Didn't have internet access yesterday, so I'll be playing a little catch up here:
Day 6, Boston:
Got out of the city at about 11a.m. Dropped Katie off at the Marcy St. station, said our goodbyes and what not. She's a sweet girl. I hope everything works out just peachy between her and Justin. As soon as we got on I-95 near White Plains we hit big time traffic. It then occurred to us that it was the day before the 4th of July. Once we got into Connecticut traffic lightened up a bit, but when we got into Providence, R.I. it got really bad again. And that's when it occurred to us that everyone was heading out to the Cape for the holiday. Stoopid indians we were. Unfortunately, we weren't able to make it into Boston. So we called Spencer and got some alternative routes to his house in Pembroke, and fortunately made decent time getting there. Pembroke is about a half hour outside of Boston in the woods and it's beautiful. It completely reminded me of this town called Arnold, where I spent a ton of time as a kid (my grandpa owned a cabin outside of Arnold, it's a small town in the Sierra Nevadas). Spencer is one of the most genuine doods I know. And he's now a homeowner. A beautiful huge home in the woods with a huge backyard, basement, loft, and mudroom. It'll be the perfect place for him and Darcie to raise their little girls, Amelia and Audrey. After peeping their place we headed to their apartment, which is in a town called Marshfield; not too far away from Pembroke (5 minutes actually). Hung out with the kiddos (who are absolutely adorable), and had some dinner. After dinner Justin and I had a catch, which felt great. I hadn't thrown a ball around in quite some time. We capped the night off with Rambo 4, Shocker, and homemade ice cream sandwiches. It was an amazing time seeing Spencer, Darcie, and their girls.
Day 7, Philadelphia:
Woke up early and hung out with the kiddos some more. Spencer made us an amazing breakfast of grits, eggs, bacon, and biscuits. We said our goodbyes, and were on the road to Philly at 9. We made awesome time to Philly because of an alternative route Darcie recommended, and which I'll recommend to you if you're ever going to Philly from the New England area. The route completely bypasses NYC. Holler at me, and I'll give it to you. Anyway, we got into to Philly and immediately hit up Pat's Original. Pat's is THE philly cheese joint. And my God, how good it was. I can still taste it, it was so good. Anytime you're in Philly you have to go to this joint, 9th st. and Federal. Do it. Got pulled over in Philly for "cutting someone off". The dood was a civilian cop, and probably saw that I had an out of state plate and just wanted to hassle someone. I was pretty shocked by the comment though, "cutting someone off". Nothing happened, everything was cool. He was the one that actually gave us directions to Pat's. After Pat's we headed over to Citizens Bank Park. It's a really nice ball field, only a few years old. During 'God Bless America' and the National Anthem I actually got a little misty eyed. No joke. I mean come on, think about it. I've been on this week long road trip with my best friend, we're in Philadelphia (pretty much USA-town), and I'm at a baseball game. All of those things added together equals emotion. The game was friggin' great. Phillies won in the bottom of the 9th by way of a single. All of this happening while fireworks were going off everywhere throughout the city. Such a good 4th of July.
Amazingness of the day(s):
1) Spencer, Darcie, Amelia, and Audrey
2) Pat's Original
3) The 'Memory Lane' at Citizens Bank Park which was open THE WHOLE GAME. Thank you, Philadelphia Phillies, for being rad.
4) Missing NYC traffic
5) 4th of July in Philly
Next up: Dropping Justin off at the bus station, and a long drive back to Casselberry.
Cheers.
Sincerely Yours,
Niles C. Anderson
Friday, July 4, 2008
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
.NewYorkCityPt2.
Woke up this morning around 9a.m. and headed into the city with Katie. She had to be at work, so Justin and I decided to spend the majority of the day romping the streets. We ended up walking through pretty much all of China Town, SoHo, and the East Village. For breakfast we had Ray's Pizzeria, and the pizza was most excellent. Next, we headed over to Washington Square Park (which is directly across the street from NYU). Chilled on a bench, read, and took a quick cat nap before heading back towards SoHo where we were meeting Katie for lunch. But first, we stopped by the Mister Softie cart for a vanilla cone. I've got to tell you, it's the best vanilla soft serve you'll ever have. I promise. For lunch we had pizza again. I can't get enough of the stuff, especially NY style pie. It seems like even the worst NY pie in NYC is still better than a lot of other places to claim they are "NY style pie".
After lunch we headed up to the Bronx on the #4 train. The train is the way to go around NYC. It's really simple once you get the hang of it. The #4 dropped us off directly in front of Yankee Stadium. The place is literally like a cathedral. It's pretty darn beautiful. Found out that we couldn't take our bags inside, so we had to check them across the street at the bowling alley. Random and weird. I'm pretty sure I wore a smile the entire time we were there. I can now claim that I've been to the OLD Yankee Stadium, since the NEW Yankee Stadium is opening next year and they are tearing down the old stadium. Pretty sad that that's what they're doing. I'm hoping that the City of New York or the U.S. Government steps in and claims it as a national historic landmark.
After the game we hopped back on the #4 and headed back into Manhattan where we transferred to the J to get out to Brooklyn.
Bummers of the evening:
1) Monument Park at Yankee Stadium is only open for the first 15 minutes after they roll doors. Which means you have to get there mad early to stand in a specific line. I had no idea about this, so we didn't get to see Monument Park up close and personal. For those that don't know, Monument Park has plaques of all the retired New York Yankees. It's a pretty elite club: Miller Huggins, Jacob Ruppert, Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Ed Barrow, Joe D., Mickey Mantle, Joe McCarthy, Casey Stengel, Thurmon Munson, Elston Howard, Roger Maris, Phil Rizzuto, Billy Martin, Lefty Gomez, Whitey Ford, Bill Dickey, Yogi Berra, Allie Reynolds, Don Mattingly, Mel Allen, Bob Sheppard, Reggie Jackson, Ron Guidry, Red Ruffing, and Jackie Robinson are all honored. Super bummed I didn't get to check it out.
2) Came home to cat piss on my new sleeping bag. Luckily there's a 24 laundry mat, and it's being washed right now. But still, it's cat piss. And no one likes cat piss, you know?
Amazingness of the Day:
1) Mister Softie Ice Cream
2) More NY style pie
3) The train
4) Watching baseball in THE Yankee Stadium
Next up: Boston
Cheers.
Sincerely Yours,
Niles C. Anderson
After lunch we headed up to the Bronx on the #4 train. The train is the way to go around NYC. It's really simple once you get the hang of it. The #4 dropped us off directly in front of Yankee Stadium. The place is literally like a cathedral. It's pretty darn beautiful. Found out that we couldn't take our bags inside, so we had to check them across the street at the bowling alley. Random and weird. I'm pretty sure I wore a smile the entire time we were there. I can now claim that I've been to the OLD Yankee Stadium, since the NEW Yankee Stadium is opening next year and they are tearing down the old stadium. Pretty sad that that's what they're doing. I'm hoping that the City of New York or the U.S. Government steps in and claims it as a national historic landmark.
After the game we hopped back on the #4 and headed back into Manhattan where we transferred to the J to get out to Brooklyn.
Bummers of the evening:
1) Monument Park at Yankee Stadium is only open for the first 15 minutes after they roll doors. Which means you have to get there mad early to stand in a specific line. I had no idea about this, so we didn't get to see Monument Park up close and personal. For those that don't know, Monument Park has plaques of all the retired New York Yankees. It's a pretty elite club: Miller Huggins, Jacob Ruppert, Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Ed Barrow, Joe D., Mickey Mantle, Joe McCarthy, Casey Stengel, Thurmon Munson, Elston Howard, Roger Maris, Phil Rizzuto, Billy Martin, Lefty Gomez, Whitey Ford, Bill Dickey, Yogi Berra, Allie Reynolds, Don Mattingly, Mel Allen, Bob Sheppard, Reggie Jackson, Ron Guidry, Red Ruffing, and Jackie Robinson are all honored. Super bummed I didn't get to check it out.
2) Came home to cat piss on my new sleeping bag. Luckily there's a 24 laundry mat, and it's being washed right now. But still, it's cat piss. And no one likes cat piss, you know?
Amazingness of the Day:
1) Mister Softie Ice Cream
2) More NY style pie
3) The train
4) Watching baseball in THE Yankee Stadium
Next up: Boston
Cheers.
Sincerely Yours,
Niles C. Anderson
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
.NewYorkCity.
We hit the road this morning around 10a.m., and made wicked good time to NYC. I had been doing all of the driving up until today, so it was nice to sit back in the passenger seat and nap a little.
Pennsylvania is a really pretty state. So far all of the states I've driven through have been amazingly gorgeous. I'm not meaning to hate on California, because it's super diverse itself. I mean, California is the only state that I can think of that in a matter of 4 hours you can see desert, mountains, city, and coastline. But from being around it so much I guess it got a little boring. And these places that we've been driving through probably look boring to the locals too. But I love them.
We crossed the George Washington Bridge to get into the city. The G.W.B. is north of the city and crosses the Hudson River, and from there we took the Henry Hudson Freeway which parallels the river. As soon as we got onto the H.H.F. I rolled down the window and was hit with the stereotypical NYC smell: sewer and water front. It was exactly what I thought it would smell like. We drove into Manhattan, with me hanging out the window half the time snapping photos of the skyline. Stopped by Union Square for just a minute where we thought we were meeting Katie, but she ended up heading back out to Brooklyn. So we hopped back in the car and headed over the Brooklyn Bridge and into Brooklyn. We met up with Katie at her place, and that's where we will be crashing for the next two days. After dropping off our bags and hanging out for a minute we hit the streets to go get some food. Went into Williamsburg, which is considered the "hipster" area. And HOLY SHIT WAS IT. Stopped at Food Swings, which is a vegan "fast food" joint. Good times. Katie is in the process of looking for a new place to live, so we stopped by a building while we were out. Ended up going on the roof where a bunch of kids were hanging out, drinking beers, and playing music. It would be the perfect little show spot. But the selling point of the roof is the view of Manhattan, upper and lower. 'Twas breath-taking. After we checked out the apartment we got on the subway and headed towards Katie's place. Right by her apartment there's a killer pizza joint. I hadn't had a good slice of NY pie in quite some time, so it definitely hit the spot. Now we're relaxing, hanging out with 3 cool cats (literal cats, not people).
Amazingness of the day:
1) The New York skyline at sunset
2) The Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania
3) Katie setting up this little sleep area for me in her living room (such a sweetheart)
4) New York thin-crust pizza (plain, no b.s.)
5) Riding the train
Next up: Riding the train into the city, walking around, and the Yankees game tomorrow night
Cheers.
Sincerely Yours,
Niles C. Anderson
Pennsylvania is a really pretty state. So far all of the states I've driven through have been amazingly gorgeous. I'm not meaning to hate on California, because it's super diverse itself. I mean, California is the only state that I can think of that in a matter of 4 hours you can see desert, mountains, city, and coastline. But from being around it so much I guess it got a little boring. And these places that we've been driving through probably look boring to the locals too. But I love them.
We crossed the George Washington Bridge to get into the city. The G.W.B. is north of the city and crosses the Hudson River, and from there we took the Henry Hudson Freeway which parallels the river. As soon as we got onto the H.H.F. I rolled down the window and was hit with the stereotypical NYC smell: sewer and water front. It was exactly what I thought it would smell like. We drove into Manhattan, with me hanging out the window half the time snapping photos of the skyline. Stopped by Union Square for just a minute where we thought we were meeting Katie, but she ended up heading back out to Brooklyn. So we hopped back in the car and headed over the Brooklyn Bridge and into Brooklyn. We met up with Katie at her place, and that's where we will be crashing for the next two days. After dropping off our bags and hanging out for a minute we hit the streets to go get some food. Went into Williamsburg, which is considered the "hipster" area. And HOLY SHIT WAS IT. Stopped at Food Swings, which is a vegan "fast food" joint. Good times. Katie is in the process of looking for a new place to live, so we stopped by a building while we were out. Ended up going on the roof where a bunch of kids were hanging out, drinking beers, and playing music. It would be the perfect little show spot. But the selling point of the roof is the view of Manhattan, upper and lower. 'Twas breath-taking. After we checked out the apartment we got on the subway and headed towards Katie's place. Right by her apartment there's a killer pizza joint. I hadn't had a good slice of NY pie in quite some time, so it definitely hit the spot. Now we're relaxing, hanging out with 3 cool cats (literal cats, not people).
Amazingness of the day:
1) The New York skyline at sunset
2) The Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania
3) Katie setting up this little sleep area for me in her living room (such a sweetheart)
4) New York thin-crust pizza (plain, no b.s.)
5) Riding the train
Next up: Riding the train into the city, walking around, and the Yankees game tomorrow night
Cheers.
Sincerely Yours,
Niles C. Anderson
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