The New York Yankees – New York Mets rivalry is the latest incarnation of the Subway Series, the competition between New York City's Major League Baseball teams, the American League New York Yankees and the National League New York Mets. Until Interleague play started, the two teams had only met in exhibition games. Since the inception of interleague play the teams have met in every season since 1997 and faced off in the 2000 World Series, which the Yankees won in 5 games.
So, Friday was dedicated Dave Day, and so the trip to Manhattan was going to start in the early afternoon with a visit to a shop I had heard about, followed by a trip on the ‘Historic 7’ line into Main Street Flushing for a wonder, and then back a stop to Willets/Met’s station to Citi Field.
The ride into Manhattan was fairly quiet and low key considering the last couple of experiences! I arrived into Manhattan and was instantly struck with a KFC slap of heat! It wasn’t supposed to be too hot with the forecast of a pleasant 88.F (31.C)
Given I was going to be in town all day, I decided on three quarter jeans and a cotton t-shirt (slightly heavier to take me into the night). I forgot to factor in the humidity and between walking in and out of the subways and on the streets I could have participated in a wet t-shirt competition and possibly won! I was dripping that much!
I walked down Times Square just to see what was going on and have a wonder. There was an Asian Student group that seemed to take up the entire sidewalk, so I managed to duck into a shop until they passed. I did have a chuckle when I saw them grouped together under Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, and all point and take photos. Not sure if it was because they were wearing matching yellow, or because of Forest Gump! I imagine the translation would be quite comical!
As I was wondering around, I could see people waving and jumping at a bill board. Naturally since I am being a local, I thought I should have a sneak peak! I have no idea of the point of the bill board but it was cool, it was a ‘real-time’ bill board that showed all the people standing underneath it. Fortunately there was a black girl jumping like a loony next to me, so she was easy to spot on the bill board, so I could then zoom into me!
I wondered down to the M&M store and Hershey Store for a wee little wonder, and to pick up a few snacks for later! I came across a dwarf version of Elmo, Sponge Bob, Cookie Monster and a character that I have no idea of…looked like a Cone head! And people got so excited they would run over, take photos or have someone take a photo of them, only to have the characters demand $1… it was quite funny hearing Elmo swear!! I guess people didn’t know that they were canvassing for money!
I jumped on the subway to head to the shop, only to discover when walking around a little lost, I had written the directions correctly, but interpreted them very incorrectly! Plus I got myself confused with the magnitude of subways I could have caught. So instead of being at 51 W 14th Street (between 5th and 6th) I ended up at 51st Street between 5th and 6th Street! Thankfully getting lost in NYC can prove a good adventure as I landed on the steps of Radio Music Hall and Rockefeller Centre!
By this time, I was feeling the heat a bit and thought given the clear day I would head up to the Top of the Rock for a view from Rockefeller Centre.
“Excuse me, can you please tell me whether there is a wait for the Top of the Rock,” I enquire at the ticket booth
“Are you paying by credit card” says the very disinterested girl (another girl with talons! Clearly these sweat shops in the US don’t cut nails!)
“Ah, I will be, if you could tell me if there is a wait?”
“Oh sure, sorry, yes, no there is no wait as the elevator runs every 5 minutes.”
“Okay great, so I could get a ticket then please?”
“Sure, it will be $21 and the next viewing is at 3.40pm”
“Hmmm, its 3.05pm now, so does that mean I can’t get in until 3.40pm?”
“No”
“No?” I enquire, “Sorry, so the elevator runs every 5 minutes, but next stop I can’t get into 3.40pm, is that what you are saying?”
“Yes, so $21 thanks”
Oh boy! I am so confused… “That’s okay; I don’t really want to wait on the sidewalk for 35minutes so I’ll come back again”
“Okay, then see you at 4pm when the next viewing is!”
Boy, I was really confused! I’ll leave the top of the rock viewing until I am actually in Manhattan I think!
I managed to find a subway that connected me to a point (have no idea how and where) that didn’t need for me to exit the subway, but enter another platform where the famous 7 ran into Flushing. Was quite pleased with that fluke and would take it, as by now I was pretty hot and needed to sit down for a bit!
I had read that the #7 train took an iconic path along the boroughs from the Manhattan skyline to Queens. Sunnyside (Romanian, Turkish), Woodside (Irish), Jackson Heights (Indian, Filipino), Corona Heights (Italian, Peruvian, Colombian, Ecuadorian, Mexican), and then finally Flushing (Korean, Chinese) I tried to sit at a window so I could take some picks. The journey took about 25 minutes, and although it was pretty to see the skyline (although by now it was a bit hazy) I couldn’t get a decent picture, and I didn’t notice anything too outlandish other than seeing the tops of buildings and the suburbs but didn’t notice that I was traveling between the immigrant neighbourhoods' as outlined in the lonely planet guide. Perhaps because the rest of the subway is underground, the ‘iconic’ part is seeing the sun!
Stepping out of the subway at Flushing was like walking into Hong Kong or Bangkok! The smell of Kimchi prominent (as a little chuckle left my lips from having not smelt Kimchi since my AQIS days – and boy did I NOT miss you!) as walking down main street I was struck with boxes of mushrooms, herbs, soups, and the most random array of smells I have ever experienced! I was struck with excitement when I saw Duck Pancakes for $1.00. I let out an accidental little squeal of delight and bought one on the spot! (it naturally features in my NYC Munch & Bevies picture) http://picasaweb.google.com.au/BunkyBee/NYCMunchBevies#
I had read about southern Corona being a quaint Italian neighbourhood, but I failed to get a bus guide, and as they were unsigned, I had no idea how to get to my destination. That may be a later on, or if not this trip, perhaps in the future?
Given I had no real good sense of direction; I wandered around Main Street and a few streets and watched a game of Handball and Basketball and just took in the sights and sounds.
On the subway trip I had seen the Unisphere is a beautiful, giant steel globe that sits in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in and thought I would walk in its general direction. After wondering around for a bit, I realized that it was perhaps a bit further than I first thought, and given I had seen it just passing the Willets/Met’s point I thought I’d jump back on the subway and head in that direction.
Thankfully I did, as Flushing Meadows – Corona Park is the other side of the stadium! From looking at the Unisphere (put in Queens for the 1964-1965 World's Fair for a symbol of world peace), watching a wedding, watching a game of soccer, watching some kids get told off by a Mounted Policeman and watching squirrels being terrorized by kids, before I knew it I had been there for a few hours! Had I known that the park was there, I would have bought some cheap Asian delights to sit and eat in the park. Instead I munched on my Muesli bar and drank another bottle of water and read my book for a while.
By this stage it was close to 6pm and although not hungry I thought I’d jump back on the train to Main Street and grab some dinner. Funnily enough, walking out of the station I saw an unkempt man on crutches begging for money. I had seen him the first time round, and he noticed me as he looked at me like “haven’t I seen you before?”
Up Main Street I snacked on another duck pancake and tried to head into one of the restaurants. It was so Korean/Chinese that I couldn’t work out how to buy the food, and there was nowhere to sit. Sadly this was going to have to be skipped as I needed something easy and quick before the concert. Next door was McDonald's, and considering I have been here a month, this was the first American Burger I had eaten I thought why not. At least they had seats.
So back to the subway, and back past my man on the crutches and this time he said out loud, “You walk past me enough times lady you could make me rich!”…hehehe, he had a point!
Back to Citi Field. I had noticed on my walk earlier that there was an additional train service and that was direct to Penn Station. This was much easier to catch than getting the subway to Times Square or Central station and then a shuttle to Penn so I joined a little line and grabbed a one way to Penn for after the concert! Boy was I glad that I did that, after the concert the line snaked around and had close to 30 people! Had I waited I would have missed the train, and goodness only knows that would have been disastrous!!
So into Citi Field, pass the merch stand (yes I got myself a DMB Citi Field T-Shirt! Woot woot) and heading around to left field there was a sense of excitement in the air that wasn’t just me!
My seats were left of stage and perfect! I could see the arena and the stage brilliantly and was undercover (in case it rained, although I did have my Iggies Poncho!)
Zac Brown Band started the concert. Not my cup of tea as they were very country, although I did like them when they sang Killing in the Name Of (Rage Against the Machine) Cover.
The concert itself was insanely brilliant. I sang, I grooved, and not even the annoying people two rows in front didn’t put me off. (okay, well the girls signature dance move of arms up lunging, arms mid length lunging, arms up lunging…ALL NIGHT… did make me cringe, but I was having too good a time to let her or anything annoy this monumental moment!) I read a review which had an excerpt which was spot on… Dave Matthews' strengths remain his band's mastery of briskly intricate rhythms and unusual melodic structures. The music they put on display last night wove elements of funk, jazz fusion, rock, Cajun music, country and pop into something that, for better or worse, sounds like no one else.
Having been a fan of DMB for 13 years, this was only the second time I had seen him. The first only a couple of years ago when he finally toured Australia and Adelaide which was brilliant, but nothing compared to seeing them in Citi Field.
Dave sang and danced with his usual quirkiness, Carter banged those drums like nothing I had ever seen, Stefan sexed up the bass and Boyd simply dazzled that electronic violin better than I could have expected. It was also the first time I had seen LeRoi’s replacement Jeff (LeRoi died a few years ago after complications of a quad bike accident) and seeing Tim Reynolds with his political Stop Wars t-shirt (in Star Wars fashion) made me laugh!
I snapped and recorded a number of pictures and movies. Sadly the movies are in a format I haven’t been able to convert and hope the Panasonic disc at home will help me there… I did find two good You Tube links, one of Don’t Drink the Water (the first song of Dave Matthews I had ever heard and fell in love with) followed by Dave’s little jig for the Corn Bread song.
Don’t Drink the Water = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8achXELDCO4
Cornbread Dance = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knqBG_P7CD0
They played for 2 hours and 50 minutes, and I caught the last part of the song downstairs as I was like a despondent 36er fan waiting at the edge for the game to finish…only I was not despondent and was still on such a high I could have peed my pants!
The journey home was almost as epic as this blog! While waiting for the LIRR (Long Island Rail Road) I was able to book my taxi from Short Hills Train Station to the Hotel. Thankfully, they were happy to pick up at 1.23am when the train was due in! The LIRR trip was like being part of a Fraternity House. There was singing, there was hand slapping, there were hook ups (not me, I got stuck sitting next to a geek who had to ‘wait one more goddamn hour until the next train because of this stoopid drive, ah man, aren’t you browned’…) not sure what browned is but don’t think I was!! It was a very funny ride to Penn Station.
At Penn there was one moment of panic when my scheduled LAST train to Short Hills at 12.34 didn’t display which gate it was leaving from. At 12.31am I certainly think my heart skipped a beat or two, but then it was the only train at that time, and when it finally showed the track and not the name Short Hills but a series of other I trusted it was the right one. That train ride wasn’t as unique as the earlier one, but I did enjoy the conversations between 4 girls who had been to ‘Hunk-a-rama’ to celebrate a 20th birthday explain to a group of boys exactly what it is they saw and did…only for the boys to react well as boys do!
Jumping out of the train and seeing the blinking lights of my van at 1.27am were somewhat sad….it meant that my date with Dave was coming to an end. But oh what a date it was and what a memory I have! (With a big special shout out and love and thanks to my Wingman! Xx)
(as photographed in the NY Post)
Until the next one,
Lots of love Bee xxxo
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