We’re late again on the writing which feels like a common occurrence at this point of the trip. There’s been so much stimulus, catching up with old friends and just exploring these places it’s taking a little bit longer to get things out (then again, it’s not as if people are beating down the doors to get me to release these) – anyway, I digress.
Leaving Boston early on Friday, I made a quick detour to visit one of (what I believe to be) the holiest grounds in sports – I’m referring to of course, Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, aka the home of the NFL’s New England Patriots.
What a site, what a place. If Cleveland’s stadium is the factory of sadness, this place is what dreams are made of.
I did my laps, took my pics, and got back into the Nitro to head South to New York City to meet up with my man Sid and get once again get lost in Gotham and all it has to offer.
In order to avoid having my car in the actual city (read: limit further parking tickets), I was fortunate to be introduced to a friend of a friend named Steph (shoutout Mindy), who lived in small yet beautiful little town called Greenwich in the state of Connecticut which is about a 45 minute train ride outside of Manhattan.
Doing the pleasantries including an awesome lunch on some river (sorry Steph, no idea what the name is), Steph and I boarded a train at 2pm and headed straight for Grand Central station.
Upon arrival, it was a short walk to Sid’s office “Bank of America Tower” aka the B.O.A.T. It is always awesome to see Sid, and as per usual we haven’t missed a beat and the guy is killing it in New York living in the West Village and putting me up for the week – much appreciated good sir!
After a night of fun meeting some of Sid’s new mates and also hanging with some familiar faces (shoutout Charlie), as well as some of the best views at awesome bars in the city, Saturday had arrived and it was time to meet the Mets! (hit play below the pics).
Sid and I were fortunate enough to be joined by our friend Harriet who also happens to be the better half of our mate Ed back home (shoutout Mercho). We were all pumped for the game and expertly guided on the subway all the out to Citifield in Queens where the Mets ply their trade against division rivals, the Washington Nationals.
The stadium is another modern classic, having been completed in 2009 replacing the old Shea Stadium (which is now a giant parking lot).
On a beautiful New York Saturday afternoon, the hometown fans were in a positive mood despite low expectations against some of the big bats that play for the Nats.
The game itself was a beauty, with the Mets benefiting from some excellent hitting to be up 3-0 at the bottom of the second inning. Then, in the bottom of the fifth and with two-runners on base, the Mets would go deep and “raise the apple” with a huge three-run home run to break the game open and with another run in the inning take a 7-0 lead.
The Nationals were not going down without a fight however, and would score runs in the sixth and eighth inning, though this would prove too little too late and the Mets would take the game 7-4 sending everyone home happy.
Following the game, Sid had got us tickets to a boat that would cruise New York’s harbour while taking in the sunset and lights of the big city. Like the rest of the day the cruise was a lot of fun and we met some really cool people who completed the entire experience.
As I don’t have the New York Yankees game until Friday, I’ll be spending my week in New York watching the FIFA World Cup, catching up with a ton of friends, and checking out all of the things this crazy place has to offer.
Hope you’ve enjoyed reading about it as much as I’ve had writing it! Will check back in after the Yankees game!
Thirty before 30 