Taking a Final Bite Out of the Big Apple.....For Now

New York, New York

Thursday July 1st to Sunday July 4th, 2010

Happy Canada Day!!!!

Happy Fourth of July!!!!

Happy Long Weekend!!!

Happy Summer!!!

I think that about covers it all.

So as my time here in the United States Quickly comes to an end, I decided I would spend one last weekend in New York City....for several reasons. One of those reasons being.....it is seriously my favourite city of all time. Another being that I had a few people to say good-bye to. And of course it corresponded with the Blue Jays first visit of the season to Yankee Stadium.

So I am sure I have bored you all with all the pictures from all the ball games I have been to over the last few years. Well I have tried to limit them from this weekend posting and I assure you this will be the last time....for a while.

So my final weekend started on Thursday.....CANADA DAY, with me making the short drive from Albany to New York City. I had all kinds of plans over the weekend. Baseball and beer and friends and fireworks. Once I got checked into my hotel (weird to have to pay for accommodation in the city after living there) and I went to find a Canada Day Party. Once again Google was my friend because after a short little net-surfing trip I found one....just a few blocks from my hotel. So off I went in my Canada clothes wearing a flag as a cape to join some other Canadians in celebration of our Birthday.

The chef of this little place is from Montreal so I assure you there were also beaver tails and poutine on the menu. Those draft and bottle beer...Labbatt Blue and Moosehead.

It was fun to hang out with some other Canadians on Canada Day again. Funny story though. I'm standing there wearing a flag as a cape and this guy asks me what's with the flag. When I try explain Canada Day to him....along with saying a bunch of other ignorant things he goes "well that doesn't sound like a real holiday. I think you made that up". I have to tell you the place was totally covered with Canadian flags and it said Happy Canada Day everywhere. Not sure if he was trying to be funny or if he was just a jerk. Either way I quickly walked away and found some Canadians to talk to.

Once I left there is was off to have a few drinks with a friend.

Soshini.......who I worked with a Sloan Kettering. She introduced me to Energy Kitchen the first day we worked together. I will thank her for that forever!!!!

Once Friday hit was mostly ball games for the rest of the weekend. Holiday weekend in the USA meant afternoon games all weekend long. The first game I actually met up with a few girls I worked with at Metropolitan. They were sitting in the bleachers and well I think we all know I had closer seats than that but I decided once I got there I would sit with them. I got booed for being a Blue Jays' fan as expected. I then got threatened for having a Canadian flag. Other than that though it was a lot of fun. I can't really complain.

The view from the bleachers. Almost totally opposite to where I was actually suppose to be sitting.

Hazel and Theresa. So much fun. I miss those girls.

Look random boys....imagine that.

Hazel was sad...because the Yankees lost. I was happy because that means the Jays won!!!!

After the game it was out for food and drinks and meeting up with people and then I went to bed and woke up Saturday to repeat the process (game, drinks, food, meeting up with people).....and then I went to bed and woke up Sunday to repeat the process.

This is from the 3rd game in the series on Sunday.......The 4th of July. Sitting in my real seats was so much better than those bleachers.

Jose Molina.....playing back in Yankee Stadium for the first time since signing with the Blue Jays (he's a former Yankee).

Two rows in front of me. Too bad for these guys but they were in the sun the entire game......and it was hot (about 38 C or close to 100 F).

Once the game was over it was back to the hotel to get ready for some 4th of July Fireworks. If you remember last year when I live in NYC I avoided the fireworks. This year I decided it would be a great way to end my time here.

A few of those fireworks.

Yes there is a building in the way but you have to be pretty important to get seats on the other side of the building. Plus it isn't my holiday so the view was perfect for me.

And with that, my time here ends. Come Monday I start the long drive back to Canada.

Julie

My 3 Favourite B's

Tuesday May 11th - Wednesday May 12th, 2010

That's Boston, Baseball and Beer!!!!

It didn't take me long, but I made it back to Boston...and of course Fenway Park. Just a few short days after moving back to Albany, the Blue Jays swung into Boston for a series. The only possible thing I could do was head there for a couple games. I only had 2 days off so it turned out that I didn't get much done except a pedicure, some dancing and of course some baseball.

It was kind of a last minute trip and it turned out finding a hotel in Boston was a lot harder than it has been in the past. All the hotels I would normally stay at (and some I would never even look at) were either booked or looking for $500 USD a night. Finally I took a look at a map and realized that if I searched hotels in Brookline....which is a really nice little community on the far side of Fenway (versus the Boston side of Fenway) but still not much more than a 15 minute walk from the stadium, I found one.

The street from Brookline to Fenway. Like lots of places in the Boston area........a really nice little neighbourhood.

Glad I booked when I did though because it wasn't very long before they were all booked as well. There were many people in the lobby while I was waiting to check in who were calling hotel after hotel after hotel trying to find a room for the night without much success. It is moments like that when I am so glad I like to plan in advance.

Anyway, the weather was not as nice as I like it to be for baseball but I am always just happy to watch a game.....even if I have to wear mitts because the beer makes my hands cold.

Wednesday Night: Not a great game. 6-1 Red Sox win. Too many errors, not great pitching. Overall not great. But the view was perfect, the beer was cold and the hot dogs were yummy so I'm not going to complain.....too much.

Wednesday afternoon rolled around....and that weather was not much improved, but the game was better. It was a very close 3-2 win for the Blue Jays.....and the rain held off so it was a win-win. Also I managed to watch part of the game from some very nice close seats...until I got kicked out by the ticket holders that is.

Randy Ruiz during warm-up on Wednesday. He left the team shortly after this game to go make more money in Japan.

Travis Snider and Brett Cecil.

The view from my hijacked seats. In case you weren't sure, this is first row behind the Jays' dugout.

Catcher Jose Molina. He won the World Series with the Yankees last year and there is a chance that I have held his 2009 World Series ring.....which was not nearly as heavy as I thought it would be.

That's Jose Molina again. This is from the seat I actually paid for and eventually had to go back to. Still not bad....plus it is easier to call balls and strikes from here.

And that about sums up what is surely to be my last trip to Boston for a while. Hopefully I will be back again at some point in time but until then I have lots of other places to see.

Julie