Day 7 - Back to NYC? #5 New York Mets - Citi Field

Day seven (Tuesday) began with us leaving Boston and deliberating whether or not we wanted to go back into New York City.  Tammy and I had kind of decided to skip the Mets game as we really didn't want to deal with the city again.  But after much consideration on my part, I suggested that we go ahead and do it.  After all, we had become experienced travelers and since we had done it one time, it wouldn't be that bad.  Besides, we would probably be real upset if we fulfilled this dream of attending all the Major League parks and we had to go back to New York to cover the Mets.  "We are right here.  Let's do it!"
We head back into the city on I-95 and drive over the George Washington bridge which was pretty neat.  We reserve a room in Secaucus, NJ near the place we had stayed a few nights earlier.  It was mid afternoon when we arrive so we decide to start heading into NYC.  We head to the bus stop and get our bus passes and prepare for the 15 minute ride to the Port Authority station in Manhattan.  As the bus arrives, the driver notifies us that the air conditioning was not working.  "No problem", we say.  It won't be that long of a ride.  Little did we know that it was now 5:00 and traffic into the city was at a stand still.  This turned into the MOST MISERABLE ride of my life.  On a ride that was probably 5 miles in distance, it took us 2 HOURS to get there on a bus that had no AC.  The only relief we had was the roof vent at the top of the bus.   It was HORRIBLE.  I have to commend the boys.  They did great and did not complain too much.  Needless to say, we took the first opportunity to get off the "bus ride from Hell" after we exited the Lincoln Tunnel.  It was now after 7:00 and the game was to begin at 7:05.
We arrive at Port Authority and head for the subway for a ride into Queens.  Here is where another valuable lesson was learned.  It turned out we were not as experienced as we thought.  When going a great distance across town, take the express line!  We took the number 7 local train which had to make 19 stops before we could reach Queens and the Mets Stadium - Citi Field.  It took a while.  I did not know much about Queens, but found out that it is a pretty big borough.  Most of what I had in mind was learned by watching "The King of Queens" on TV.  No surprise, it wasn't much like that at all.  Finally, we arrive and head to the ticket counter.  We had missed three innings already so we just got 4 seats in the upper deck and headed inside.

Our view of the scoreboard and Jumbo Tron at Citi Field.

Wow! What a beautiful ballpark!  Nestled deep inside one of the least aesthetically pleasing boroughs in NYC is this jewel of a stadium.  It was very impressive.  The Mets were playing the Phillies and by the time we get to our seats it is in the 4th inning with the Phillies winning 2-0.  Cole Hamels was pitching again for the Phillies who we saw pitch against the Giants back in Philly.  Dillon Gee was on the mound for the Mets.  The highlight of the game came in the 7th inning when Phillies second baseman Chase Utley hit a Grand Slam to right field making the final score 6-0.  After the game, we catch the No. 7 Express back to the other side of NYC (It didn't take nearly as long to get back, thus the name express!).
We were finally through with NYC although it was bittersweet to look back across the Hudson River as we exited the Lincoln Tunnel on the New Jersey side to see the beautiful New York City skyline and be in awe of how the city looks at night.  Another park checked off and another day down.  The next day we would head south into Baltimore.

A panoramic view from the lower levels of Citi Field.