The next day it was time to take on the big city. Tammy and I were excited to show the boys NYC and they were excited to see it. Now I'm not going to lie, I am a little intumidated by large urban areas not to mention the largest in the US. So I was not going to drive. We were staying in Secaucus, NJ which enabled us to take a bus right into the city via the Lincoln Tunnel. We arrived at the Port Authority Bus Terminal which is at 42nd street and very close to Times Square. It was mid-morning and we had planned to be in the city all day and head up to the Bronx for the Yankees game. So we start walking and walking. It was fun to see the sights and especially to see the faces of Trey and Tate. Tammy, being the responsible mom had instructed the boys (and me) that they were to hold mom and dad's hand at all times (Tate of course would be the one who would need to be reminded of this rule several times. Trey was just fine with it). Tammy writes her cell number on the boys arms should they get separated from us (she is a great Mom!).
"Can we see NYC in one day?" I thought. Well, not adequately but we were going to give it our best shot. We set out into Times Square and take in all the sites. We see all the electronic billboards, the place where the ball dropped on New Years Eve, and of course, the Naked Cowboy, which Tate (and Tammy too I think) got a kick out of. We head to Rockefeller Plaza, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Grand Central Station, and over to The Empire State Building. The boys wanted to see The Statue of Librrty which was at the southernmost part of Manhattan so that meant we needed to take the subway. Here was a part of New York culture the boys needed to see. And here was where we looked the most like tourists because as you may know it can be confusing.
We make it to the correct station and get out to Battery Park to get a view of Lady Liberty. The boys finally feel like they have seen something they can identify New York City with. We go by the 9-11 Memorial and try to explain to them what it is about. We walk up through the financial district (see the big bull) and get back on the subway headed to the Bronx and Yankee Stadium.
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The Statue of Liberty.
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Ah, the main reason for coming here. We arrive in the Bronx and Yankee Stadium is like a "diamond in the rough". It is a beautiful facility located in a not so beautiful part of the city. We get our tickets and head in. The guy taking our tickets advises us to go see Monument Park first before the game starts and we do. It was very impressive. I'm not a Yankee fan but as a baseball fan, Monument Park is pretty special. To see all of that Yankee history, I sensed that it was a preview of what we would see on the next stop of our journey in Cooperstown.
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The boys outside Yankee Stadium.
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We found our seats for the game in the upper deck behind the 3rd base line. The boys and I were in awe. It was a good game. Hiroki Kuroda started for the Yankees and Mark Buerhle started for the Toronto Blue Jays. It was also a special treat for the boys to get to see Derek Jeter who is playing his last season. He began with the Yankees in 1995. Tammy and I are seeing the Yankees in New York for the second time. The first time was back in 2004 when we saw Jeter take a dive into the stands going after a foul ball against the Red Sox at the old Yankee Stadium. Jeter suffered a broken nose.
In this game four home runs were hit; two by former Hickory Crawdad Jose Bautista, one by Carlos Beltran (a favorite player of Trey's), and one by Ichiro Suzuki, his first of the season and the game winner. Yanks won 6-4. After the game we get back on the subway and return to Port Authority where we catch the bus back to our hotel. It was a very long day but one where a lot of memories were made. Time to rest up for the drive to Cooperstown the next day and for me, the highlight of the trip.
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| Yankee Stadium Jumbotron. Monument Park is below it just beyond center field. |
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| A Panoramic view from our seats. It is a beautiful stadium. |
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