Sarah bought us Yankee tickets for our anniversary. She knew I had never been to Yankee Stadium and that it was a big deal since they're tearing it down at the end of the season. We had a great time. We flew in to JFK Friday night, where our friend Meredith picked us up. She drove us to her beautiful new house in Long Island.
Saturday we hung out in the morning with Meredith and Brian's 10-month-old baby Madeline. She's gorgeous and very expressive. We took her to Grandma Ronnie and Grandpa Marty's place down the street for an afternoon of free babysitting. It was good to see Meredith's parents on whom I apparently made a memorable impression despite my marginal behavior.
We left for the game with Meredith's sister, Karen and drove into the city. We parked the car at 86th and Lex (don't I sound like a new yorker?) and hopped the train to the Stadium. The train was crowded but manageable. We hopped off and stood in the shadow of the massive cathedral protruding from the Bronx bedrock only a relay throw away from the new stadium. I was excited the entire day but when the stadium walls came into view I became unintelligible. I began taking pictures but in the hustle and bustle, I only snapped off a few.
We entered the stadium and started climbing the ramps to our seating area. We had received an amazing upgrade because the ticket holders who own the seats next to Meredith's family's season tickets were not able to make it. As we made our way to our section down the hallway, past all the vendors, I caught glimpses of the field. I choked back a lump in my throat and tried to ignore tears of joy upon thinking of not just the stadium but the momentous gesture from my wife that got me there. As we found out section, we descended the stairs and I was just beside myself in awe of the moment. I find myself resisting the urge to overstate the beauty of it (compared to say Fenway, The Sistine Chapel, or the birth of my nephew) but let's just say it lived up to all expectations. I spent the first few innings in relative silence staring at the pristine pinstripes and enjoying the atmosphere. I cheered for the Yankees, but purely to play spoiler against the visiting Rays. And it seemed over in an instant.
Afterwards, we hopped back on the train with surprising ease and headed back out to Long Island. When Officer Brian got off his 12-hour shift at a street fair in Floral Park he came home and the four of us went out for a tremendous Italian dinner followed by a relatively calm, yet somehow debocherous night of drinks and a few games of Uecker (card game which Meredith taught us to play but not to win). At this point Madeline was still under the loving, albeit indentured care of her grandparents.
Sunday morning happened eventually. We slept in. We caught up with the happy family upstairs and were treated to genuine New York Bagels. We headed back to Ronnie and Marty's place for some air-conditioning and football on a 60+ inch, 1080p high def screen that was to die for. And to top it all off, we ordered 2 pizzas for lunch, one New York style and one Cicilian...both of which I had in front or me now.
Thanks again to the Naughtons and Finns for hosting a great weekend. And thanks again, most of all to the love of my life for helping me check off a major bucket list item.
