Bukkit Tour Day Ten: Welcome to the nations's capital

We had another leisurely start to the day on day ten. The girls got up about 11:15, we packed up the room, and got the Escape loaded up for our 12:00 check out time. When we finished loading up the car, we went back into downtown Philly because Laela had seen a breakfast/sandwich shop about four blocks away when we were out walking the night before. It is called the Corner Bakery Cafe'. Laela had a salad, I had eggs/bacon/toast, and Miranda ordered French toast that was an explosion of awesome. It was a mini cinnamon raisin loaf of bread that had been rolled in egg batter and pan fried. It was then sprinkled in powdered sugar and came with a cup of syrup and bacon. I was immediately jealous. Fortunately being the svelte young lady that Miranda is, she was unable to finish it and I was able to reap the benefits. (Truth be told, she shared it while she was eating it but that doesn't make for as good of a story does it?) We left the restaurant and proceeded to pass the giant clothespin sculpture above a subway station. We had walked past that sculpture on three separate occasions and each time there was a different crazy person standing under it screaming obscenities at no one in particular. Gotta love the big city!

Miranda has been reading quite a lot while we've been travelling and had exhausted her supply of books so we needed to swing by Borders to replenish her stock. I made a quick phone call to the place where my motorcycle came from to see if the oil leak was fixed. They said it was still on the lift. Hopefully it'll be finished by the time I get back. After that we made our way back to the car and got on the road to Washington, DC. The GPS said it'd be about a 2 hour and 50 minute drive, but there was an awful accident on the interstate which ended up adding an our to our trip. We finally made it to DC a little after 5:00. We got up to the room and settled in. We're staying at The Churchill Hotel. After settling in we drove down to the national mall to have a look at the sites. We took in the Washington Monument, the World War II memorial, the Reflecting Pool, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Vietnam Memorial.

I was kind of disappointed in the upkeep of the area. The grass looks awful, there are footpaths worn into the sides of the Reflecting Pool, and duck poop EVERYWHERE. The monuments themselves are all massive and do a really good job of making you as an individual feel very small. I think I'd like to go back and re-visit the Vietnam memorial today because I'd like to see it in the daylight. It was tough to see after the sun went down even with the soft lighting.

After we'd finished site seeing, we went out to dinner at an Italian joint called Bertucci's. It was really good food, but I think they were pissed to see us walk in at 9:30. We didn't realize they closed at 10:00. I had a fantastic calzone with pepperoni, onions and sun-dried tomatoes. Got back to the hotel at almost 11:00, got caught up on things and went to bed. We're going to try to organize things a little better today and are going to give public transportation a shot because driving in DC sucks.

Bukkit Tour Day Nine: City of Brotherly Love

When I parked my car in New York City on Friday, I had parked in front of a school. It was nice because I wouldn't have to move it until Monday Morning and it was only two blocks from Anthony's house. That was great for Saturday and Sunday, but Monday was the day to pay the piper. That particular school has summer school hours and as such there is no parking in front of it M-F. Cars have to be moved by 7:00. Well, I overslept and didn't walk out of the apartment until 7:45. Oh well what are you going to do? Anthony and I made our way over to t the car just as the parking enforcement officer was getting out of his car and there was another vehicle in front of me. We hopped in and moved it before I got a ticket. Phew...awesome, right? I drove over to Anthony's street and there was one hour parking starting at 8:30 right in front of his building. Sweet I can park here (it was a couple of minutes before 8:00), not have to pay until 8:30 and then I'll have an hour to pack up the car and get out of the city. I parked the car, went up, packed bags and woke up the girls. Went down at 8:25 go feed the meter and what to my wondering eyes should appear? A bright red parking violation. I had failed to notice the no parking between 8:00 and 8:30 sign above the one hour parking sign. Meh, what're you going to do. It took me about 10 minutes to figure out the cockamamie parking meter business and I even flagged down a meter maid. She said, "You must be the guy from South Carolina, right?" (the rental has SC plates). I responded "How'd you guess?"

Anyway, short story made long I paid for the parking and got the ride packed up before my hour ran out. We all made it down to the car and plugged in the address to the hotel in Philadelphia. I had to reboot my phone to get the GPS functioning. The GPS function is nice when it works but the AT&T Navigator application locks up constantly. Not a fan. The GPS guided us right in to Philly but when we got close to our destination the highway we needed to take was blocked off. No biggie, we got off of the highway and started navigating the streets and got to the hotel. There we found Philly's fines blocking entrance to the parking garage for the Sheraton. Parking the car in the street, the girls and I walked to the hotel lobby to try and figure out what was going on. Apparently Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Joe Biden were in the hotel for a fund raiser. We ended up being able to park in the garage a little later. We checked in and made our way up to our room, took a minute to crank up the A/C and get settled in. Laela acquired a few travel books for the cities we're visiting, so we grabbed the Philly book and started out on foot.

I think that Laela said it best when she mentioned that everything about Philly reminds us of her brother Nick and his girlfriend Sam. I think that of all of the big cities that we've visited Philadelphia is our favorite so far.

Our trek to the Liberty Bell took us right through the heart of Chinatown. Miranda loves going to Chinatown in each of the cities that we've been to and Philadelphia was no different. We went into a couple of shops and she picked up some trinkets. We then walked to the visitors center, got oriented, and stopped in the gift shop (had to get a decal for the bukkit).

We then walked over to the Liberty Bell. It's really humbling to stand in front of a piece of American history like that. After visiting the bell, we walked over to Independence Hall and got the express tour there. You get to stand in the same room where the Declaration of Independence was drafted and then ratified. I'd amazing to think that you're standing in the same room that the founding fathers stood in.

After getting our American history on, we walked to South Street to experience some of the local flavor of Philadelphia. My intention was to go have dinner at Tattooed Mom, but their 21 and over policy put a stop to that. We ended up walking down the street a little bit and stopping to eat at Jon's Bar and Grill on 3rd and South which is apparently the birth place of Larry Fine )of Three Stooges fame). Since we were in Philly Laela and I had cheese-steaks and I had my first couple of Yuengling Lagers of the trip. I'd almost forgotten how much I enjoyed Yuengling. The bar had the Phillies vs. Cardinals game on (unfortunately it was played in St. Louis or we'd have gone to the game). While sitting and eating a wicked thunderstorm came through and we thought for sure that we were going to have to take a cab back to the hotel. In a fortunate turn of events, the storm was short lived and by the time we had finished our meal we were able to go back and walk on the street.

We ended up walking up South Street to Broad and took Broad through downtown back to our hotel. It was awe inspiring to be standing below some of downtown Philadelphia's nicest buildings as they lit up the night sky. Once we made it back to the hotel Laela and I made a few phone calls and then Miranda and I went and swam in the hotel pool. It was very relaxing. When we finished we went back to the room, got all caught up online and went to bed.

Bukkit Tour Day Eight: Yankee for a day

Day eight finds us still in the Big Apple. Saturday was pretty exhausting so we were happy to not have anything to do Sunday morning. It was also the day that I was going to get to see Yankee Stadium. I was really excited to get to see what it was going to be like. We left Anthony's apartment a little over an hour before game time. NYC was already sweltering. A short walk to Union Station found us on the subway bound for the Yankees game. The subway was PACKED full of people headed for the game.

The train made it through two stops before a passenger was injured on the train and pulled the emergency brake. About ten minutes after the conductor announced that the emergency brake had been pulled she then directed everyone to disembark the train because it was now out of service. That makes two days in a row that I somehow managed to take a vehicle of mass transportation out of service. I guess I'm just good luck. So there we are an entire train full of people displaced back onto the platform waiting for the next train (along with all of the other people who had previously been waiting on the platform). The next train eventually makes its way to the platform and of course it's already full of people headed to the game. The doors opened and it was a mad dash to hop onto it and grab a spot. The conductor came on the loudspeaker almost yelling at the passengers that not everyone would fit on the train and some people would have to wait. Fortunately for us, we made it on and although we were packed like sardines we were going to make it to the game.

Anyone who knows me and has ever talked baseball with me knows that I have no love for American League "baseball" and even less love for the Yankees. That being said I couldn't very well walk into Yankee stadium and not root for the Yankees. That'd be akin to rooting for the Russian hockey team in the 1980 Winter Olympics. So I figured, I'm in NYC, I'm seeing the home team, so there's no reason that I shouldn't root for them. I can be a Yankee fan for one measly day, right? There's no harm in that. As soon as we descended the subway platform to street level to get to Yankee stadium we walked into the souvenir shop. Like any dutiful Yankee fan, I bought a Yankee cap and Laela got a Yankee visor. The street under the subway had many shops, much like Yawkey Way did next to Fenway park, but the shops only lined one side of the street so it wasn't quite the immersion that I experienced when at Fenway. While on Yawkey Way before the game, you can "feel" baseball coursing though each nook and cranny of the street. It seems to ooze off of the walls. The street next to Yankee stadium, while cool in it's own right with a distinctly New York flavor had much more of a carnival like atmosphere.

We crossed the street and I got my first unobstructed view of Yankee Stadium. It is certainly a 50,000+ seat monster. Having gone from the second smallest park to the fourth largest park in three days I was gob smacked by the size. As we were walking around the front of the stadium, I could hear the national anthem playing. Although I couldn't see what was going on on the field, I removed my cap and placed it over my heart. You can't help but get choked up in NYC while the anthem is playing (although I get choked up EVERY time I hear the national anthem).

We wound our way through the bowels of the park and made our way to our seats which were amazing. We were in the first and second rows about two sections into fair territory in right field. Had I wanted to spit on Ben Zobrist or Nick Swisher, I could have. The seats were also padded! It was really comfortable. So comfortable in fact, that I didn't move from my seat from the time I sat down 2/3rds of the way through the top of the first until I heard Frank Sinatra sing. It was awesome getting to see Jorge Posada, Andy Petite, Joba Chamberlain, Derek Jeter, and Mariano Rivera get to play ball. They hype up Rivera like mad. It's almost a five minute ordeal. He finally took the mound with two outs in the top of ninth with the Yankees up by four, throws one pitch and the game was over. Yankees over Rays 9-5. We went to the gift shop on the way out and I got a sticker for the bukkit and a banner for my stadium wall.

The subway ride back to Anthony's was uneventful. We went inside, rested for a bit and then set out about town to go get dinner. We ate at Totonno's on 2nd Ave. The pizza was delicious, but I did blow it ordering beer. I got a pitcher of Sam Adams (but I didn't hear the waitress say it was the Summer Ale). I hate beer that tastes like fruit. Sam Adams Boston Lager is one of my top three favorite beers but the Summer Ale tastes like someone poured Lemon Pledge into it.

For our last site seeing trip in NYC, we went to the Empire State Building to go to the observation deck. One would think that at 9:30 on a Sunday night it wouldn't be that crowded, right? WRONG. It took us 45 minutes to get to the elevator that took us to the 80th floor. The observation deck is on the 86th floor. It took another half hour to get there. It was ridiculous. The view from the observation deck was fantastic and makes one feel really tiny and insignificant. All I could think of was the amount of man hours and how many years it took to build all of those buildings. After we got finished on the observation deck we got back in line to go down and were finally finished at 11:30. Had I known it was going to take that long and that I was going to feel like herded cattle, I may have chosen another activity for our last night. But what's done is done. A short cab ride later we were back at Anthony's and turned in for the evening.

A very special thank you goes out to Dr. Anthony Fischetti for putting us up while we were in New York and for being an excellent tour guide. Not to mention one of my very dearest friends. Thanks for the hospitality Anthony, it meant the world to Laela, Miranda, and myself.

Bukkit Tour Day 7: Coney Island

Wow, day 7 already! I can't believe that we've been at this for a week and aren't even half way finished yet. Saturday was another busy day packed with good times and touristy attractions. We started the day simply by having bagels and hanging out at Anthony's apartment waiting for vampire kitty (Miranda) to arise from her slumber. I don't think that I've mentioned this in any of my travel logs yet, but Miranda has been wearing her cat ear hair barrettes everywhere we go on vacation. Combine that with her purple hair and she's quite "noticeable.". I find myself having to evil eye every teenage boy (and some not-so-teenage-males) that lays eyes on her.

Laela, Miranda, Lauren, Anthony, and I finally left Anthony's and hopped on the subway to make our way to the Staten Island Ferry. We really just wanted to see the Statue of Liberty with our bare eyes and not via pictures. There was no need to wait in line for the tour or have to walk my sickly ass up to the top. We just figured we'd ride the ferry past the statue, stay on the boat once it reached Staten Island and come back. Unfortunately, when the boat got to Staten Island it was taken out of service so we were compelled to disembark. Since we were the first to board the vessel we were the last to get off and just missed the boat back to Manhattan. So there we are at 3:00, stuck on Staten Island, and the concert we wanted to go to at Coney Island started at 4:00. We needed to make an executive decision. Do we wait for the ferry to come back or do we find alternate means for transportation? We ended up leaving the ferry terminal (which by the way is just like an airplane terminal) and hailed a cab to take us to Coney Island. I had not even realized that was an option. I figured that if there was a boat to the island that there wouldn't be a bridge off if it. I was wrong.

So here it is 3:20PM, our show starts at 4:00PM and we're getting in a cab. I'm thinking to myself that there is no way we make it on time to the concert. Anyone who knows me knows that I like to be behind the wheel when in a car and don't do well when someone else is driving. Especially when the someone else driving is a complete stranger. I was white knuckling from the moment we sat down in the cab. I finally had to just close my eyes which worked out to my advantage, because I ended up falling asleep.

We made it to Coney Island at 3:55PM. I was amazed that we had made it. The Village Voice was hosting a music festival called the Siren Festival at Coney Island. This dovetailed nicely with our touristy plans to ride the Cyclone and the Wonder Wheel. John Reis' (Speedo of Rocket from the Crypt) new band the Night Marchers was playing at 4:00. They don't tour much outside of southern California so this was a rare treat to be able to see them in action. It was especially important to Anthony because he's had an opportunity to see them two other times and missed them both due to jacked up circumstances. I thought for sure that our Staten Island debacle was going to be another of these. The Siren Festival had two stages where bands were playing. We got out of the cab in front of the stage where the Night Marchers were just walking onto stage. It was absolutely perfect timing. There were lots of bands playing at the festival so the sets were short. The second song they played was I Wanna Deadbeat You which happens to be my favorite song by them. The crowd was hyped! The 40 minute set was short but it was a lot of fun. John is a consummate showman, know how to work that crowd, and could make watching CSPAN entertaining. When the show was over, we meandered up to the Boardwalk just to kind of take in the sites and sounds.

The Boardwalk is a huge carnival like atmosphere and it was packed with people on a hot July afternoon. As we were walking we heard a carnival barker calling people over to "shoot the freak." We went over to see what it was all about. There was a platform above an empty space between two buildings. There are lots of barriers and obstacles underneath and there is a guy down there called "The Freak." For a small fee, you can try your luck at shooting paint balls at the freak. So Anthony, Miranda, and I each got 25 paint balls and attempted to shoot the freak. It was a blast. Anthony and Miranda did great, but that wily freak managed to dodge all of my attempts at splattering him. When we finished shooting the freak we got lunch at Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs on the boardwalk, another New York tradition. Honestly, it was just fair. I mean how much can you really hype up a hot dog? Sorry New York, I'm about to blaspheme but the Fenway Frank blows Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs out of the water. There are a couple of staple rides at Coney Island. The Wonder Wheel and the Cyclone both of which we wanted to ride. The group split up at this point. Anthony and Lauren went to watch Ted Leo play. Laela, Miranda and I went to ride the aforementioned rides. The Wonder Wheel is a Ferris wheel, but it has cars on the inside of the wheel These cars are on roller tracks so as the wheel goes around the cars are rolling on the tracks too. I am not lying when I say this, but the janky old ass Wonder Wheel was WAAAAYY scarier than anything I rode at Cedar Point. The Cyclone is an old wooden roller coaster that has been in operation since 1927. Those that I had spoken too about it before going to New York had regaled me with tales of how it would shake my fillings loose and how rough of a ride it is. The Racers or the Beast at King's Island are way rougher than the Cyclone. I was expecting to be pounded into submission by it but it wasn't bad at all. In fact it was quite a pleasant ride and much longer than I had anticipated. Once off of the ride we met back up with Anthony and Lauren. It just so happened that Ted Leo was walking off of the stage as we got off of the Cyclone. All told, we only were at Coney Island for three hours, but it felt like we were there all day. It was a really good time. We rode the subway from Coney Island all the way back to Anthony's and it was really nice to be in an uncrowded air conditioned subway car.

After freshening up a bit, we went out to dinner. As soon as we descended into the subway station, we no longer felt fresh. The subway stops, nay, all of NYC is hotter than balls in July. We went to Tony Di Napoli's Italian Restaurant on the Upper East Side. Laela had been wanting italian food for two days and it just never seemed to happen so I wanted to make sure that she got a good Italian meal while we were in NYC. Tony Di Napoli's did not disappoint. The entrees serve 2-3 people so we had the following dishes: Caesar Salad, Fettuccine Alfredo, Chicken Parmesan, Chicken Marsala. It was all delicious. We finished our dinner at about 11:30PM and were just wiped out from the days events so we decided to call it a night. Little did I know, one more adventure awaited....

After dinner we hailed a cab for the ride home rather than trying to navigate the subway since we were now on our own. Having never been in a cab in NYC at night I had no idea that I was boarding Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. The cab drivers are absolutely out of control, not just ours but all of them that we saw. There was no regard for turn signals, lane lines, traffic signals, or pedestrians. It was harrowing. I ended up just trying to watch the flat panel TV that was in the back seat because if I didn't I was afraid I was going to soil myself. I had sat in between Laela and Miranda on the ride home and I think that they still have indentations from my fingers on their shoulders.

It was a great end to a great day. I was happy to get back to Anthony's and get some shut eye though. All three of us were plum tuckered out.

Bukkit Tour Day 6: Boston to New York Travel Day

This entry wil be short going to be short because it was a rather uneventful day. We got up in the morning and I had to go to the front desk at the Colonnade to petition for a late checkout. Fortunately I was able to get that extended until 1:00. We packed up the room and headed out to grab lunch at McGreevy's. The bar was fantastic with lots of old Red Sox memoribilia on the walls and the food was good too.

After we wrapped up lunch we made our way back to the hotel with 15 minutes to spare. We got the car packed up and then had our wallet raped by the parking garage. Back out onto the street we went, but the GPS locked up and we were unable to get a signal. I didn't have printed maps so we wandered about the city until it was working again. Driving in Boston is a little nerve wracking. Once we got on the highway things were much better but traffic into New York city on Yankees game day sucks! The drive took about two hours longer than it should have. Fortunately for me Laela piloted our vessle to our destination like a champ. Anyone who knows me knows that I don't like to be the navigator, I prefer to be the pilot.

We made our way to Dr. Fischetti's casa and got situated. It was a nice relaxing evening hanging out with Anthony, Lauren, and Chris. We went and had dinner at Old Town Bar at around 9:30. Everyone but Miranda had a burger and they were delicious. We were pretty tired out after our day of travel so we went back to Anthony's and got some shut eye. We've got a pretty big day planned today so look for a huge post tomorrow.