Lots of baseball, lots of fun

We have just taken Joshua to the airport for his return to Sharon after a full week of fun.

His flight coming to New York on Thursday was delayed (they were told that the scheduled pilot failed to show up for work), so we sat in a lot of traffic between La Guardia Airport and Citi Field, just barely making it to the start of the game between the Mets and the San Diego Padres. It was a good thing we did make it on time, because the Mets scored 4 runs in the bottom of the first inning, and that was all either team scored. If I were a more devoted fan, I could tell you how many men were left on base but who am I kidding? I cannot possibly remember such details.

On Friday, Barry and Joshua headed out to the grocery store, and then we had a quiet day at home. We had Shabbat lunch at the home of our friends, Judy and Lanny. Lanny is also a big Mets fan so he and Joshua spent most of lunch talking about baseball.

We headed back to Citi Field on Sunday for game 3 of the Mets vs. the Pittsburgh Pirates. They had won the first two, and again had a very strong first inning, but the Pirates did manage to score and by the end it was almost a bit of a nail-biter, but ended in the Mets’ favor with a final score of 7-6.

We then took a break from baseball to visit two other places at which we enjoy spending time: The American Museum of Natural History and The Bronx Zoo.

The AMNH has quite a bit of dinosaur – related material this summer. Highlights of our visit included and the exhibits “T. Rex: The Ultimate Predator” and “Dive Into the World of Unseen Oceans,” and the movie “Oceans: Our Blue Planet.”

On Tuesday we returned to the Bronx Zoo, which everyone enjoys and is very close to where we live. The weather was quite warm so we only stayed until around 2 pm and tried to focus on indoor exhibits after taking the monorail when we first arrived. Here are a few pictures from our day.

On Wednesday we went to our third baseball game, the New York Yankees versus the Arizona Diamondbacks. There had been rain predicted and it started pretty much on time, which caused a rather lengthy delay. One advantage of the accessible seating is that it is always in a covered area, so we did not have to go running for cover, where at best you have to stand in the back of another section. We waited out the first storm that moved through, but when the rain started up again, we decided to head for home. We stayed long enough to see the Yankees score and they eventually won the game 7 to 5.

I have to admit that I really do not like Yankees Stadium nearly as much as Citi Field. Although they both opened in 2009, and are not all that far from each other, each has its own strengths and weaknesses. For one thing, the parking at Yankees Stadium is really a huge problem, and the traffic around the stadium is impossible. So, while it is quite close to us it can take forever to navigate the trip. Second, I love that big apple at Citi Field, that comes up whenever one of the Mets hits a home run. The Yankees may have an organist but Citi Field has that apple. It may also be that the Yankees attract larger crowds, so Citi Field does not feel quite so overwhelming to me. Having said all that, it was great that Barry was able to identify a week during which the New York teams were playing three day-games, and that is how Joshua’s visit dates were set!

We also squeezed in watching a couple of old movies we happened to mention that Joshua had never seen: “War Games” (1983) and “Jurassic Park” (1993). I had forgotten just how violent “Jurassic Park” was, but at least you know all along how it is going to turn out, with the good guys surviving. Our grandchildren all seem to enjoy watching “The Price is Right,” a show that we, too, find entertaining. Joshua has gotten pretty good at guessing those prices.

This morning we took Joshua back to La Guardia and bid our farewells. We old folks may be a bit tired but we will definitely miss him. He really is just a great person to have around.

We are planning a very quiet weekend!

Love,

Rebecca