Odyssey Vacation Part 5 – Summer 2017

On the way back from Banff, we stopped in a nice rv park – I think it was somewhere in Montana. It had a lot of silhoette sculptures of western scenery. They worked well with an ominous sky near sunset:

Still, it was a nice evening for a walk:

And that was our summer vacation. Can’t say I’d do it again. You want mountains? Colorado’s got ’em. Banff is overrated. Glaciers? Well, you better get up and see them before they’re gone. (Or go to Alaska.)

The rest of the summer was – shitty weather, but great times with the kiddies.

Wait, an August family wedding at Terrace on the Park and a baseball game at Citifield brought me back to NY. Those two venues are less than a mile from each other, geographically.

Terrace on the Park was built by the Port Authority of New York and the roof was a helicopter landing pad for the New York World’s Fair in 1964. It has been converted to a catering hall and the roof is now a spectacular venue for a wedding. I did not take this picture:

Five days before the World’s Fair opened, the two year old New York Mets hosted the Pittsburgh Pirates at Shea Stadium, their new home for the next forty-four years. A plaque in the parking lot of their new home, CitiField, indicates the location of Shea’s homeplate.

For you tennis fans, Arthur Ashe Tennis Stadium, home of the US Open, stands between the two structures.

OK, geography and history lesson over. Nephew, Daniel, and lovely bride, Courtney, were married on August 19th. The Yankees were visiting the Mets for a four game series beginning on the 17th. Coincidentally, my friend, Artie, was going to that first game on the 17th, an annual group outing with friends and he graciously invited me along.

So, avoiding the cluster-fuck of construction at La Guardia, but also trashing common sense by just flying and staying there, a short Uber ride from the events, I flew into Islip, on eastern Long Island, so I could hang out with Artie and Judi a couple of days. The baseball game outing was fantastic – luxury bus, catered Italian food after arrival at the park, a Mets travel bag, and tickets to the game, all courtesy of my host. Thank you, Artie. A great day. And thank you also, Judi, for allowing me the priveledge of staying with you guys, and providing your husband another excuse to pour another Maker’s Mark.

On Saturday I checked into the LaGuardia Marriott, near the wedding. It was, as you might expect by the name, near the airport. You couldn’t get much closer. It was also right on the Grand Central Parkway, overlooking it and the construction in and around the airport. Luckily, I was on the eighth floor, surprisingly high enough away from the traffic noise that it was not bothersome. I also had a great view of the airport and watched plane after plane take off and land.

I must have taken a hundred pictures. So mesmerized was I that I missed the wedding.

Ha, ha. But, I did loose track of time and had to rush to make the wedding bus. As I said, the wedding venue was spectacular. Look, from the roof where the wedding and reception took place, there’s Citi Field and the tennis stadium I was talking about.

The view of Manhattan wasn’t bad either:

Two days later, the Sun was eclipsed by the Moon!

Coming next, Southbound Odyssey – Uh-oh!