What an awesome time we had in New York. One thing that we all figured out was why so many people move down here to Florida. It is non-stop busy and driving up there is a nightmare. But we still had an incredible time. We got into La Guardia early afternoon on Thursday, got our vans and then tried to head to Van Courtlandt park. We then got lost, found some food and finally found the park. By then it was raining and too late to go out and run. Later that night we decided after our earlier driving experience that we would take the NJ Park and Ride bus into Manhattan. After about 1.5 hours on the bus we finally got to the Port Authority bus terminal to be dropped off so we could barely get something to eat and head to Phantom of the Opera. The normal drive would take about 20 minutes, but with the rain and rush hour it was a mess. Our kids did their part and dressed extremely well to see the show and had a great time. Even if you are not a fan of musicals you had to admit that it was outstanding.
Friday morning we got up and headed to a nearby track complex in Palisades Park. The rain had stopped and the cold weather had moved in. It was a great morning getting that day of travel and our cramped Broadway seat soreness out of our legs. A great thanks to Kara for finding my wedding ring after it fell off while we were throwing the football during our run. That afternoon everyone got the chance to do what we were all looking forward to, shopping on Canal Street for the ladies and sightseeing for the guys and Kara. We were quite happy to have Kara hangout with us due to the fact she had just been to NY and was all shopped out. My wife and all the ladies had a great time getting some amazing deals on name brand purses while the guys saw some of NY's most famous landmarks. Being guys we could not just ride the subway we had to make it a game. We tried to see who could keep their balance while not holding on to anything. Michael got a little ambitious and tried to keep his feet together only to go tumbling head over heels on the "clean" subway floor. After that we saw the World Trade Center cite and to our dismay they were still taking debris out of the site. What an awful reminder of what happened on 9-11. After that we walked to Battery park to get a look of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We then walked to Wall St. to the New York Stock Exchange and then went to the tallest point in NY, The Empire State Building. What an awesome view despite the cold and wind. After that the guys felt we didn't stand out enough as tourists and we should really make a statement. We got a great deal on "I love NY" t-shirts and all put them on as we continued to walk the streets. I never felt like I stood out as much as I did that day, but was it hilarious! That night we had dinner at the ESPN Zone in Times Square and later visited Toys-R-Us before heading home.
Saturday we got up and finally headed to the race. From the minute we got off the Major Deegan Expressway we knew how nuts the meet would be. Parking was not even an option. Nothing within 1.5 miles! And we thought we participated in some big meets. How about 419 schools and over 12,000 athletes. They started a race roughly every 12 minutes from 9:15am until 3:49pm and never got off schedule. Our JV boys went first and lined up at the start line with 600 other athletes along with the JV team from the school that has the #1 ranked team in the country! David and Javier were the guinea pigs, but their excitement and attitude about the course showed that it would be a fun day. The course was tough, but everyone ran hard and well. The course was only 2.5miles, but I have a calculation that gives estimated times based on what you actually ran. To our excitement everyone ran just about what they have been running or better. Our top finisher was Layna who ran 16:51, 21:12 5k estimate, and finished in 41st place. Emily ran 18:48, 23:29 5k estimate, and finished in the top 150 of her race. Rounding out the top 150 was Kara who ran 19:34, 24:46 5k estimate. The guys were led by Christian who ran 15:28, 19:27 5k estimate, Teddy who ran 16:24, 20:38 5k estimate and Remmy who had an outstanding day to run 16:39, 20:57 5k estimate. After the race you knew we were from Florida as the cold air turned out to be too much for our lungs and gave everyone some sore throats and a chorus of coughs.
Later that night we stayed in NJ and had a great team celebration eating outside in 50 degree weather at Cheesecake Factory. Thank goodness for space heaters! The manager really thought we were crazy being from Florida and asking to bypass the 90 minute wait to sit outside that night.
Saturday morning we got off to a slow start, some slower than others due to oversleeping, but quickly got some energy thanks to breakfast from the NJ staple, The B & W Bakery. You've never had crumb cake until you've had their "heavy" crumb cake. All those calories and fat were definitely worth it. Driving back to La Guardia turned out to be a piece of cake and we were all checked in by the fastest ticket agent in the world. No lie she got all of us checked in, with bags, in less than 8 minutes! After that it was back to Florida and some rest.
I want to say that it was truly an honor to travel with the best students and people in our school. We had such a great time and NY turned out to be everything we were looking forward to. Thanks also to our chaperones who did a great job helping herd 20 kids through NY. I have to say that I am really looking forward to doing this type of trip again. Everyone is already asking where are we going next year. I will think about it, but Chicago sounds good to me!
Friday morning we got up and headed to a nearby track complex in Palisades Park. The rain had stopped and the cold weather had moved in. It was a great morning getting that day of travel and our cramped Broadway seat soreness out of our legs. A great thanks to Kara for finding my wedding ring after it fell off while we were throwing the football during our run. That afternoon everyone got the chance to do what we were all looking forward to, shopping on Canal Street for the ladies and sightseeing for the guys and Kara. We were quite happy to have Kara hangout with us due to the fact she had just been to NY and was all shopped out. My wife and all the ladies had a great time getting some amazing deals on name brand purses while the guys saw some of NY's most famous landmarks. Being guys we could not just ride the subway we had to make it a game. We tried to see who could keep their balance while not holding on to anything. Michael got a little ambitious and tried to keep his feet together only to go tumbling head over heels on the "clean" subway floor. After that we saw the World Trade Center cite and to our dismay they were still taking debris out of the site. What an awful reminder of what happened on 9-11. After that we walked to Battery park to get a look of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We then walked to Wall St. to the New York Stock Exchange and then went to the tallest point in NY, The Empire State Building. What an awesome view despite the cold and wind. After that the guys felt we didn't stand out enough as tourists and we should really make a statement. We got a great deal on "I love NY" t-shirts and all put them on as we continued to walk the streets. I never felt like I stood out as much as I did that day, but was it hilarious! That night we had dinner at the ESPN Zone in Times Square and later visited Toys-R-Us before heading home.
Saturday we got up and finally headed to the race. From the minute we got off the Major Deegan Expressway we knew how nuts the meet would be. Parking was not even an option. Nothing within 1.5 miles! And we thought we participated in some big meets. How about 419 schools and over 12,000 athletes. They started a race roughly every 12 minutes from 9:15am until 3:49pm and never got off schedule. Our JV boys went first and lined up at the start line with 600 other athletes along with the JV team from the school that has the #1 ranked team in the country! David and Javier were the guinea pigs, but their excitement and attitude about the course showed that it would be a fun day. The course was tough, but everyone ran hard and well. The course was only 2.5miles, but I have a calculation that gives estimated times based on what you actually ran. To our excitement everyone ran just about what they have been running or better. Our top finisher was Layna who ran 16:51, 21:12 5k estimate, and finished in 41st place. Emily ran 18:48, 23:29 5k estimate, and finished in the top 150 of her race. Rounding out the top 150 was Kara who ran 19:34, 24:46 5k estimate. The guys were led by Christian who ran 15:28, 19:27 5k estimate, Teddy who ran 16:24, 20:38 5k estimate and Remmy who had an outstanding day to run 16:39, 20:57 5k estimate. After the race you knew we were from Florida as the cold air turned out to be too much for our lungs and gave everyone some sore throats and a chorus of coughs.
Later that night we stayed in NJ and had a great team celebration eating outside in 50 degree weather at Cheesecake Factory. Thank goodness for space heaters! The manager really thought we were crazy being from Florida and asking to bypass the 90 minute wait to sit outside that night.
Saturday morning we got off to a slow start, some slower than others due to oversleeping, but quickly got some energy thanks to breakfast from the NJ staple, The B & W Bakery. You've never had crumb cake until you've had their "heavy" crumb cake. All those calories and fat were definitely worth it. Driving back to La Guardia turned out to be a piece of cake and we were all checked in by the fastest ticket agent in the world. No lie she got all of us checked in, with bags, in less than 8 minutes! After that it was back to Florida and some rest.
I want to say that it was truly an honor to travel with the best students and people in our school. We had such a great time and NY turned out to be everything we were looking forward to. Thanks also to our chaperones who did a great job helping herd 20 kids through NY. I have to say that I am really looking forward to doing this type of trip again. Everyone is already asking where are we going next year. I will think about it, but Chicago sounds good to me!
1 comment:
You forgot to mention all of us doing indian runs in our new york shirts through the streets...
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