Spring Break in New York - Part 2

(You can check out "Part 1" below. I'm trying to keep these posts from getting too long by breaking them up, but I'm pretty sure I will fail because this trip was epic.)

After touring Long Island for 3 days, it was a bit shocking to hit New York City! At this point, we were just driving through the city to get to Newark, NJ, where our next hockey game awaited. But this proves to be a challenge when you have the incredible foresight to hit the heart of NYC during 5:00 rush hour. *palm slaps forehead*

In one section of town, we drove 4 blocks in 45 minutes, I kid you not.

All to the sweet, sweet sound of car horns blaring. Double awesome.

We finally made it to Newark just in time (okay, a few minutes late) for the New Jersey Devils game. They were playing the Islanders, so we got to cheer for Dan's team twice!

Dan took his life into his own hands and sported enemy colors at the Devil's arena. We got fewer rude comments than we expected when it was all said & done.

Since the hotels in NJ were much cheaper (by $150-$200/night!) than the hotels in NYC, we stayed in Newark for a couple of nights. I'm not going to lie, Newark is not a pretty place. But our hotel had free parking and was within walking distance of the Devils arena and Penn Station, where we could catch a train to NYC.

I broadened Dan's horizons - this was the first time he'd taken a train from NJ to NY. It was cheap ($4.50 round-trip) and only took 25 mins. each way. Much faster & cheaper than driving a car and parking for the day!

My brother Steve was spending a couple of weeks at the Hastings Center (a bioethics research institute) in Garrison, NY, so he drove the 1 1/2 hours to NYC to meet us! It was great to spend the afternoon with him.

The three of us walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and back, which gave us great views of the city.

Dan had been raving about the Sicilian pizza in New York, so Steve & I had to try it.

As we were walking towards Wall Street, we saw Alexander Hamilton's grave at Trinity Churchyard.

A famous Wall Street sight: The New York Stock Exchange

I recently read that George Washington took his oath in NYC as the first President of the United States, and we found the site where the moment took place! I guess this was considered the capital for a while before Washington D.C. was established.

Steve (being infinitely wiser than Dan & I) decided to head back to the Hastings Center before rush hour, so we said goodbye. Then Dan & I hopped on the Staten Island Ferry, which is a free commuter ferry that gives you great views of the city & the Statue of Liberty from the harbor.

Heading away from NYC!

It was about a half hour ride each way. We had to get off when we landed on Staten Island, but we immediately jumped back on the same boat to head back.

A view of Lady Liberty from the water

We stopped for a few moments in Battery Park, because when you see a bathroom in NYC that you don't have to pay for, you use it. Plus the park was pretty.

Castle Clinton at Battery Park

We had made reservations to view the 9/11 Memorial, so we headed there next. They built two identical fountains where the Twin Towers formerly stood.

The names of everyone who lost their lives were inscribed around the fountains. It was sad to see how many there were.

The new One World Trade Center is still under construction. It'll stand even taller than the Twin Towers.

We stopped again at Battery Park for the aforementioned free bathrooms, and also to call Mom Jester & wish her a happy birthday! :)

Then we were on the move again, seeing some classic NYC sights along the way - like the subway station at rush hour.

And men playing chess in Bryant Park

And the Chrysler Building

And Times Square!

We ended our evening by seeing a Broadway Musical, "Memphis." It's the true story of an interracial relationship in Memphis, TN during the 50s or 60s. The white man was a radio personality who played R&B music on his station. He fell in love with a black lady who sang the style of music he loved. It wasn't a happily-ever-after kind of story, but the music & dancing were phenomenal! Clearly my hair was blown away. :)

The next day, we took a side trip to Philadelphia for our 3rd hockey game. It was a 1 1/2 hour drive, so not too far.

Dan met up with some old friends, Roy, Arthur, and Nathan on the way :) But we were waiting to get to Philadelphia to eat lunch, because we had to have Philly Cheesesteaks! They were sooo good and big enough that we wrapped up the leftovers & finished them off for dinner. Because there's no such thing as eating too many cheesesteaks when you're in Philadelphia!

We saw the Liberty Bell (and Independence Hall in the background)

And those famous Rocky Balboa steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (cue "Eye of the Tiger")

I don't know this guy, but he totally stole my cheesy pose with the Rocky statue!

At the Wells Fargo Arena to watch the Philadelphia Flyers play

We got famous on the Fan Cam that night! There was a cute little girl in front of us holding a poster that said "My first Flyers game...but not my last!" She got the camera man's attention, and Dan snapped a photo of us on the screen. I'm the one in the mint-colored sweater, and you can see Dan's bald head beside me.

After a fun day & night in Philadelphia, we headed back to NYC for my favorite day of the trip! (to be continued...)

Spring Break in New York - Part 1

We had an awesome Spring Break this year! I'm sure many of you know that Dan has a goal of attending a game at every NHL arena during his lifetime. So last week, we took a trip to NY, NJ, and PA that was organized around hockey games. No, I'm not that much of a hockey fan (or any sport for that matter), but I love our "hockey trips" because they often take us to areas of the country I've never visited before. And going to the live games is way more exciting than watching them on TV, so it's lots of fun for me, too.

We kicked off this trip in the perfect way - at a New York Islanders game!! Dan grew up on Long Island and became a die-hard Islanders fan during the 80s when they won 4 Stanley Cup Championships in a row. Their arena isn't getting any younger, and there's talk of moving the team to another city, so we figured we'd better get out there before everything changes!

Dan's happiest place on earth - the Nassau Coliseum, home of the NY Islanders!

After 9 years of watching their games on TV, I finally got to see one live!

Ahhh, the glory days

After the game, we spent the rest of the day driving around Dan's old haunts. We stopped to take a picture of the house where he grew up. His parents moved to Williamsburg, VA a few years ago, but they owned this house for almost 40 years!

We also saw his elementary school, Lee Road

Dan drove me around some of the neighboring towns & showed me where his family used to attend church, the high school where his dad worked, and some of the restaurants & movie theaters where he'd meet his friends on the weekends. We saw most of his old workplaces and drove out to the beach to make sure the Jones Beach tower was still standing (it was). He said it felt like coming home, and it was fun for me to hear all his stories.

We ate dinner at Cafe Bacci, an Italian restaurant he remembered, and then stopped for dessert at International Delight Cafe. They had about a million gelato flavors to choose from!

Fact: Gelato on a warm waffle is delicious!

The next morning, we continued driving along the NE coast of Long Island, and saw the cutest towns along the way.

The Grist Mill in Stony Brook

Most of the trees were still bare, but we saw beautiful cherry blossoms everywhere

Port Jefferson was my favorite town of the day

We stopped for about an hour to hike around Wildwood State Park, where Dan's family went camping when he was a kid. His memory astounds me! He took me to the exact site where they pitched their tent, then led me through the woods to a secret trail he remembered leading to the beach. I can't even remember where I parked my car when I go to a store.

This is the unlikely-looking trail that leads to the beach.

Found it!

Hello, Atlantic Ocean!

Then we hit the road again and drove to the very NE tip of Long Island to see the Orient Point Lighthouse. Isn't that the perfect East Coast scene?

At Orient Beach State Park

We saw a sign for historic Horton Point Lighthouse which is now a museum, and decided to check it out.

The next day, we drove along the SE coast of Long Island. This is where the famous Hamptons are, and Dan had never driven that far out. I think we enjoyed the NE coast more with their picturesque yet normal towns with schools, churches, & parks. The SE coast was more sparsely populated and touristy. When you did see neighborhoods, they were mostly the gigantic mansions near the water that come to mind when you hear about movie stars vacationing in the Hamptons. Most of them were gated for privacy, so we didn't bother taking many pictures.

We made it all the way to the SE tip of the Island to see Montauk Point Lighthouse.

We also found the Big Duck in Flanders! It's got a museum inside that sells...(wait for it)...duck souvenirs.

For once, Dan was the one wanting to stop for ice cream. :) He really misses Carvel, so we made a point to stop there on our way out of Long Island. Then we were on our way to New York City!

Half Crazy (Again)

I ran my second half marathon this weekend! It was the inaugural San Diego Half Marathon, which my coworkers Janeece and Sammy convinced me to run with them. Janeece has aspirations to run this race every year starting from its inception, so she'll get lots of recognition when she's 100 years old and still racing it. :) Anyway, they talked it up so much that it started to sound like fun to me, too. This is the 2nd race that the three of us have done, since they ran the Rock 'n' Roll last summer, too. It's becoming an annual tradition!

Dan knew that he couldn't run with me because of his bum knee, so he took his bike and rode the entire race. It was fun to have him there! Not only did I have my emergency contact available at all times, but he got to experience the race with me and encourage me when I looked close to death. And he took some videos (they're at the bottom), so if you want to experience a half marathon from the comfort of your chair, this is the time.

We kicked off the weekend with dinner together. Lots of pasta was consumed. From left around the table: Sammy, her parents Lynn and Bob, Rudy, Janeece, me, and Dan.

The "before" picture of the runners: Rudy, Janeece, me, and Sammy.

Dan and I spent the afternoon at Petco Park (the San Diego Padres baseball stadium) on Saturday so I could pick up my race number & other goodies. They had vendors giving out free samples & advertising their wares.

After we left, we took the race map and drove the course so we'd know what to expect the next day.

On Sunday morning, we woke up at 5:00 (it felt like 4:00 because of Daylight Savings...ugh!) and got to Petco Park by 6:00.

It was finally getting light outside by race time at 7:15. I was in the 5th wave of runners (out of 10 waves total).

From the start line we ran down the middle of the streets in the heart of downtown, which was a cool experience!

A nice photo along the harbor with downtown behind us. Dan cracks up because I'm the only one who looks like I'm having any fun. What can I say, I smile every moment of the race because it feels so awesome!

Okay, this is what I look like when I'm not posing for the camera - like I'm about to throw up. My first thought was "Aha! THAT'S why my shoulders were so sore the next day!" Second thought was "Yay - you can see Dan on his bike in the background!!"

BEST PHOTO EVER, kissing the guns. hahaha! I am not dorky at all!

During the last sprint, we entered the tunnel into Petco Park and ran on the field toward home plate to the finish line. They showed us finishing on the big screen and announced our names over the loudspeaker. It was the closest I'll probably ever come to feeling famous!

My finish time was 2:05 - over 5 minutes faster than my Rock 'n' Roll time! I was stoked about it since I blew my goal of 2:10 out of the water! The course was flat with only one soul-crushing hill at mile 9 and then a downhill slope for the last 2 miles, so it was conducive to a fast pace.

The medals were pretty. I wish it was acceptable to wear it in everyday settings. Maybe I can make it into a belt buckle or a very large earring.

Sammy and Janeece ran the whole race together and they beat their time goal, too! It was a good day for all three of us.

Half Marathon #2, done!

And here are those videos. The first two are right before my wave started running. My parents need to see this because otherwise they'll never believe I was excited to run at 7:15 a.m. Wonders never cease.

*Warning - you might want to turn your volume down.* It's exciting at the beginning of the race. And by exciting, I mean there are air horns.



We're happy because we don't feel any pain yet.



And they're off!!

Running along the harbor at mile 3 or 4. Okay, now just keep imagining that for about 2-3 more hours and you have experienced the magic of a half marathon. :)