The Full Story of My Vacation out East
I just want to start off by saying that it was an amazing vacation and I look forward to going out to visit my brother again sometime. The main intention of the trip was to visit my older brother who lives in Mass.
The trip started on friday morning with an 8am flight out of Minneapolis to Chicago. It was a short flight and we got in about 15 minutes ahead of time. There was an hour delay in Chicago because the brakes on the plane were too hot from the first flight it had made that day. I guess thats a normal thing to have happen but it was still a little annoying because it was such a big vacation for me.
We got into Providence, RI about an hour fifteen late. We were picked up by my older and his friend. We went out for lunch at a local seafood shack. I had some fish and chips which was everything I hoped it would be and more. I tried some other things that I had not had before including something called a "stuffie" which is a large quohog clam stuffed with clam/cornbread stuffing. It was really good and a good appetizer. I wish we had better seafood here in the middle on the US but oh well I will somehow live.
After lunch we needed to go to Savers in Providence because it was supposedly legendary, there were some sweet things that other people got. My little brother got some shiny purplish pants and a nice sweater vest that was Abercrombie. My brothers friend bought a nice sweater vest and a sweet green suit that was only $7.50. I myself found a nice button up sweater vest. Why all the sweater vests you ask? Well we had them for Croquet-a-Palooza that was happening the next day.
That day we then proceeded to a nice house outside of Dartmouth, Mass, which is actually not where Dartmouth is just so you know. We were going to be camping overnight and then playing the next day. It was a very remote house, with a few cabins around it too. The one unusual thing that they had was an actual outhouse that people had to use mostly because the house had a septic tank and 34 people might really fill that up fast. It was definitely interesting to use an outhouse that had a glass door that looks out into the woods.
That night was nice. I met lots of my brother's friends and got to talk to them. There was a sweet bonfire that I stayed around until maybe 2 in the morning. I went into the tent where my little brother was already sleeping. I got into my sleeping bag after some struggle. I laid down and tried to sleep. I was however unable to sleep because the tent was soaked on my side. I got up at like 5am and went and slept in my brother's car for a few hours, which I was able to live with.
I have never played croquet before this weekend. It was a learning experience. One thing that I learned is that the best player definitely does not always win, not that I was the best player or anything like that. There were 34 players playing croquet all day on saturday. I hit the ball really well. I just happened to get unlucky at a few times. I liked watching other play. I met some more cool people. My face got a little bit toasted in the sun, but I really cant complain, we had some really fortunate weather. I was told that the weather in New England can change on you in a snap, but we didnt really have to deal with much of that.
After the long day of croquet my brothers and I saddled up and headed off in the direction of New York. I wanted to stop at Foxwoods casino on the way just to see what it was all about. It was really massive. It was cool to just walk around and see everything. It was like other casinos I have seen except on a much larger scale. Easily 5 times the size of other casinos I have been to. It was cool to see the huge poker room they had there. We all wandered around there a little bit before taking off on the road again.
We really had no plans for a place to stay that night, we were just winging it. We stopped at a Denny's at like 1230 in the morning and found a nice little booklet thing with offers for hotels right along I-95 in Connecticut. We called a few and they did not have any space left. We found a Courtyard by Marriot in New Haven that had vacancies. There was a nice coupon in the booklet too.
We pull off the interstate and go into New Haven. My brother went in to the hotel to get us a room while my little brother and I stayed outside and waited. He came out 10 minutes later. They were not accepting coupons because the Yale graduation rates had started that weekend even though Yale graduation was not until the next weekend. We were not going to pay $170 for a hotel room of course when we had a coupon to stay there for $70.
We decided to hit the road again. We traveled another 20 miles or so and found an Econolodge tgat was kind of Sketchy to stay at. It was cheaper, but they also had their Yale graduation rates that weekend and were not accepting the coupon either. It could have been worse, but mind you we were going in at 2 in the morning and the Marriot was wanting to charge us that to stay until morning in a room that was otherwise just wasting away. It should have been simple business to give us that room at a cheaper price because bringing in some revenue for a room is always better than bringing in none. You can't make up days that no one stays in a hotel room, they are lost opportunity.
So we relaxed and got some rest in the Econolodge that was pretty dirty. We got up the next morning and enjoyed our complimentary breakfast. We hit the road again and headed towards the big city of New York. We made it into town at about 10 in the morning leaving us plenty of time to get to the game.
We had tickets to see the Twins play the Yankees at new Yankee Stadium. It was myself, my two brothers, my older brother's friend, and his friend. We got to take the subway to the game which was really nice. It has been a while since I have ridden on a real train. I love public transportation especially trains.
We got to the Stadium with lots of time to spare. Walking up the stairs from the station the first thing visible is of course a Mcdonalds, which must be an amazing location for them to have. Yankee stadium is brand new, so it should look all amazing and modern right? wrong it looks just like old Yankee Stadium with the entirety of the outside made out of concrete. It is really nothing special to look at.
We wandered around in the Bronx for a bit but there really was not that much to see. We got into the game and were pleasantly surprised to see some other twins fans scattered around in the crowd. The twins were playing well as the game progressed and the Yankees starting pitcher was having lots of trouble with his control giving up six walks. The twins took a 2-0 lead in the top of the 7th inning, scoring on an RBI single by Matt Tolbert, and then on a passed ball that got only about 5 feet past the catcher. The twins pitcher was doing really well up until the 7th inning. He struck out 8 men. The leadoff batter in the 7th for the yankees was Alex Rodriguez. He of course hit a home run. They Yankees managed to get another run and the game was in the hands of the twins bullpen. Joe Mauer had an amazing play in the bottom of the ninth to save the game when he dove head first to tag out Brett Gardner. It was really amazing to see. The top of the tenth inning went by with not walks or hits and then we get to the bottom of the tenth with the Yankees up. The first out came easily, but they another story book ending for the Yankees.
Even though the twins lost it was still great to be able to go to the game. I was also surpised how friendly the Yankee fans were. They didnt really heckle us at all and even conversed with us at times. We got to see some amazing plays made by the Twins and we just could not pull the game out. It was dissappointing.
After the game we took the train back to Manhattan and decided to go for a long walk through central park. It was amazing to see everything that they have in central park. I think we saw the main buildings from Ghostbusters too, but we were not sure. We wandered through the park and even ran into someone who asked us how the game was(my brothers and I were wearing twins hats) We told him how it ended which he didnt seem to happy about.
After the park we walked around in Manhattan some more. We went to a nice New York pizza place. The slices were cheap at $3.25 and were way too big to even fit on a paper plate. That meal really hit the spot. While we were eating the pizza on benches I spotted the cafe from Seinfeld. We of course had to have our picture taken in front of it.
We next walked over to Columbia University. The graduation ceremony they were having must have just ended when we got there because there were people with caps and gowns all over the place. We walked through the campus and saw the history Ivy League buildings. We got to the far side of campus but the doors we were trying to get out through were locked and chained. We had to walk all the way back across campus to the doors we had entered through.
We then walked back to the car and took my brothers friend where he needed to go. We left the city after seeing a lot and boy we my legs tired after that, but I didnt really tell anyone. I didnt want to be the wet blanket who would do that.
We hit the road and were on our way back to Mass. We had a few stops for breaks along the way. We got in at about 11pm with plenty of time to hang out with my brother's roommates and meet the ones I had not met at Croquet-a-Palooza. We sat around and watched Animal planet for a while before people started heading off to bed.
I went to sleep on a quite comfortable mattress. I was awoken in the morning by the house's cat who meowed a few times at me and then came and joined me in the bed, he was so cute. His name was Indy which I believe was an Indiana Jones reference.
I got up that morning and checked my email and facebook for the first time in 3 days. It had seemed like an eternity since I had last checked.
We made a nice breakfast and relaxed together in the morning. We packed everything up and loaded the car. We went to play candle pin bowling which is something that they only have in New England. It was interesting and I definitely struggled. While we were there bowling there was actually an episode of tv being filmed. It is a new tv show that is going to be on Animal Planet in the fall. The show is about amazing animal tricks and this dog had actually learned how to play this game. The balls are much smaller then normal bowling balls, but I can only assume that the dog was much better than I am at the game.
We went to lunch at a local BBQ place. We had a good time. They were playing nothing but White Stripes which I was a fan of. The food was pretty good. It wasnt amazing but it was still good. After lunch we had to head off the Providence to get on our plane back home. It was a decent ride we had to endure some traffic, but we arrived on time.
Inside the airport at our gate there was actually a random bird blying around and chirping. I thought it was kind of strange but I guess no one else thought anything of it. The flight from Providence to Chicago was just fine. I rode next to a baby who was fun to play with on the way. He would smile whenever I would do anyhting which was great to see. Some little kids are afraid of me, but this one sure wasnt. I even got a high five at the end of the flight.
In Chicago my brother and I caught some of the Twins game on tv, but it of course did not end well for the twins. We were delayed getting on out plane to Minneapolis for unknown reasons. We got on and made it back just fine. They flight attendant on the last flight was making some terrible jokes that no one laughed at. he was just not funny at all, which I thought was funny. This was in contrast to some hilarious flight attendants we had on the trip out east.
This weekend I got to go to three new states and New York City. I had been to other parts of New York State but not the City. I got to see all kinds of amazing things.
I really think its time for bed.
Peter
The trip started on friday morning with an 8am flight out of Minneapolis to Chicago. It was a short flight and we got in about 15 minutes ahead of time. There was an hour delay in Chicago because the brakes on the plane were too hot from the first flight it had made that day. I guess thats a normal thing to have happen but it was still a little annoying because it was such a big vacation for me.
We got into Providence, RI about an hour fifteen late. We were picked up by my older and his friend. We went out for lunch at a local seafood shack. I had some fish and chips which was everything I hoped it would be and more. I tried some other things that I had not had before including something called a "stuffie" which is a large quohog clam stuffed with clam/cornbread stuffing. It was really good and a good appetizer. I wish we had better seafood here in the middle on the US but oh well I will somehow live.
After lunch we needed to go to Savers in Providence because it was supposedly legendary, there were some sweet things that other people got. My little brother got some shiny purplish pants and a nice sweater vest that was Abercrombie. My brothers friend bought a nice sweater vest and a sweet green suit that was only $7.50. I myself found a nice button up sweater vest. Why all the sweater vests you ask? Well we had them for Croquet-a-Palooza that was happening the next day.
That day we then proceeded to a nice house outside of Dartmouth, Mass, which is actually not where Dartmouth is just so you know. We were going to be camping overnight and then playing the next day. It was a very remote house, with a few cabins around it too. The one unusual thing that they had was an actual outhouse that people had to use mostly because the house had a septic tank and 34 people might really fill that up fast. It was definitely interesting to use an outhouse that had a glass door that looks out into the woods.
That night was nice. I met lots of my brother's friends and got to talk to them. There was a sweet bonfire that I stayed around until maybe 2 in the morning. I went into the tent where my little brother was already sleeping. I got into my sleeping bag after some struggle. I laid down and tried to sleep. I was however unable to sleep because the tent was soaked on my side. I got up at like 5am and went and slept in my brother's car for a few hours, which I was able to live with.
I have never played croquet before this weekend. It was a learning experience. One thing that I learned is that the best player definitely does not always win, not that I was the best player or anything like that. There were 34 players playing croquet all day on saturday. I hit the ball really well. I just happened to get unlucky at a few times. I liked watching other play. I met some more cool people. My face got a little bit toasted in the sun, but I really cant complain, we had some really fortunate weather. I was told that the weather in New England can change on you in a snap, but we didnt really have to deal with much of that.
After the long day of croquet my brothers and I saddled up and headed off in the direction of New York. I wanted to stop at Foxwoods casino on the way just to see what it was all about. It was really massive. It was cool to just walk around and see everything. It was like other casinos I have seen except on a much larger scale. Easily 5 times the size of other casinos I have been to. It was cool to see the huge poker room they had there. We all wandered around there a little bit before taking off on the road again.
We really had no plans for a place to stay that night, we were just winging it. We stopped at a Denny's at like 1230 in the morning and found a nice little booklet thing with offers for hotels right along I-95 in Connecticut. We called a few and they did not have any space left. We found a Courtyard by Marriot in New Haven that had vacancies. There was a nice coupon in the booklet too.
We pull off the interstate and go into New Haven. My brother went in to the hotel to get us a room while my little brother and I stayed outside and waited. He came out 10 minutes later. They were not accepting coupons because the Yale graduation rates had started that weekend even though Yale graduation was not until the next weekend. We were not going to pay $170 for a hotel room of course when we had a coupon to stay there for $70.
We decided to hit the road again. We traveled another 20 miles or so and found an Econolodge tgat was kind of Sketchy to stay at. It was cheaper, but they also had their Yale graduation rates that weekend and were not accepting the coupon either. It could have been worse, but mind you we were going in at 2 in the morning and the Marriot was wanting to charge us that to stay until morning in a room that was otherwise just wasting away. It should have been simple business to give us that room at a cheaper price because bringing in some revenue for a room is always better than bringing in none. You can't make up days that no one stays in a hotel room, they are lost opportunity.
So we relaxed and got some rest in the Econolodge that was pretty dirty. We got up the next morning and enjoyed our complimentary breakfast. We hit the road again and headed towards the big city of New York. We made it into town at about 10 in the morning leaving us plenty of time to get to the game.
We had tickets to see the Twins play the Yankees at new Yankee Stadium. It was myself, my two brothers, my older brother's friend, and his friend. We got to take the subway to the game which was really nice. It has been a while since I have ridden on a real train. I love public transportation especially trains.
We got to the Stadium with lots of time to spare. Walking up the stairs from the station the first thing visible is of course a Mcdonalds, which must be an amazing location for them to have. Yankee stadium is brand new, so it should look all amazing and modern right? wrong it looks just like old Yankee Stadium with the entirety of the outside made out of concrete. It is really nothing special to look at.
We wandered around in the Bronx for a bit but there really was not that much to see. We got into the game and were pleasantly surprised to see some other twins fans scattered around in the crowd. The twins were playing well as the game progressed and the Yankees starting pitcher was having lots of trouble with his control giving up six walks. The twins took a 2-0 lead in the top of the 7th inning, scoring on an RBI single by Matt Tolbert, and then on a passed ball that got only about 5 feet past the catcher. The twins pitcher was doing really well up until the 7th inning. He struck out 8 men. The leadoff batter in the 7th for the yankees was Alex Rodriguez. He of course hit a home run. They Yankees managed to get another run and the game was in the hands of the twins bullpen. Joe Mauer had an amazing play in the bottom of the ninth to save the game when he dove head first to tag out Brett Gardner. It was really amazing to see. The top of the tenth inning went by with not walks or hits and then we get to the bottom of the tenth with the Yankees up. The first out came easily, but they another story book ending for the Yankees.
Even though the twins lost it was still great to be able to go to the game. I was also surpised how friendly the Yankee fans were. They didnt really heckle us at all and even conversed with us at times. We got to see some amazing plays made by the Twins and we just could not pull the game out. It was dissappointing.
After the game we took the train back to Manhattan and decided to go for a long walk through central park. It was amazing to see everything that they have in central park. I think we saw the main buildings from Ghostbusters too, but we were not sure. We wandered through the park and even ran into someone who asked us how the game was(my brothers and I were wearing twins hats) We told him how it ended which he didnt seem to happy about.
After the park we walked around in Manhattan some more. We went to a nice New York pizza place. The slices were cheap at $3.25 and were way too big to even fit on a paper plate. That meal really hit the spot. While we were eating the pizza on benches I spotted the cafe from Seinfeld. We of course had to have our picture taken in front of it.
We next walked over to Columbia University. The graduation ceremony they were having must have just ended when we got there because there were people with caps and gowns all over the place. We walked through the campus and saw the history Ivy League buildings. We got to the far side of campus but the doors we were trying to get out through were locked and chained. We had to walk all the way back across campus to the doors we had entered through.
We then walked back to the car and took my brothers friend where he needed to go. We left the city after seeing a lot and boy we my legs tired after that, but I didnt really tell anyone. I didnt want to be the wet blanket who would do that.
We hit the road and were on our way back to Mass. We had a few stops for breaks along the way. We got in at about 11pm with plenty of time to hang out with my brother's roommates and meet the ones I had not met at Croquet-a-Palooza. We sat around and watched Animal planet for a while before people started heading off to bed.
I went to sleep on a quite comfortable mattress. I was awoken in the morning by the house's cat who meowed a few times at me and then came and joined me in the bed, he was so cute. His name was Indy which I believe was an Indiana Jones reference.
I got up that morning and checked my email and facebook for the first time in 3 days. It had seemed like an eternity since I had last checked.
We made a nice breakfast and relaxed together in the morning. We packed everything up and loaded the car. We went to play candle pin bowling which is something that they only have in New England. It was interesting and I definitely struggled. While we were there bowling there was actually an episode of tv being filmed. It is a new tv show that is going to be on Animal Planet in the fall. The show is about amazing animal tricks and this dog had actually learned how to play this game. The balls are much smaller then normal bowling balls, but I can only assume that the dog was much better than I am at the game.
We went to lunch at a local BBQ place. We had a good time. They were playing nothing but White Stripes which I was a fan of. The food was pretty good. It wasnt amazing but it was still good. After lunch we had to head off the Providence to get on our plane back home. It was a decent ride we had to endure some traffic, but we arrived on time.
Inside the airport at our gate there was actually a random bird blying around and chirping. I thought it was kind of strange but I guess no one else thought anything of it. The flight from Providence to Chicago was just fine. I rode next to a baby who was fun to play with on the way. He would smile whenever I would do anyhting which was great to see. Some little kids are afraid of me, but this one sure wasnt. I even got a high five at the end of the flight.
In Chicago my brother and I caught some of the Twins game on tv, but it of course did not end well for the twins. We were delayed getting on out plane to Minneapolis for unknown reasons. We got on and made it back just fine. They flight attendant on the last flight was making some terrible jokes that no one laughed at. he was just not funny at all, which I thought was funny. This was in contrast to some hilarious flight attendants we had on the trip out east.
This weekend I got to go to three new states and New York City. I had been to other parts of New York State but not the City. I got to see all kinds of amazing things.
I really think its time for bed.
Peter
posted by weckpd | 12:33 AM
1 Comments:
YOU FORGOT YOUR SONG AND MOVIE OF THE DAY FOR YOUR MOOD, JERK!
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