[Events and thoughts from Sept 21]
The night before the Mets day game, we were still trying to figure out the best way for me to get to the game. Being from LA, I naturally assumed I would just drive there. I mean, you drive everywhere in New England, just like you drive everywhere (e.g., 200 feet to the mailbox) in LA, right?
The more I thought about it (and the more the guys coaxed me), the more I realized that driving to NY was a bad idea if there were public transportation-like alternatives. I couldn't imagine trying to PARK in New York, much less actually drive around.
Enter the Chinatown bus. Well, it's actually a number of different busses, all of which operate between Boston's Chinatown and New York's Chinatown. It's just $10 each way and busses run every hour. Steve dropped me off in Boston's Chinatown that morning at about 6:55a to catch the 7a bus (which subsequently left at 7:15a because the guy taking tickets screwed up; a very apologetic Chinese woman came around and explained to everyone that it was his first day). The next 4.5 hours was a white-knuckled ride with a 15-minute McDonalds break somewhere in there. It's not so much that the bus was driving fast (I routinely pegged the cruise control at 85mph on my trip), but that it was a BUS driving fast. And weaving in and out of traffic. But the driver did a great job and we arrived on Canal St. in Chinatown, right in the heart (?) of Manhattan.
After getting my bearings, I remembered that I had to walk east a few blocks to get to the Canal St. subway stop for the #6 train. Took that up to Grand Central Station (yes, THAT Grand Central Station! wacky...) where I was supposed to meet Jason Weed, who had driven down from Albany. We had a couple of false starts while talking on the cell phone (Grand Central really IS big), but finally met up. We hopped on the #7 train which goes right by Shea in Flushing and we were on our way.
A side note that might be worth remembering for later: Jason drove from Albany to Poughkeepsie, and took an official NY transit train from there to NY City. An honest-to-goodness official NY train, unlike my experience on the Chinatown bus. This comes into play in a bit.
We arrived at Shea basically by stepping off the train and stepping through the turnstalls; it was very convenient, and I began to understand why the NY public transportation system is so vital. Shea was quite nice, and we were ready for an exciting day game (which are always my favorites). Our seats were in the second level, just in the shade from the overhang, so we didn't overheat. We both made a beeline for the concession stand, having skipped breakfast in anticipation for the yummy NY food. We weren't disappointed, as the sausage-smothered-in-onions-and-peppers made another appearance, but with a flourish. This was about the best tasting sausage I had ever had and left me wanting more, even though the one was enough to tide me over until much later that evening.
The game was AMAZING. We sat among a group of people that apparently sit together for various games throughout the year, so they were very cool. And very funny, especially given the quantities of beer being consumed. (Traditional chants of "Let's go Mets!" quickly turned into chants of "Let's go home!" when the Mets crapped out. :-) But the game itself... another well-pitched matchup in which the bullpen completely blew it for the Mets starting pitching. I think it was 1-1 going into the top of the 9th when the Mets relievers forgot how to get people out, and gave up 3 quick runs. The Mets batting being as anemic as it is, they tried to rally, but (surprise!) came up short. Still, it was a well-fought game.
For Ron: the Shea fans would have given the Wrigley fans a run for their money in terms of, uh, aesthetic beauty, but for one fact. The gal sitting in front of us was a little heavy, she was wearing "hip huggers", she was leaning forward a lot... and she had a fairly hairy plumber's crack. Other than that one, uh, blemish, the daytime crowd was quite attractive. But that was enough; I have to concede that Wrigley fans are the best looking I've seen.
game: expos at mets (9/21/03)
park: shea stadium, new york
game quality: 8
park mystique: 7
park beauty: 6
crowd ambience: 9
neighborhood: 5
food: 8
beer: 6 (I don't remember what it was, but it was reasonable)
The game ended at about 4:30p, and Jason and I just decided that with the long ride home, we'd just split from Grand Central. We took the #7 train back, said goodbye... and I ended up getting home (back to Boston) just before 1a. And no, the trip from Shea to Grand Central to Boston doesn't take all of 8.5 hours. I had... difficulties.
Posted by pcg at September 29, 2003 6:26 PM