters and Cold Pizza. But it was early on a Sunday morning, so nothing was open. We also checked out the MTV studios. Again, closed. Earlier, we'd seen Madison Square Garden. Times Square was like the New York I've seen on TV and in movies -- big, congested, lots of lights, billboards, etc. Until then, I hadn't gotten a taste of the New York that's portrayed on TV.

After Times Square, we headed to Penn Station to buy a bus ticket to the Jets-Colts football game. Simply put -- the highlight of the trip. And not just because the game was amazing. The Jets, supposedly one of the weakest teams in the NFL heading into the season, outplayed Indy all game. They frustrated Peyton Manning and were leading late into the 4th quarter. But Manning brought his team back on a 12-play drive that culminated with a 2-yard TD pass to give the Colts a 24-21 lead. No matter for the Jets. Justin Miller returned the kickoff 103 yards for a score to put the Jets back up by 4. Manning wasn't deterred. He still had 2 minutes, 20 seconds. He only needed 1:30 to reel off 61 yards on 9 plays, culminating in a 1-yard sneak by Manning. With 50 seconds left and after a misplayed kickoff had the Jets inside their own 5-yard line, things looked bleak. But they got the ball out to the 32-yard line with 8 seconds left before this crazy play ended the game -- 10-C.Pennington pass short middle to 29-L.Washington to NYJ 40 for 8 yards [93-D.Freeney]. Lateral to 16-B.Smith to NYJ 37 for -3 yards. Lateral to 87-L.Coles to IND 44 for 19 yards. Lateral to 10-C.Pennington to IND 37 for 7 yards. Lateral to 81-J.McCareins to IND 35 for 2 yards. FUMBLES, recovered by NYJ-16-B.Smith at IND 33. 16-B.Smith to IND 37 for -4 yards. FUMBLES, recovered by NYJ-87-L.Coles at IND 40. 87-L.Coles to IND 27 for 13 yards. Lateral to 74-N.Mangold to IND 27 for no gain. FUMBLES, RECOVERED by IND-42-J.David at IND 34. 42-J.David to IND 39 for 5 yards (29-L.Washington). Confused yet? You just HAVE to see it!

I vaguely remember going to a Saints-Giants game when I was kid, but this was the first NFL game I've been to as an adult. As a college football fan, I now have a newfound respect for the NFL. The crowd there was amazing. It wasn't long before I was cheering, "J! E! T! S! Jets! Jets! Jets!" Like I said, Jason and I went there for Yankee Stadium. The Jets game was simply lagniappe. But it became the highlight of the trip. I suggest any football field go see a game at the Meadowlands. The passion and energy was unlike anything I've ever seen before.

After the game, we waited and waited and waited some more in line to get back on a bus to take us into Penn Station. Then we went back into the hotel, grabbed some food at the grill again and watched football. After the experience we just had, we just wanted to relax and get ready for the trip home on Monday. It should be smooth sailing the rest of the way in, right?

Well, of course not! We got in and out of the Newark airport no problem. In Atlanta, however, there were problems. Our plane, which was originally scheduled to leave at 2:40, had been bumped back about 40 minutes. That's cool. Not that much of a wait. 40 minutes turned into much, much more as the plane had mechanical problems. We even were seated on the plane, taxied out and had to come back into the terminal, where we were asked to get back off the plane while the crew tried to fix ours. Unfixable! So we had to wait on another plane to arrive. Our 2:40 plane didn't end up leaving until after 6! After getting back into Ruston and then heading home to Alexandria, I pulled into the driveway exhausted after 10 p.m. Whew, what a trip! I'm not looking to go back next weekend, but I sure would like to return to NYC someday!