Minnesota might not seem like a glitzy vacation destination to a lot of people but it was number one on Callie's list. You see, Callie's BFF, Meilani Felix, resides in Anoka, Minnesota, about 20 minutes north of Minneapolis, with her Mom, Felicia and her grandparents. Meilani attended Callie's school the past 2 years but moved back to Minnesota indefinitely this past March. Minnesota also boasts Major League Baseball's newest crown jewel, Target Field, home of the Minnesota Twins, in it's first year of existence.
We flew Delta out of LAX on Wednesday morning, July 15th. Felicia and Meilani were waiting for us at the airport. They took us to lunch at the Turtle Bread Company on Chicago Ave. As if Callie and Meilani had to reaffirm their friendship, they both ordered the same thing, a margherita grilled cheese sandwich on fresh artisan bread. While we enjoyed lunch by a window, the Minnesota skies opened up. This was no California shower storm, it was a deluge, but by the time we finished lunch and bought some ice cream, the rain had disappeared as quickly as it came.
After checking into our hotel, the Sheraton Midtown, Felicia gave us a driving tour of Minneapolis including the Lake of the Isles, Lake Calhoun, our first glimpse of Target Field, and Felicia's alma mater, the University of Minnesota. Our tour concluded in the other twin city, St. Paul, where we saw the Excel Energy Center, home of the NHL's Minnesota Wild and the State Capitol building. Felicia dropped us off at the Science Museum of Minnesota because Meilani had soccer practice and Callie and I had a date with the Dead Sea Scrolls.
The Dead Sea Scrolls are on loan to the Science Museum of Minnesota. The Scrolls are over 2000 years old. They were found in caves along the Dead Sea in 1947 and are considered one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time, certainly of the religious variety. Up close, they aren't that exciting. For one thing, they're not written in English and it's difficult to read them since they're written on little pieces of parchment and kept under extremely low lighting in order to protect them.
I sort of knew what bus to take to get back to the hotel from St. Paul but when I saw a taxi drive by, I asked how much he would charge us. The $20.00 cab ride was a bargain considering the bus was going to take an hour due to the 64 stops along the route. For dinner, we explored the Midtown Global Market housed in the old Sears building adjacent to our hotel. With a wide variety of options before us, we decided on noodles at Pham's Deli, not recommended.
The two weary Los Angelenos retired early in anticipation of seeing Meilani again Thursday morning. However, that plan fell through. Felicia hadn't felt very well when she picked us up and her worst fears were realized. She was too sick to get out of bed, much less take Meilani to Minneapolis, so Callie and I put off the mall and came up with a new plan. We decided to explore downtown Minneapolis and head to the Mill City Museum.
One of the best features of the Midtown Sheraton is a free shuttle within a 5 mile radius of the hotel. Our shuttle driver that Thursday morning was Mike. He was courteous while showing us Mall of America Field, formerly the Hubert H Humphrey Metrodome, the home of the NFL's Minnesota Vikings and the former home of the Twins. Thankfully, Mike also showed us a parking garage, the Minneapolis Armory, which had been the Minneapolis Lakers home arena during the 1959-60 season, their last before moving to Los Angeles.
Mike also suggested we check out the Guthrie Theater, a beautiful building with some of the best views in Minneapolis of the Mississippi River, the Stone Arch Bridge and St. Anthony Falls. It was an absolutely incredible day and since the Guthrie is right next to the Mill City Museum, we took Mike up on his suggestion. The views were truly spectacular.
Before we explored the Mill City Museum, we peeked outside a courtyard and saw a few segues. Segues are those futuristic motorized scooters you might have seen a mall cop riding. Minneapolis offers a Segue Tour of the Mississippi River for $80 a person. I’d seen it advertised on the Internet and even though the tour is 2-3 hours, I was frugal and decided that wasn’t for me and Callie. But we could try out the Segues...for free. First Callie, then I, took short rides on a Segue. They change direction according to the pressure of your feet. Callie would have been fine. I don’t think I would have survived the 3 hour tour. I’m sure I would have ended up as just another piece of flotsam on the Mississippi.
Minneapolis is nicknamed the Mill City because the banks of the Mississippi were dotted with mills in the early part of the 20th century and those mills cranked out flour for the entire world. The museum used to be an actual mill. In fact, it used to be the largest and most technologically advanced mill of its time, but further advances made it obsolete in 1965 and the building was severely damaged by fire in 1991. The Minnesota Historical Society decided to clean up the old mill and turn it into a museum. The best part of the Mill City Museum is the Flour Tower elevator ride, an 8 story ride in an elevator cab which shows you different settings in the mill as it existed in its heyday and features voices of people who actually worked in the mill. Before leaving the museum, Callie and I were given a small piece of bread made in their baking lab. It was tasty and reminded us, it was time for lunch.
Cal and I enjoy the the TV show "Man Vs Food" and a while ago we'd seen an episode where Adam, the show's host, visited Minneapolis. The scene that stuck with us was filmed in Matt's Bar, home of the Juicy Lucy. A Juicy Lucy is a cheeseburger but the wrinkle is that the cheese is cooked completely enclosed between 2 beef patties. The hotel shuttle picked us up as we walked down Portland Ave and took us directly to Matt's. Our excitement was palpable. Matt's was nice and cool inside and we took seats at bar stools right in front of the grill. There's a brief moment of panic when you bite into a Juicy Lucy because the cheese oozes out and it's hot but it's also delicious. We were hooked and we walked out knowing we'd be regulars if Matt's Bar were to open up a Burbank location.
We walked back to the hotel in order to digest our Lucy's and we awaited Meilani's arrival. Felicia's close friend, Royal, was kind enough to pick Meilani up from Anoka and bring her to us in Minneapolis. When they arrived, Royal happily agreed to take the three of us to the Walker Art Center adjacent to the Minnesota Scultpure Garden. The Sculpture Garden houses a variety of sculptures including a giant spoon with a giant cherry resting in it which has become somewhat of a Minnesota icon.
Before we entered the actual Art Center, we noticed a group of people congregating outside the entrance next to a wide expanse of lawn which featured artists constructing two hanging egg-like cocoons made of sticks that you could actually climb into. Both Callie and Meilani did but they soon noticed other folks sitting at a table drawing pictures. Anyone was welcome to help build the stick huts and anyone was welcome to sit and draw. The folks who ran this Thursday night get together at the Art Center also had a fun bean bag tossing game, soccer balls, and hula hoops for the kids, all of which Callie and Meilani sampled.
An hour or two later, we found the inside of the Art Center filled with works of art which varied from paintings and sculptures to seat cushions decorated into elaborate maps. The girls wandered through the museum so happy just to be together. They loved an exhibit where you took your shoes off, went inside a dark room and hung in a hammock.
We called the hotel shuttle to pick us up but we were too late to have dinner at the Midtown Global Market, which shuts down at 8pm, so we grabbed a bite at Los Ocampo, a Mexican place close to the Sheraton before the 3 of us went to bed, tired and happy.
I wish I could accurately describe the giddiness of the two tweens on Thursday morning when we set out for Mall of America. They were practically holding hands and jumping up and down. This is why we'd scrapped the Mall plan the day before. Callie wanted to enjoy the mall with Meilani. I'm not much of a shopper. Despite the fact I grew up going to the Sherman Oaks Galleria and its less famous but still there cousin, The Fashion Square, I'm not really a mall guy. I knew they'd be happy but the girls sheer ebullience caught me by surprise. I love when my daughter surprises me. The last time was when I walked into her room and saw a picture of Taylor Lautner, the Twilight werewolf, he of the six pack abs, with no shirt, on her wall. Ah, Parenthood. There's a light rail train that runs along Hiawatha Ave which runs from Target Field to the Mall of the America. We had the hotel shuttle take us to the Lake St/Midtown station and took the train South for about 25 minutes and we were there. I kid you not. Callie and Meilani sprinted the last 30 yards into the mall.
While on the train, Callie had noticed an advertisement for the aquarium at the Mall of America, Underwater Adventures. We saved $9.00 by showing our Twins' tickets. The aquarium is basically a long winding path with tanks on every side of you, very similar to the Shark Exhibit at the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas.
Next was the amusement park. It was humongous. Rollercoasters everywhere, 3 or 4 of them intertwined but with the tracks multi-colored so you could keep track of the path of the coaster you were considering. The girls settled on the Pepsi Orange Streak, a thrill ride. I waited for them.
After some mall food, lunch and dessert, we hit the shops. We probably covered a tenth of the mall, window shopping and looking for a photo booth for the girls, but after 3-4 hours of the Mall of America, it was time to head back to the hotel, the bff's didn't even put up a fight. We still had a Twins game to go to that night, not to mention pizza before the game at the locally famous Pizza Luce in the Warehouse District around the corner from Target Field.
Before going on vacation, I always research the destination city on the Internet beforehand. One of my surefire certain googles is "best pizza in....". Pizza Luce popped up right away in Minneapolis. I have a high school friend, Brian Lucewicz, who's been called "Luce" for years, so Pizza Luce had me at the name.
Another close high school friend, Carl Randazzo, has been living in Minnesota for years along with his wife, Terri and their 2 sons, CJ and John. They were meeting us at Pizza Luce! There I was, sipping a draft Blue Moon leaving a message for Brian Lucewicz when Carl and the gang walked in. A better looking, more fit, family of four would be hard to find. Carl had been an all-league linebacker in high school and he still looked the part. We relived the past over beer and pizza. We made fun of high school friends not present but later admitted to them we'd been talking smack behind their backs. In short, we had a great time, a warm reunion that felt like we'd seen each other last week instead of 15 years ago.
The Randazzos walked us right to the turnstiles of Target Field. We posed for some pictures along the way, one of me crouching like a catcher behind Harmon Killebrew, while walking toward the stadium via the 6th St ramp. From the outside, Target Field is checkered squares of various shades of brown. From the inside, it's immaculate and it has that new stadium smell we all love, in this case pork chops on a stick, Kramarczuk's sausages, juicy lucy's, Cuban sandwiches, and more overwhelmed our olfactory senses.
Our seats had been bought months before. We were 16 rows behind home plate. Francisco Liriano pitched the twins to victory and hometown hero, Joe Mauer, had a couple of RBI's. On the way to the mall, I'd asked Callie and Meilani if they could name a Twin and Meilani came through with Mauer. He's the defending AL MVP and a former #1 overall pick of the Twins out of nearby Cretin-Derham High School in St. Paul. The number of Mauer jerseys in the crowd was staggering. Callie wore the Twins t-shirt Meilani had sent her weeks before.
Meilani stayed a second night with us at the hotel. I let the girls sleep in Saturday morning because of the late night at the ballgame and the fact Meilani's soccer team, the Vipers, had a semi-final match up against crosstown rival, Blaine at 5pm.
When they did wake up, the 3 of us enjoyed a complimentary breakfast in the hotel restaurant, due to a couple of lapses in service, before setting out for Minnehaha Falls via the light rail. Minnehaha creek runs from Lake Minnetonka to the Mississippi and features the 53 foot falls. It's only about a 5-10 minute walk from the light rail station and it's well worth the time.
There we were gazing wondrously at the Falls from about 60 feet away after going down a set of stairs, when Meilani noticed a big spider hiding in a drain pipe. Now, there were other people close by admiring the Falls and anyone leaning their posterior against the wall near this pipe would have been at serious risk so we found a long stick, and I insisted it be a looooong stick. The first couple of submissions were duly rejected. I gently nudged the spider out of the pipe onto the ground. Callie and Meilani squealed which caused the other 10 tourists viewing the Falls to turn and look at the spider. From where I stood, I saw maybe 15 people gesticulating, ooohing and aaahing, with 100% of their focus and attention on this giant spider with the Minnehaha Falls, in all their incredible natural beauty, serving as a backdrop. It was a moment I'll never forget. For a good half a minute no one gave a hoot about the Falls they'd come to see. To be fair, the spider was huge. I half expected Hagrid of Harry Potter fame to walk up and make sure we didn't harm it(we didn't).
The plan for us to get to Anoka and Meilani to her soccer game was to hop on the light rail to Target Field and take the North Star line to Anoka. The only problem was I'd misread the schedule on the Internet and the train to Anoka didn't leave til almost 2 hours later than I had thought. Luckily, I realized my mistake right away and it was Royal again to the rescue. He picked us up, cool as the other side of the pillow, and took us to Anoka.
Felicia's parents' house in Anoka is more like a mansion. It's literally a stone's throw from the mighty Mississippi. However, we stayed inside because the skies outside were black and foreboding. The game would actually be delayed by a lightning storm. Parents and players were asked to return to their cars for about 20 minutes so there would be fewer human beings outside for the bolts of lightning to strike.
Amazingly, the skies cleared a bit and the game started about 45 minutes late. The Vipers finally put away a feisty Blaine squad after twice taking leads only to have Blaine tie the game. Meilani's solid midfield play was a key to the victory and Callie, who had bonded with the Vipers during the lightning delay, watched every minute in breathless anticipation.
Felicia drove us to Noodles and Co. for the post game, good bye meal. Callie and I first discovered Noodles and Co in Colorado last summer. When we learned there was one in Encinitas, we shared a memorable family dinner there in late 2009, including my Dad. The Wisconsin Mac N Cheese is fantastic and Callie likes the pad thai too but she doesn't like saying good bye to her best friend. Royal was taking us back to Minneapolis and a few tears fell when we parted from Meilani and Felicia, who had done so much for us during our stay.
However, our vacation wasn't quite over yet. On the way to Minneapolis in Royal's truck, Felicia called to tell us a tornado was going to hit Anoka in a few minutes. What? I was just there an hour or so ago for a girls' soccer game! It was true. Felicia, her Mom, and Meilani all went down to the storm cellar while Royal calmly drove us back to the Mill City. North Minneapolis took a bit of a beating that night. Our hotel was in South Minneapolis but we watched the skies from our hotel room while we packed. I worried a little bit about our flight in the morning but we made it home fine.
We had a wonderful time. Thank you to Felicia, Royal, Meilani, and the Randazzos for making us feel at home in the Twin Cities.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
NYC Vacation Recap
We arrived home from our New York vacation on Sunday, June 6th. Marie-Helene was the grand prize winner of the LA Times Holiday sweepstakes, on her 40th birthday no less and we finally got to enjoy the spoils of her victory, and spoil them we did, in style. Our travelling party also included Melody Guzman since the trip Marie-Helene won was for 4 people.
The four of us began our trip Sunday morning, May 30th. We flew out of Burbank, a luxury we'd rarely afforded ourselves in the past, and it was so easy we may never go back. We also flew Jet Blue, another treat considering each seat has a television for the passenger's viewing pleasure.
My cousin, Andy Gandolfo, picked us up at JFK and took us to our hotel, the Midtown Holiday Inn. He pulled an Olga when the security guard insisted he do another loop around the airport since we didn't have our bags yet. Instead of complying with the law, Andrew pulled ahead about 75 yards and waited for us. Once we'd checked into our room, we piled back into Andy's Dodge Neon and drove down 9th Ave to Abingdon Square where Marie-Helene's eagle eye helped Andy find a recently vacated parking spot.
The purpose of our trip into the village was pizza. We walked down Bleecker St looking for Bleecker St Pizza, a pizzeria Andy's brother in law, John Hughes, had recommended. From the outside it looked more like a stand, and it was, with some people walking up and buying slices but we needed a large Nona Maria, the signature pie and an old family recipe. We grabbed some ice cold beers out of the fridge and had barely chosen a table, one of maybe four in the restaurant, when the guy said our pizza was ready. "What? I ordered about a minute ago", I said in mock Brooklyn surprise. I guess they had been making a pie for slices but with no one waiting, it was all ours. It was fantastic, probably my new favorite, unseating Grimaldi's under the Brooklyn Bridge. We all agreed it was easily among the best pizza we'd ever had. For those of you who don't believe in love at first sight, I saw the light in Melody's eyes when she looked longingly at the oceans of tomato red sauce with large flat islands of buffalo mozzarella cheese speckled with foliage of basil. Like Michael Corleone upon seeing the beautiful Sicilian girl Apollonia while hiding out in Italy, Mel had been struck by the thunderbolt. A quiet Burbank girl had fallen and fallen hard for New York Pizza.
Not even close to satisfied we continued our journey down Bleecker St and went to John's on Bleecker, another highly rated famous pizzeria in Manhattan. Marie-Helene, Callie and I had been there before and like the previous time, I bypassed a long line of people waiting for a table, and ordered a large cheese pizza to go as well as a couple of beers for Mel and I while we waited. On the way in, one brash New Yorker I bustled past snorted, "there's a line" while another chipped in with "who does HE know?” I looked the closest dissenter in the eye and said "I'm ordering (pause) to go". Before Mel and I finished our beers, the pizza was ready. We took it outside to the others, sat on a bench and the five of us devoured it.
The girls quickly picked a gelato place for dessert and a long sight seeing walk was soon needed. We walked south to Canal St and turned left where a myriad of vendors descended upon us while we walked eastward. At Mulberry St, we turned left, straight into the heart of Little Italy. The place was jumping .We walked along entranced by the crowd. We pointed out Ferrara's Bakery where my grandfather had worked soon after getting off the boat and then happened upon a street fair in honor of St Antonio, complete with carnival booths and stands selling every Italian delicacy imaginable and some (deep fried Oreos) not so Italian delicacies.
We said our good bye to Andrew and introduced Mel to the NYC subway system. We bought metro cards good for 7 days of unlimited travel and took the train to Columbus Circle. We stocked up on some supplies at the Whole Foods Market in the Time Warner Center and went back to our room for the evening.
The next day was an early start, at least for us, given the 3 hour time difference between the coasts. We had tickets to the Yankees' Memorial Day tilt with the Cleveland Indians but before the game we were due to meet my cousins for a little tailgate party. Anna Hughes, Andy's sister, and her husband John were also going to the game along with another cousin, Craig Steeneck, and his wife Sally. Before the tailgate, our mini group of 4 had tried to get in to view Monument Park at Yankee Stadium but we were shut out. Apparently, they don't let you in, back out again and then back in again for the game and that's precisely what we needed to do. I might have been able to make it happen but an announcement had just been made that there would be no more visitors to Monument Park that day due to the overflow Memorial Day crowd. It always closes 45 minutes before the game and I guess I wasn't the only one who wanted to see it.
The tailgate was awesome; cold beer, hot dogs, and some Rose and Joe's pizza I'd asked Anna to bring from under the train station in Astoria. It was hot and humid as it would prove to be all week long but our seats were in the shade and the Yankees broke open the game when the Indians intentionally walked Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez made them pay with the 20th grand slam of his career. Robinson Cano followed with another homer and the Yanks cruised the rest of the way. A funny moment occurred when Craig called us in the 9th inning to tell us to head to the parking lot but he didn't realize we had already walked down to the section where their seats were, so I quickly took a seat directly behind him and had a brief phone conversation with him without his realizing I was close enough to touch him.
We all went from Yankee Stadium in the Bronx to Astoria in Queens where Anna and John live, for a post game party. Anna's potatoes with cheese and plain breadcrumbs were a huge hit and the 8 game attendees were joined by Andy, Andy and Anna's older brother Joey, and Anna and John's son, John and his wife Karen, whose wedding we'd attended in Chicago a few summers back. Anna and John's cousin reunion parties were already legendary and this one did not disappoint. The conversation ranged from sports to television to relatives to memories and back to sports again. Andy took us back into the city and we crawled contentedly into bed after a perfect Memorial Day, unless you count not seeing Monument Park.
Early Tuesday morning Callie and I set out on an adventurous family visit. My Aunt Jean (Gilda), Craig's Mom, lives at the Emeritus in Paramus, New Jersey. To get there we took the 163 from the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Times Square, a 45 minute ride. Despite arriving early and buying our tickets, we almost missed the bus. We were waiting at the appointed gate when a bus drove by and stopped at the gate in front of ours, with no one around to ask, I decided to go ask the bus drive to make sure it wasn't the 163. It was. Callie and I ate part of the sandwiches we'd bought at a place we know on 9th Ave between 57th and 58th. Callie's was a caprese sandwich on a French roll with a little pesto. She raved about it and soon we were dropped off a block or so from the Emeritus on Paramus Road.
Aunt Jean greeted us with a large smile, a hug, a kiss, and a few tears but the tears soon gave way to laughs and smiles as we went outside to wait for Aunt Frances, who had been the wife of my late Uncle Armand. Aunt Jean's mind, as always, was sharp as a tack and Aunt Frances is no less amazing. She drove to the Emeritus from her home in nearby Emerson. Aunt Jean's lunch time came around and we all joined her inside and met a 93yr old woman who had been imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp where she had lost her family. Despite that immense hardship, the woman allowed herself to laugh and bond with Callie. Aunt Jean's positive nature won the day as she told the woman in no uncertain terms to stop thinking about sad things and enjoy the day. We talked a while longer after lunch and said our good byes. Callie and I had a little excitement trying to figure out where the bus would pick us up but we eventually hailed the 163 as it was going past us on Paramus Rd. The driver stopped and we got on. Strange but effective.
For dinner that night we took Mel to Grimaldi's and the post meal walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. We continued our walk to Ground Zero and decided to check out Union Square and 14th St. Callie bought a cute t-shirt, the periodic table of texting, and then we went to try the frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity, recommended by none other than Oprah Winfrey. We politely asked the waiter if he would waive the $8.50 per person sitting fee and bring us 2 of them and he did. I wasn't as impressed as the 3 girls. Our next stop was the Le Meridien Hotel Burger Joint where we split 2 cheeseburgers among the 4 of us and eventually made our way back to the hotel, our bellies full and happy.
Wednesday was the day we checked out of the Midtown Holiday Inn but before doing so, MH and Callie enjoyed the pool and Mel did some shopping. We decided to save the cab fare and hoof it to the Westin Times Square on 8th Ave and 43rd St, an easy walk made a bit more challenging with our wheel able luggage. After checking in we took the train to Mott St and Parisi's Italian deli, an internet find, and wow, did it come through. We bought 3 sandwiches, an Italian cold cut, a chicken parmigiana, and a meatball parmigiana and wolfed them down at a park on the corner of Spring and Mulberry. Normal people would have stopped eating but we split a rice pudding for dessert. Marie-Helene then bought a chocolate cupcake and a chocolate croissant at a bookstore and Mel bought some Mac N Cheese at a Mac Bar in Soho.
Wednesday night we had a date with Mary Poppins at the New Amsterdam Theater right across the street from the Westin. Our seats were fantastic, 7th row stage left. We all were hypnotized by the Broadway play. The sets, the costumes, the songs, the sheer talent of all the dancers in perfect step. Tremendous. Afterward we strolled down 7th Ave through the crowd of theater goers walking around Times Square and had a late night snack at the Carnegie Deli.
Thursday we took the Q train to Brighton Beach and walked along the boardwalk to Coney Island. After some hot dogs from Nathans, Callie debated whether or not to take on the famous Cyclone roller coaster. Wisely, she decided against it and we took our leave of Coney Island. The plan for the way home was to exit the train at Ave J and check out Di Fara pizza. We'd learned about Di Fara from an article my sister, Terry, sent me. Sadly, it was closed that day so we headed for Bleecker St Pizza to try and recreate the experience of our first day in the city. Once again, the pizza was excellent and we did some shopping along Bleecker St and hit the same Gelato place. Bleecker St in Greenwich Village is probably our favorite place in the city.
MH and Mel went on a shopping excursion while Callie and I went back to rest up for that night's Laker game which happened to be Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics. Andy happens to be the biggest Laker fan I know even though he lives in Brooklyn so he came to the city for the 9pm tip off and we met up at the ESPN Zone in Times Square. The place was a madhouse. We ended up on the top floor in the arcade, normally a place for kids but on this night, the bar was packed, standing room only, while the game played out on television. I guzzled Corona's while the Laker and Celtics waged war in the first half. Callie and MH played a little wire hockey nearby. Unfortunately, the top floor arcade sent us packing at halftime because it was reserved for a private party. No worries, we went to the Westin and watched the 2nd half with Mel, a little cramped in the room but elated with the Lakers' eventual victory.
Callie developed a slight fever that night and sent me out for throat lozenges at 4am to the 24hr Duane Reade pharmacy across the street. There were still revelers on the street, even at 4am, but this was a seedier crowd. Callie was still slightly under the weather on Friday but the Metropolitan Museum of Art was on the docket. We enjoyed an Egyptian exhibit which made us feel better about not going to see the King Tut exhibit in Times Square, a bamboo structure exhibit on the roof, a statue of Perseus holding Medusa's head, a Picasso exhibit, and many other breathtaking works of art. We might have stayed longer but Callie was tired and we were going to Citifield and the Mets' game that night. But before going back to the Westin we stopped for what else, pizza, at Patsy's on 60th. Patsy's had once been Patsy Grimaldi's but had broken off from Grimaldi's and had to change their name so that now there's a "Patsy's" and a "Grimaldi's". The girls loved Patsy's but I wasn't so thrilled. Maybe it was the amount of pizza I had been eating but the truth is, Mel, she of the full heart, had actually made two other unauthorized pizza purchases at non-researched locales while out shopping.
The 7 train to Citifield in Queens was much easier than the last time we'd taken it to Shea. Andy was waiting for us along with John Hughes and Andy's 2 sons, 16yr old 6'3 Richie and 10yr old Andrew. MH was happy to find poutine (a French fries/gravy/cheese curd concoction) called Disco Frites at Citifield. In the baseball game, the Mets came back to beat the Florida Marlins. Once back in Times Square, we showed Mel the humongous Toys R Us before I ushered Callie up to bed.
Saturday morning we went back to Queens, this time to Astoria and Mojave Restaurant on 31st St where Anna's youngest son, Patrick, a New York City cop in the Bayside precinct joined us with his girlfriend, Beth. The food was delicious and so was the walk around the old neighborhood I had been as smitten with as a young boy. First, to Rosario's, the Italian store where Anna buys her sausage. Who did we see there but Joey, her brother? We walked down Ditmars eastward a bit and then back up Ditmars to Le Guli's where John treated us to the best Italian Ice. Done eating, right? Wrong. The last stop was Rose and Joe's, the little bakery under the El. This time the pizza was fresh and hot. Asking Anna to lug it to Yankee Stadium had been a mistake on my part. This was what I remembered. Right out of the oven it rivals Bleecker St, Johns, Grimaldis, etc and we all shared a couple of slices despite the fact we'd eaten less than an hour before and had just had Italian ice.
The N train took us back to Manhattan and we took Mel on a walk through Central Park. We enjoyed the Pond and went to a playground Callie enjoyed on our first trip to the city a few years ago. Similar to what happened at the Burger Joint in the Le Meridien Hotel, Callie remembered the playground as soon as she saw it. I had fun jogging her memories like that. We watched a bit of a softball game and then escaped the heat in the Time Warner Center. I left the girls so they could shop and walked home down 8th Ave to pack.
Our last night in the city consisted of a walk southward to Madison Square Garden and then to the world's largest department store, Macy's. MH was thrilled by the wooden escalators which jogged a memory from my childhood and one of the rare trips into the city I'd made with my Mom and Aunt Gloria to see the Empire State Building and the store where my Uncle Armand worked, Macy's. Mel bought a Coach purse and we admired the majestic Empire State Building from 34th and Broadway.
I think the girls could have stayed another week in New York City. We were treated wonderfully and ate like kings. What a place! What a city! I can't imagine a bigger, more impressive location. Surely, Manhattan must be at the forefront of great places on Earth. It has the energy and excitement of Las Vegas but spread out over miles and miles. And Las Vegas excites mainly the gambler whereas New York speaks to everyone. She certainly spoke to us. I'll never ever eat more pizza over a 7 day period than the 7 days we just passed on vacation and that's only the beginning; beloved family, 2 baseball games, Central Park, Broadway, Times Square, Ground Zero, Little Italy, Soho, 14th St, 5th Ave, Coney Island, Astoria, Greenwich Village, Serendipity, the Met. What a week! What a vacation!
The four of us began our trip Sunday morning, May 30th. We flew out of Burbank, a luxury we'd rarely afforded ourselves in the past, and it was so easy we may never go back. We also flew Jet Blue, another treat considering each seat has a television for the passenger's viewing pleasure.
My cousin, Andy Gandolfo, picked us up at JFK and took us to our hotel, the Midtown Holiday Inn. He pulled an Olga when the security guard insisted he do another loop around the airport since we didn't have our bags yet. Instead of complying with the law, Andrew pulled ahead about 75 yards and waited for us. Once we'd checked into our room, we piled back into Andy's Dodge Neon and drove down 9th Ave to Abingdon Square where Marie-Helene's eagle eye helped Andy find a recently vacated parking spot.
The purpose of our trip into the village was pizza. We walked down Bleecker St looking for Bleecker St Pizza, a pizzeria Andy's brother in law, John Hughes, had recommended. From the outside it looked more like a stand, and it was, with some people walking up and buying slices but we needed a large Nona Maria, the signature pie and an old family recipe. We grabbed some ice cold beers out of the fridge and had barely chosen a table, one of maybe four in the restaurant, when the guy said our pizza was ready. "What? I ordered about a minute ago", I said in mock Brooklyn surprise. I guess they had been making a pie for slices but with no one waiting, it was all ours. It was fantastic, probably my new favorite, unseating Grimaldi's under the Brooklyn Bridge. We all agreed it was easily among the best pizza we'd ever had. For those of you who don't believe in love at first sight, I saw the light in Melody's eyes when she looked longingly at the oceans of tomato red sauce with large flat islands of buffalo mozzarella cheese speckled with foliage of basil. Like Michael Corleone upon seeing the beautiful Sicilian girl Apollonia while hiding out in Italy, Mel had been struck by the thunderbolt. A quiet Burbank girl had fallen and fallen hard for New York Pizza.
Not even close to satisfied we continued our journey down Bleecker St and went to John's on Bleecker, another highly rated famous pizzeria in Manhattan. Marie-Helene, Callie and I had been there before and like the previous time, I bypassed a long line of people waiting for a table, and ordered a large cheese pizza to go as well as a couple of beers for Mel and I while we waited. On the way in, one brash New Yorker I bustled past snorted, "there's a line" while another chipped in with "who does HE know?” I looked the closest dissenter in the eye and said "I'm ordering (pause) to go". Before Mel and I finished our beers, the pizza was ready. We took it outside to the others, sat on a bench and the five of us devoured it.
The girls quickly picked a gelato place for dessert and a long sight seeing walk was soon needed. We walked south to Canal St and turned left where a myriad of vendors descended upon us while we walked eastward. At Mulberry St, we turned left, straight into the heart of Little Italy. The place was jumping .We walked along entranced by the crowd. We pointed out Ferrara's Bakery where my grandfather had worked soon after getting off the boat and then happened upon a street fair in honor of St Antonio, complete with carnival booths and stands selling every Italian delicacy imaginable and some (deep fried Oreos) not so Italian delicacies.
We said our good bye to Andrew and introduced Mel to the NYC subway system. We bought metro cards good for 7 days of unlimited travel and took the train to Columbus Circle. We stocked up on some supplies at the Whole Foods Market in the Time Warner Center and went back to our room for the evening.
The next day was an early start, at least for us, given the 3 hour time difference between the coasts. We had tickets to the Yankees' Memorial Day tilt with the Cleveland Indians but before the game we were due to meet my cousins for a little tailgate party. Anna Hughes, Andy's sister, and her husband John were also going to the game along with another cousin, Craig Steeneck, and his wife Sally. Before the tailgate, our mini group of 4 had tried to get in to view Monument Park at Yankee Stadium but we were shut out. Apparently, they don't let you in, back out again and then back in again for the game and that's precisely what we needed to do. I might have been able to make it happen but an announcement had just been made that there would be no more visitors to Monument Park that day due to the overflow Memorial Day crowd. It always closes 45 minutes before the game and I guess I wasn't the only one who wanted to see it.
The tailgate was awesome; cold beer, hot dogs, and some Rose and Joe's pizza I'd asked Anna to bring from under the train station in Astoria. It was hot and humid as it would prove to be all week long but our seats were in the shade and the Yankees broke open the game when the Indians intentionally walked Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez made them pay with the 20th grand slam of his career. Robinson Cano followed with another homer and the Yanks cruised the rest of the way. A funny moment occurred when Craig called us in the 9th inning to tell us to head to the parking lot but he didn't realize we had already walked down to the section where their seats were, so I quickly took a seat directly behind him and had a brief phone conversation with him without his realizing I was close enough to touch him.
We all went from Yankee Stadium in the Bronx to Astoria in Queens where Anna and John live, for a post game party. Anna's potatoes with cheese and plain breadcrumbs were a huge hit and the 8 game attendees were joined by Andy, Andy and Anna's older brother Joey, and Anna and John's son, John and his wife Karen, whose wedding we'd attended in Chicago a few summers back. Anna and John's cousin reunion parties were already legendary and this one did not disappoint. The conversation ranged from sports to television to relatives to memories and back to sports again. Andy took us back into the city and we crawled contentedly into bed after a perfect Memorial Day, unless you count not seeing Monument Park.
Early Tuesday morning Callie and I set out on an adventurous family visit. My Aunt Jean (Gilda), Craig's Mom, lives at the Emeritus in Paramus, New Jersey. To get there we took the 163 from the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Times Square, a 45 minute ride. Despite arriving early and buying our tickets, we almost missed the bus. We were waiting at the appointed gate when a bus drove by and stopped at the gate in front of ours, with no one around to ask, I decided to go ask the bus drive to make sure it wasn't the 163. It was. Callie and I ate part of the sandwiches we'd bought at a place we know on 9th Ave between 57th and 58th. Callie's was a caprese sandwich on a French roll with a little pesto. She raved about it and soon we were dropped off a block or so from the Emeritus on Paramus Road.
Aunt Jean greeted us with a large smile, a hug, a kiss, and a few tears but the tears soon gave way to laughs and smiles as we went outside to wait for Aunt Frances, who had been the wife of my late Uncle Armand. Aunt Jean's mind, as always, was sharp as a tack and Aunt Frances is no less amazing. She drove to the Emeritus from her home in nearby Emerson. Aunt Jean's lunch time came around and we all joined her inside and met a 93yr old woman who had been imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp where she had lost her family. Despite that immense hardship, the woman allowed herself to laugh and bond with Callie. Aunt Jean's positive nature won the day as she told the woman in no uncertain terms to stop thinking about sad things and enjoy the day. We talked a while longer after lunch and said our good byes. Callie and I had a little excitement trying to figure out where the bus would pick us up but we eventually hailed the 163 as it was going past us on Paramus Rd. The driver stopped and we got on. Strange but effective.
For dinner that night we took Mel to Grimaldi's and the post meal walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. We continued our walk to Ground Zero and decided to check out Union Square and 14th St. Callie bought a cute t-shirt, the periodic table of texting, and then we went to try the frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity, recommended by none other than Oprah Winfrey. We politely asked the waiter if he would waive the $8.50 per person sitting fee and bring us 2 of them and he did. I wasn't as impressed as the 3 girls. Our next stop was the Le Meridien Hotel Burger Joint where we split 2 cheeseburgers among the 4 of us and eventually made our way back to the hotel, our bellies full and happy.
Wednesday was the day we checked out of the Midtown Holiday Inn but before doing so, MH and Callie enjoyed the pool and Mel did some shopping. We decided to save the cab fare and hoof it to the Westin Times Square on 8th Ave and 43rd St, an easy walk made a bit more challenging with our wheel able luggage. After checking in we took the train to Mott St and Parisi's Italian deli, an internet find, and wow, did it come through. We bought 3 sandwiches, an Italian cold cut, a chicken parmigiana, and a meatball parmigiana and wolfed them down at a park on the corner of Spring and Mulberry. Normal people would have stopped eating but we split a rice pudding for dessert. Marie-Helene then bought a chocolate cupcake and a chocolate croissant at a bookstore and Mel bought some Mac N Cheese at a Mac Bar in Soho.
Wednesday night we had a date with Mary Poppins at the New Amsterdam Theater right across the street from the Westin. Our seats were fantastic, 7th row stage left. We all were hypnotized by the Broadway play. The sets, the costumes, the songs, the sheer talent of all the dancers in perfect step. Tremendous. Afterward we strolled down 7th Ave through the crowd of theater goers walking around Times Square and had a late night snack at the Carnegie Deli.
Thursday we took the Q train to Brighton Beach and walked along the boardwalk to Coney Island. After some hot dogs from Nathans, Callie debated whether or not to take on the famous Cyclone roller coaster. Wisely, she decided against it and we took our leave of Coney Island. The plan for the way home was to exit the train at Ave J and check out Di Fara pizza. We'd learned about Di Fara from an article my sister, Terry, sent me. Sadly, it was closed that day so we headed for Bleecker St Pizza to try and recreate the experience of our first day in the city. Once again, the pizza was excellent and we did some shopping along Bleecker St and hit the same Gelato place. Bleecker St in Greenwich Village is probably our favorite place in the city.
MH and Mel went on a shopping excursion while Callie and I went back to rest up for that night's Laker game which happened to be Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics. Andy happens to be the biggest Laker fan I know even though he lives in Brooklyn so he came to the city for the 9pm tip off and we met up at the ESPN Zone in Times Square. The place was a madhouse. We ended up on the top floor in the arcade, normally a place for kids but on this night, the bar was packed, standing room only, while the game played out on television. I guzzled Corona's while the Laker and Celtics waged war in the first half. Callie and MH played a little wire hockey nearby. Unfortunately, the top floor arcade sent us packing at halftime because it was reserved for a private party. No worries, we went to the Westin and watched the 2nd half with Mel, a little cramped in the room but elated with the Lakers' eventual victory.
Callie developed a slight fever that night and sent me out for throat lozenges at 4am to the 24hr Duane Reade pharmacy across the street. There were still revelers on the street, even at 4am, but this was a seedier crowd. Callie was still slightly under the weather on Friday but the Metropolitan Museum of Art was on the docket. We enjoyed an Egyptian exhibit which made us feel better about not going to see the King Tut exhibit in Times Square, a bamboo structure exhibit on the roof, a statue of Perseus holding Medusa's head, a Picasso exhibit, and many other breathtaking works of art. We might have stayed longer but Callie was tired and we were going to Citifield and the Mets' game that night. But before going back to the Westin we stopped for what else, pizza, at Patsy's on 60th. Patsy's had once been Patsy Grimaldi's but had broken off from Grimaldi's and had to change their name so that now there's a "Patsy's" and a "Grimaldi's". The girls loved Patsy's but I wasn't so thrilled. Maybe it was the amount of pizza I had been eating but the truth is, Mel, she of the full heart, had actually made two other unauthorized pizza purchases at non-researched locales while out shopping.
The 7 train to Citifield in Queens was much easier than the last time we'd taken it to Shea. Andy was waiting for us along with John Hughes and Andy's 2 sons, 16yr old 6'3 Richie and 10yr old Andrew. MH was happy to find poutine (a French fries/gravy/cheese curd concoction) called Disco Frites at Citifield. In the baseball game, the Mets came back to beat the Florida Marlins. Once back in Times Square, we showed Mel the humongous Toys R Us before I ushered Callie up to bed.
Saturday morning we went back to Queens, this time to Astoria and Mojave Restaurant on 31st St where Anna's youngest son, Patrick, a New York City cop in the Bayside precinct joined us with his girlfriend, Beth. The food was delicious and so was the walk around the old neighborhood I had been as smitten with as a young boy. First, to Rosario's, the Italian store where Anna buys her sausage. Who did we see there but Joey, her brother? We walked down Ditmars eastward a bit and then back up Ditmars to Le Guli's where John treated us to the best Italian Ice. Done eating, right? Wrong. The last stop was Rose and Joe's, the little bakery under the El. This time the pizza was fresh and hot. Asking Anna to lug it to Yankee Stadium had been a mistake on my part. This was what I remembered. Right out of the oven it rivals Bleecker St, Johns, Grimaldis, etc and we all shared a couple of slices despite the fact we'd eaten less than an hour before and had just had Italian ice.
The N train took us back to Manhattan and we took Mel on a walk through Central Park. We enjoyed the Pond and went to a playground Callie enjoyed on our first trip to the city a few years ago. Similar to what happened at the Burger Joint in the Le Meridien Hotel, Callie remembered the playground as soon as she saw it. I had fun jogging her memories like that. We watched a bit of a softball game and then escaped the heat in the Time Warner Center. I left the girls so they could shop and walked home down 8th Ave to pack.
Our last night in the city consisted of a walk southward to Madison Square Garden and then to the world's largest department store, Macy's. MH was thrilled by the wooden escalators which jogged a memory from my childhood and one of the rare trips into the city I'd made with my Mom and Aunt Gloria to see the Empire State Building and the store where my Uncle Armand worked, Macy's. Mel bought a Coach purse and we admired the majestic Empire State Building from 34th and Broadway.
I think the girls could have stayed another week in New York City. We were treated wonderfully and ate like kings. What a place! What a city! I can't imagine a bigger, more impressive location. Surely, Manhattan must be at the forefront of great places on Earth. It has the energy and excitement of Las Vegas but spread out over miles and miles. And Las Vegas excites mainly the gambler whereas New York speaks to everyone. She certainly spoke to us. I'll never ever eat more pizza over a 7 day period than the 7 days we just passed on vacation and that's only the beginning; beloved family, 2 baseball games, Central Park, Broadway, Times Square, Ground Zero, Little Italy, Soho, 14th St, 5th Ave, Coney Island, Astoria, Greenwich Village, Serendipity, the Met. What a week! What a vacation!
Monday, July 27, 2009
Colorado Rocky Mountain High
Denver.
I'll admit I was concerned about our summer vacation. Marie-Hélène and Callie had returned from Québec less than 48 hours before we set out for Colorado. Not one but two freeway closures caused us to be 10 minutes late to our 430am meeting with a taxi in El Segundo so thinking quickly, I decided to use Wally Park and hope my friend Dave could come through for me. If not, I'd pay the tab upon our return but at least there would be no way we'd miss our flight.
Soon after arriving at Denver Airport we drove our rental car off the Enterprise lot and were on our way. Knowing we'd be hungry, I'd picked out a restaurant on the Internet in Aurora, the Bent Fork Grill, which was on our way to Colorado Springs. The Bent Fork Grill came through with some delicious burgers and we were off to Garden of the Gods Park.
Garden of the Gods was beautiful. Many people were rock climbing, some up ridiculous sheer walls, but we stuck to the walking path. Amazingly this popular tourist destination is free. The jagged red-orange crags were mesmerizing. I felt like we should have paid at least $10 or $20 a person for admission. We were certainly quite a ways from Burbank and our vacation was underway for real.
From Garden of the Gods we drove to the Manitou Cliff Dwellings. This did cost some money, $26.50 for the 3 of us. The Cliff Dwellings were fascinating and Callie had spent much of 3rd and 4th grade learning about Native Americans such as the Anasazi who had once lived there. Located right at the base of Pike's Peak, which was the inspiration for the song "America the Beautiful", the dwellings have been there for centuries and it's fun to imagine what people's lives must have been like there, the last outpost for travelers heading west who ran smack into the Rockies, above the fruited plain indeed.
After downing an icy snow cone to try and beat the formidable heat, we went to Old Colorado City to see if we could get an Old West feel. We were charmed by the main street lined with antique shops, bars, eateries, art shops, and dessert places. We were tempted to sample more of the town but we were due at our friends' Bill and Marie Nolan's house.
I met Bill my very first day working at Foto Kem 24 years ago. We hit it off immediately despite the fact Bill can be quite imposing. Well read, well spoken and chock full of interesting stories and experiences, one can see the rebel biker reflected in the myriad of tattoos on Bill's person but upon closer inspection, one soon realizes a good person exists underneath the layers of muscle. We grew close and ended up having so many conversations over the years, some light and airy and some serious as death, while we earned each others' trust and respect and I'm proud to say Bill became a mentor to me, a great person to learn from and a great friend.
Bill first married Marie in the early 90's but a love that was right had happened at the wrong time and the two of them drifted apart for a few years, both knowing they'd eventually reunite and they did, getting married a second time and relocating to Colorado Springs to be closer to Marie's family.
You can see some people after a while and it feels awkward whereas you can see other people and it's like you were never apart. Bill and I are like that. We immediately fell to talking and all the reasons why we love each other were renewed and reaffirmed right away. I grabbed a shower and Marie made the best meal we had the entire vacation, spaghetti with Italian sausage and salad, not surprising really when you consider Marie's Italian heritage.
After dinner, we set out for Seven Falls in nearby Cheyenne Canon. There was a long wait to get in letting Bill and Marie know for sure that tourist season was in full swing. Bill and I, two peas in a pod, calmed our inner selves while we inched forward at an unbearable pace, practicing our patience and meditation techniques so as not to blow our stacks at the slow progress. Once inside we were rewarded by the sight of the brightly lit waterfall. We all took an elevator up to an observation deck and soaked in the sight. Callie wasn't satisfied with the deck and declared she wanted to climb the stairs directly adjacent to the Falls so we did, very slowly and carefully we did, for it takes a little gumption to climb this staircase, so much so MH decided to stay at the bottom. We saw a live hummingbird in the gift shop afterward which in it's own way was as beautiful as the Falls.
We slept like logs and Marie fixed us a sustaining breakfast of bacon, eggs, and biscuits before our short drive north to Denver, the capitol of Colorado. Bill had told us it was clean and throughout our stay we remarked time and time again how clean the downtown area is. Even alleyways are void of any sort of wrappers or trash on the ground.
Our destination was the Warwick Hotel, home to Denver's only rooftop pool. After checking into the hotel, we went on a quick stroll part way down 16th St Mall. 16th Street Mall isn't really a mall. It's a long street, shop after shop, restaurants, cafes, markets, gift shops, specialty shops all serviced by a free mall shuttle which runs down the center of the street in both directions. This first afternoon we spent some time in Barnes N Noble and only walked a few blocks down the mall because our dear friends, the Biggs, were due to meet us at the hotel.
The Biggs family is made up of Lori, RJ and Hunter. Callie and RJ were kindergarten classmates at McKinley Elementary in Burbank. A close knit group of parents with kids in Mrs Olin's class started a bond and Lori, RJ, and Hunter have sort of become the glue. A couple of years ago they moved to Denver, where Lori is originally from but when they come back to visit, the party is ON. Callie said of Lori, "everyone loves her, you can't not love Lori" and MH and I agreed. A triathlete who diets and trains, she's one of the most positive people I know. Her boys are chips off the old block. RJ is cheerful, funny, and friendly all the time while Hunter is a little bit more rambunctious and playful but just as sweet on the inside.
RJ and Callie experienced none of the shyness a young boy and girl might feel around one another, especially after a separation. I missed their initial greeting because Callie insisted on running to the elevator when she heard they were on the way up. Lori told me the hugs were special. RJ and Callie basically started talking and didn't stop for the entire 4 days we were together. Hunter kept up with the older kids as he always does. Several times I remembered back to my early attempts to befriend Hunter. Day after day I'd have a comment or a gentle poke in the ribs for him. I truly believed I annoyed him into loving me but I'm so glad I did. His hugs, spontaneous bursts of love, and rides on my shoulders are some of my favorite memories of the vacation.
That lazy Sunday we hung around the rowdy pool at the Warwick which is located on the roof of the hotel. There was a barbecue with a bar and a broiling young crowd including one or two characters so intoxicated we kept a wary eye on the kids. The sun was blazing and the skyscrapers of downtown Denver were seemingly right next to us as we drank Coors lights and scarfed down cheeseburgers.
Later, we played some in-room volleyball with an inflatable ball, the 6 of us batting around the beach ball as many times as we could. I marveled at Hunter's athleticism, not so much in the volleyball portion of the game but in the way he scampered around the hotel room after the ball when we'd miss it. He was like a gymnast hopping on or vaulting over the beds, chairs and ottomans, landing softly and surely as if it were nothing and putting the ball back in play.
For dinner, we walked down 16th Street Mall looking for a place to eat. Again, we'd stopped in Barnes N Noble and the kids became so engrossed in books that we lost track of time a bit and left there hungry. We decided on Chili's because MH had never eaten at one. Dinner was good but Callie seemed to know it was going to rain and repeatedly asked us to move inside. When it did start to rain we finally took her suggestion.
I woke early Monday and took the shuttle down 16th Street Mall to Blake St and walked a few short blocks to Coors Field, the Colorado Rockies' home ballpark. I bought 6 tickets for that night's game vs the Arizona Diamondbacks, picked up a chunky strawberry at Jamba Juice for Callie and went back to the room.
The girls were up and waiting for me so we could head over to the Denver Botanical Gardens. Monday was a free admission day and we strolled along and through the paths, admiring the flora as well as the dinosaur reproductions located throughout the gardens.
From there we drove back toward downtown and the state Capitol building, Civic Center Park and the Public Library. On the 13th step of the Capitol building, there's an inscription letting you know you are exactly one mile above sea level.
A childhood friend of mine now living just outside of downtown Denver, Don Rhoades, stopped by to pay us a visit. Don and I chatted for a while in the library and he walked us outside to a hot dog cart where we bought some dogs for lunch.
After an afternoon rest, the Biggs' clan showed up just after 4pm so we could get to the ballgame. We rode the shuttle to Blake St and had a quick dinner at Noodles & Co before walking east down Blake toward Coors Field. Like Wrigley Field in Chicago, Coors Field has several bars along Blake St where Rockies' fans can whet their whistle and I convinced everyone to stop for a photo op and a quick cold one at the Celtic Tavern.
The game was all Rockies but we walked around the stadium eating almost anything in our path despite the pregame noodle meal. We had peanuts, ribs, hot dogs, nachos, and dippin' dots before we were through.
Coors Field was Callie's 22nd major league baseball park and she has a mini-helmet collection of each home team. These helmets are usually used to serve ice cream sundaes in. Coors Field is no different but the kids didn't want ice cream sundaes. They wanted dippin' dots (think little mini rocks of ice cream). While Lori waited in the dippin' dot line and MH waited at the seats with the kids, I channeled my inner Olga Suppa and managed to charm a man at the concession stand where they sold the ice cream sundae mini-helmets for a couple of helmets WITHOUT the ice cream. By the time I'd successfully completed my mission, Lori had already bought the dippin' dots but at least the kids also got Rockies' mini-helmets!
After the game, we walked back to our hotel. I walked Lori and the kids to their car and it started to rain. What started as a little drizzle becameone of the worst storms Denver had seen in the last 40 years. Callie, MH, and I were tucked away safely in our room but Lori got caught in the maelstrom on the way home. It got so bad her windshield was peppered with Lemonhead sized chunks of hail and at one point she took refuge under a freeway overpass for about 15 minutes. We'd learn the next day the tempest was a national story.
Despite what must have been a harrowing experience, Lori and the kids picked us up at 715am the next morning. Our destination was Rocky Mountain State Park. Driving through Boulder we ignored the gray clouds looming ahead and forged ahead despite a light drizzle. Miss Positive(Lori) didn't bat an eye and we arrived at Estes Park hungry for breakfast. After a bite at the Egg and I, we meandered down the sleepy streets of Estes Park. Lori had vacationed there with her parents as a child and we salivated over fresh strawberries being dipped in hot churning chocolate. I found the music store I'd been searching for and picked up a John Denver CD with "Rocky Mountain High" on it.
Finally, we entered the park and headed for Bear Lake. Broad expanses of land with the ever present mountains looming in the distance welcomed us as we rose steadily to a higher elevation. About 7 miles in, we came to a shuttle area which people use when the lot at Bear Lake is full. We turned in and our enthusiasm dimmed as we saw the length of the line of people waiting for the shuttle. Thankfully, it was a really well run operation and within about 15 minutes we were on the way. While we waited, a deer crept down near the waiting crowd on the other side of the parking lot.
The shuttle took us to Bear Lake and here words fail me. Bear Lake was THE most beautiful place I'd ever seen. The sun had come out and there was no longer any threat of rain. In fact, it was downright gorgeous. We took a lot of pictures as we walked along the trail circling the lake. In several spots you could step out on solid rocks jutting out slightly into the water. At one of these spots, MH's inner mama bear came out and as Callie climbed on a slippery rock, MH, in her excitement, exclaimed "Per....Don't...Tell her to come back". It came out like "Per, don't tell her to come back" and to RJ and Hunter, not used to MH's broken English, it was the height of hilarity.
After Bear Lake, we went back to Estes Park and stopped at a place for kids that had a couple of huge slides and bungee jumping among other activities. The kids went down both slides and Callie and RJ tried bungee jumping. They both had a great time but at the end of her time, the teenager helping propel Callie up into the air had his hand slip on the strap and whipped Callie's shoulder. I felt her pain but she bucked up and the Moms made me get the $8.00 bungee price refunded.
We had lunch at an Estes Park pizza joint, listening to music and showing Hunter how to catch quarters off the tip of his elbow like the Fonz or Chachi used to do on the 70's sitcom "Happy Days". After lunch we walked down the tourist filled street that is Estes Park one more time. We had ice cream, cookies, and lolled about the town without a care in the world but Denver was calling us and we piled into Lori's car and enjoyed the easy listening sounds of John Deutschendorf, that is Denver, on the way home.
Lori and the kids dropped us off as they had a dinner engagement so we relaxed in the room for a while. I went down to enjoy the happy hour at Randolph's inside the Warwick. The beer was cheap and ice cold and the appetizers were half price so I called to the room and had the girls come down and join me. Later on we went for our usual walk to 16th St Mall and hopped on the shuttle in search of the giant blue bear that peers into the convention center. We took some pictures and continued on to Larimer Square and ended our walk with some Oregon Blueberry frozen custard at Good Times.
Wednesday morning we slept in a while and met Lori and the kids at the Buckhorn Exchange, Denver's oldest restaurant, open since 1893 on 10th and Osage. I heard about the Buckhorn on the television show "Man vs Food" and I was determined to sample Rocky Mountain Oysters, one of the Buckhorn's specialties. All 6 of us enjoyed the thinly sliced, lightly breaded, deep fried cow testicles with cocktail sauce and horseradish. I don't think any of us will order them again but they weren't horrible and we managed to finish most of them. I guess RJ wasn't really sure what they were and upon learning what he'd eaten, his facial expression was priceless. Our lunches were quite good. Hunter wasn't a big fan of the decor which featured head after head of every type of beast which ever ate a bullet on the frontier.
After lunch it was back to the pool. Since it was now Wednesday, the pool scene was far more quiet than it had been on Sunday. We mostly had the pool to ourselves. We talked, we tanned, we snacked, we played as the sun beat down on us high above the streets of downtown Denver.
After a few showers we decided to return to Noodles and Co for dinner. We LOVED Noodles and Co to the point where we considered opening a Burbank franchise. The Wisconsin Mac and cheese is yummy!! After dinner we showed RJ and Hunter the blue bear statue and took them to Good Times for frozen custard.
Back at the hotel we said good bye to our dear friends, consoled slightly by the fact the Biggs' are coming to Los Angeles in a couple of weeks. We can't thank them enough for showing us around Denver and sharing our vacation experience with us. After four wonderful days together we were really more like one family than two.
Our flight the next day was in the afternoon so we slept in, grabbed a couple of subs from Fontano's, checked out of the hotel and left Denver behind. We all agreed it was our best vacation ever not because of the many sights we'd seen but because of the good friends we'd seen, from Bill and Marie Nolan to Don Rhoades to Lori, RJ, and Hunter. The only casualty might have been John Denver. I don't think Callie wants to hear "Rocky Mountain High" again for a long time.
I'll admit I was concerned about our summer vacation. Marie-Hélène and Callie had returned from Québec less than 48 hours before we set out for Colorado. Not one but two freeway closures caused us to be 10 minutes late to our 430am meeting with a taxi in El Segundo so thinking quickly, I decided to use Wally Park and hope my friend Dave could come through for me. If not, I'd pay the tab upon our return but at least there would be no way we'd miss our flight.
Soon after arriving at Denver Airport we drove our rental car off the Enterprise lot and were on our way. Knowing we'd be hungry, I'd picked out a restaurant on the Internet in Aurora, the Bent Fork Grill, which was on our way to Colorado Springs. The Bent Fork Grill came through with some delicious burgers and we were off to Garden of the Gods Park.
Garden of the Gods was beautiful. Many people were rock climbing, some up ridiculous sheer walls, but we stuck to the walking path. Amazingly this popular tourist destination is free. The jagged red-orange crags were mesmerizing. I felt like we should have paid at least $10 or $20 a person for admission. We were certainly quite a ways from Burbank and our vacation was underway for real.
From Garden of the Gods we drove to the Manitou Cliff Dwellings. This did cost some money, $26.50 for the 3 of us. The Cliff Dwellings were fascinating and Callie had spent much of 3rd and 4th grade learning about Native Americans such as the Anasazi who had once lived there. Located right at the base of Pike's Peak, which was the inspiration for the song "America the Beautiful", the dwellings have been there for centuries and it's fun to imagine what people's lives must have been like there, the last outpost for travelers heading west who ran smack into the Rockies, above the fruited plain indeed.
After downing an icy snow cone to try and beat the formidable heat, we went to Old Colorado City to see if we could get an Old West feel. We were charmed by the main street lined with antique shops, bars, eateries, art shops, and dessert places. We were tempted to sample more of the town but we were due at our friends' Bill and Marie Nolan's house.
I met Bill my very first day working at Foto Kem 24 years ago. We hit it off immediately despite the fact Bill can be quite imposing. Well read, well spoken and chock full of interesting stories and experiences, one can see the rebel biker reflected in the myriad of tattoos on Bill's person but upon closer inspection, one soon realizes a good person exists underneath the layers of muscle. We grew close and ended up having so many conversations over the years, some light and airy and some serious as death, while we earned each others' trust and respect and I'm proud to say Bill became a mentor to me, a great person to learn from and a great friend.
Bill first married Marie in the early 90's but a love that was right had happened at the wrong time and the two of them drifted apart for a few years, both knowing they'd eventually reunite and they did, getting married a second time and relocating to Colorado Springs to be closer to Marie's family.
You can see some people after a while and it feels awkward whereas you can see other people and it's like you were never apart. Bill and I are like that. We immediately fell to talking and all the reasons why we love each other were renewed and reaffirmed right away. I grabbed a shower and Marie made the best meal we had the entire vacation, spaghetti with Italian sausage and salad, not surprising really when you consider Marie's Italian heritage.
After dinner, we set out for Seven Falls in nearby Cheyenne Canon. There was a long wait to get in letting Bill and Marie know for sure that tourist season was in full swing. Bill and I, two peas in a pod, calmed our inner selves while we inched forward at an unbearable pace, practicing our patience and meditation techniques so as not to blow our stacks at the slow progress. Once inside we were rewarded by the sight of the brightly lit waterfall. We all took an elevator up to an observation deck and soaked in the sight. Callie wasn't satisfied with the deck and declared she wanted to climb the stairs directly adjacent to the Falls so we did, very slowly and carefully we did, for it takes a little gumption to climb this staircase, so much so MH decided to stay at the bottom. We saw a live hummingbird in the gift shop afterward which in it's own way was as beautiful as the Falls.
We slept like logs and Marie fixed us a sustaining breakfast of bacon, eggs, and biscuits before our short drive north to Denver, the capitol of Colorado. Bill had told us it was clean and throughout our stay we remarked time and time again how clean the downtown area is. Even alleyways are void of any sort of wrappers or trash on the ground.
Our destination was the Warwick Hotel, home to Denver's only rooftop pool. After checking into the hotel, we went on a quick stroll part way down 16th St Mall. 16th Street Mall isn't really a mall. It's a long street, shop after shop, restaurants, cafes, markets, gift shops, specialty shops all serviced by a free mall shuttle which runs down the center of the street in both directions. This first afternoon we spent some time in Barnes N Noble and only walked a few blocks down the mall because our dear friends, the Biggs, were due to meet us at the hotel.
The Biggs family is made up of Lori, RJ and Hunter. Callie and RJ were kindergarten classmates at McKinley Elementary in Burbank. A close knit group of parents with kids in Mrs Olin's class started a bond and Lori, RJ, and Hunter have sort of become the glue. A couple of years ago they moved to Denver, where Lori is originally from but when they come back to visit, the party is ON. Callie said of Lori, "everyone loves her, you can't not love Lori" and MH and I agreed. A triathlete who diets and trains, she's one of the most positive people I know. Her boys are chips off the old block. RJ is cheerful, funny, and friendly all the time while Hunter is a little bit more rambunctious and playful but just as sweet on the inside.
RJ and Callie experienced none of the shyness a young boy and girl might feel around one another, especially after a separation. I missed their initial greeting because Callie insisted on running to the elevator when she heard they were on the way up. Lori told me the hugs were special. RJ and Callie basically started talking and didn't stop for the entire 4 days we were together. Hunter kept up with the older kids as he always does. Several times I remembered back to my early attempts to befriend Hunter. Day after day I'd have a comment or a gentle poke in the ribs for him. I truly believed I annoyed him into loving me but I'm so glad I did. His hugs, spontaneous bursts of love, and rides on my shoulders are some of my favorite memories of the vacation.
That lazy Sunday we hung around the rowdy pool at the Warwick which is located on the roof of the hotel. There was a barbecue with a bar and a broiling young crowd including one or two characters so intoxicated we kept a wary eye on the kids. The sun was blazing and the skyscrapers of downtown Denver were seemingly right next to us as we drank Coors lights and scarfed down cheeseburgers.
Later, we played some in-room volleyball with an inflatable ball, the 6 of us batting around the beach ball as many times as we could. I marveled at Hunter's athleticism, not so much in the volleyball portion of the game but in the way he scampered around the hotel room after the ball when we'd miss it. He was like a gymnast hopping on or vaulting over the beds, chairs and ottomans, landing softly and surely as if it were nothing and putting the ball back in play.
For dinner, we walked down 16th Street Mall looking for a place to eat. Again, we'd stopped in Barnes N Noble and the kids became so engrossed in books that we lost track of time a bit and left there hungry. We decided on Chili's because MH had never eaten at one. Dinner was good but Callie seemed to know it was going to rain and repeatedly asked us to move inside. When it did start to rain we finally took her suggestion.
I woke early Monday and took the shuttle down 16th Street Mall to Blake St and walked a few short blocks to Coors Field, the Colorado Rockies' home ballpark. I bought 6 tickets for that night's game vs the Arizona Diamondbacks, picked up a chunky strawberry at Jamba Juice for Callie and went back to the room.
The girls were up and waiting for me so we could head over to the Denver Botanical Gardens. Monday was a free admission day and we strolled along and through the paths, admiring the flora as well as the dinosaur reproductions located throughout the gardens.
From there we drove back toward downtown and the state Capitol building, Civic Center Park and the Public Library. On the 13th step of the Capitol building, there's an inscription letting you know you are exactly one mile above sea level.
A childhood friend of mine now living just outside of downtown Denver, Don Rhoades, stopped by to pay us a visit. Don and I chatted for a while in the library and he walked us outside to a hot dog cart where we bought some dogs for lunch.
After an afternoon rest, the Biggs' clan showed up just after 4pm so we could get to the ballgame. We rode the shuttle to Blake St and had a quick dinner at Noodles & Co before walking east down Blake toward Coors Field. Like Wrigley Field in Chicago, Coors Field has several bars along Blake St where Rockies' fans can whet their whistle and I convinced everyone to stop for a photo op and a quick cold one at the Celtic Tavern.
The game was all Rockies but we walked around the stadium eating almost anything in our path despite the pregame noodle meal. We had peanuts, ribs, hot dogs, nachos, and dippin' dots before we were through.
Coors Field was Callie's 22nd major league baseball park and she has a mini-helmet collection of each home team. These helmets are usually used to serve ice cream sundaes in. Coors Field is no different but the kids didn't want ice cream sundaes. They wanted dippin' dots (think little mini rocks of ice cream). While Lori waited in the dippin' dot line and MH waited at the seats with the kids, I channeled my inner Olga Suppa and managed to charm a man at the concession stand where they sold the ice cream sundae mini-helmets for a couple of helmets WITHOUT the ice cream. By the time I'd successfully completed my mission, Lori had already bought the dippin' dots but at least the kids also got Rockies' mini-helmets!
After the game, we walked back to our hotel. I walked Lori and the kids to their car and it started to rain. What started as a little drizzle becameone of the worst storms Denver had seen in the last 40 years. Callie, MH, and I were tucked away safely in our room but Lori got caught in the maelstrom on the way home. It got so bad her windshield was peppered with Lemonhead sized chunks of hail and at one point she took refuge under a freeway overpass for about 15 minutes. We'd learn the next day the tempest was a national story.
Despite what must have been a harrowing experience, Lori and the kids picked us up at 715am the next morning. Our destination was Rocky Mountain State Park. Driving through Boulder we ignored the gray clouds looming ahead and forged ahead despite a light drizzle. Miss Positive(Lori) didn't bat an eye and we arrived at Estes Park hungry for breakfast. After a bite at the Egg and I, we meandered down the sleepy streets of Estes Park. Lori had vacationed there with her parents as a child and we salivated over fresh strawberries being dipped in hot churning chocolate. I found the music store I'd been searching for and picked up a John Denver CD with "Rocky Mountain High" on it.
Finally, we entered the park and headed for Bear Lake. Broad expanses of land with the ever present mountains looming in the distance welcomed us as we rose steadily to a higher elevation. About 7 miles in, we came to a shuttle area which people use when the lot at Bear Lake is full. We turned in and our enthusiasm dimmed as we saw the length of the line of people waiting for the shuttle. Thankfully, it was a really well run operation and within about 15 minutes we were on the way. While we waited, a deer crept down near the waiting crowd on the other side of the parking lot.
The shuttle took us to Bear Lake and here words fail me. Bear Lake was THE most beautiful place I'd ever seen. The sun had come out and there was no longer any threat of rain. In fact, it was downright gorgeous. We took a lot of pictures as we walked along the trail circling the lake. In several spots you could step out on solid rocks jutting out slightly into the water. At one of these spots, MH's inner mama bear came out and as Callie climbed on a slippery rock, MH, in her excitement, exclaimed "Per....Don't...Tell her to come back". It came out like "Per, don't tell her to come back" and to RJ and Hunter, not used to MH's broken English, it was the height of hilarity.
After Bear Lake, we went back to Estes Park and stopped at a place for kids that had a couple of huge slides and bungee jumping among other activities. The kids went down both slides and Callie and RJ tried bungee jumping. They both had a great time but at the end of her time, the teenager helping propel Callie up into the air had his hand slip on the strap and whipped Callie's shoulder. I felt her pain but she bucked up and the Moms made me get the $8.00 bungee price refunded.
We had lunch at an Estes Park pizza joint, listening to music and showing Hunter how to catch quarters off the tip of his elbow like the Fonz or Chachi used to do on the 70's sitcom "Happy Days". After lunch we walked down the tourist filled street that is Estes Park one more time. We had ice cream, cookies, and lolled about the town without a care in the world but Denver was calling us and we piled into Lori's car and enjoyed the easy listening sounds of John Deutschendorf, that is Denver, on the way home.
Lori and the kids dropped us off as they had a dinner engagement so we relaxed in the room for a while. I went down to enjoy the happy hour at Randolph's inside the Warwick. The beer was cheap and ice cold and the appetizers were half price so I called to the room and had the girls come down and join me. Later on we went for our usual walk to 16th St Mall and hopped on the shuttle in search of the giant blue bear that peers into the convention center. We took some pictures and continued on to Larimer Square and ended our walk with some Oregon Blueberry frozen custard at Good Times.
Wednesday morning we slept in a while and met Lori and the kids at the Buckhorn Exchange, Denver's oldest restaurant, open since 1893 on 10th and Osage. I heard about the Buckhorn on the television show "Man vs Food" and I was determined to sample Rocky Mountain Oysters, one of the Buckhorn's specialties. All 6 of us enjoyed the thinly sliced, lightly breaded, deep fried cow testicles with cocktail sauce and horseradish. I don't think any of us will order them again but they weren't horrible and we managed to finish most of them. I guess RJ wasn't really sure what they were and upon learning what he'd eaten, his facial expression was priceless. Our lunches were quite good. Hunter wasn't a big fan of the decor which featured head after head of every type of beast which ever ate a bullet on the frontier.
After lunch it was back to the pool. Since it was now Wednesday, the pool scene was far more quiet than it had been on Sunday. We mostly had the pool to ourselves. We talked, we tanned, we snacked, we played as the sun beat down on us high above the streets of downtown Denver.
After a few showers we decided to return to Noodles and Co for dinner. We LOVED Noodles and Co to the point where we considered opening a Burbank franchise. The Wisconsin Mac and cheese is yummy!! After dinner we showed RJ and Hunter the blue bear statue and took them to Good Times for frozen custard.
Back at the hotel we said good bye to our dear friends, consoled slightly by the fact the Biggs' are coming to Los Angeles in a couple of weeks. We can't thank them enough for showing us around Denver and sharing our vacation experience with us. After four wonderful days together we were really more like one family than two.
Our flight the next day was in the afternoon so we slept in, grabbed a couple of subs from Fontano's, checked out of the hotel and left Denver behind. We all agreed it was our best vacation ever not because of the many sights we'd seen but because of the good friends we'd seen, from Bill and Marie Nolan to Don Rhoades to Lori, RJ, and Hunter. The only casualty might have been John Denver. I don't think Callie wants to hear "Rocky Mountain High" again for a long time.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Soup's #1 Seeds
March madness addicts are strewn across the country tonight waiting patiently for selection Sunday. Anyone hooked on the NCAA tournament as long as I've been knows to be done mowing the lawn or playing catch with the kids by 255pm so you won't miss a minute of the festivities on CBS.
The 2009 tournament is starting to become clear to me at the top. The #1 seed in the tournament has to be the Louisville Cardinals. True, they caught a break getting Pitt at home in Louisville and not at the Petersen Events Center but they won the Big East regular season title AND the Big East Championship. That's enough for me.
FYI-When you hear basketball cognescenti talk about an "NBA body", they mean a body like Earl Clark. Clark and Terrence Williams, boosted by the solid inside contributions of Freshman Samardo Samuels, have put it together.
I thought this team had a solid shot to win the NCAA championship but winning the Big East Tournament doesn't help toward that goal, in fact I think it hurts their chances but they've earned the #1 seed.
The second #1 seed goes to North Carolina. They were ranked higher than Pitt going into the conference tournaments and they won a game in the ACC tournament whereas Pitt lost their first game in the Big East tourney to West Virginia.
Pitt then becomes the third #1 seed. True, Connecticut showed tons of heart in the 6-ot thriller that rocked Manhattan Thursday night but Pitt beat them twice head to head, both times when UConn was the #1 team in the country.
Connecticut or Memphis is tougher to call for the last #1 seed. I understand people not giving Memphis much credit for steamrolling through Conference USA but they've won 25 straight games and they did reach the final last year.
Memphis nudges UConn to a #2 seed but those two teams should be placed in the same bracket so they can settle it on the floor. Oklahoma and Pitt should be in the same bracket so the clash of the titans, DeJuan Blair and Blake Griffin, can become a reality.
I like Gonzaga as a dark horse but I think Pitt wins the NCAA tournament over Memphis (if they're on opposite sides of the bracket). As a Pitt fan, the team I don't want to play is Connecticut. It's hard to beat a great team like that three straight times and I'd prefer a new challenge so I'm hoping someone else will knock of the Huskies but I'm not a sadist, it's okay if they lose in regulation.
The 2009 tournament is starting to become clear to me at the top. The #1 seed in the tournament has to be the Louisville Cardinals. True, they caught a break getting Pitt at home in Louisville and not at the Petersen Events Center but they won the Big East regular season title AND the Big East Championship. That's enough for me.
FYI-When you hear basketball cognescenti talk about an "NBA body", they mean a body like Earl Clark. Clark and Terrence Williams, boosted by the solid inside contributions of Freshman Samardo Samuels, have put it together.
I thought this team had a solid shot to win the NCAA championship but winning the Big East Tournament doesn't help toward that goal, in fact I think it hurts their chances but they've earned the #1 seed.
The second #1 seed goes to North Carolina. They were ranked higher than Pitt going into the conference tournaments and they won a game in the ACC tournament whereas Pitt lost their first game in the Big East tourney to West Virginia.
Pitt then becomes the third #1 seed. True, Connecticut showed tons of heart in the 6-ot thriller that rocked Manhattan Thursday night but Pitt beat them twice head to head, both times when UConn was the #1 team in the country.
Connecticut or Memphis is tougher to call for the last #1 seed. I understand people not giving Memphis much credit for steamrolling through Conference USA but they've won 25 straight games and they did reach the final last year.
Memphis nudges UConn to a #2 seed but those two teams should be placed in the same bracket so they can settle it on the floor. Oklahoma and Pitt should be in the same bracket so the clash of the titans, DeJuan Blair and Blake Griffin, can become a reality.
I like Gonzaga as a dark horse but I think Pitt wins the NCAA tournament over Memphis (if they're on opposite sides of the bracket). As a Pitt fan, the team I don't want to play is Connecticut. It's hard to beat a great team like that three straight times and I'd prefer a new challenge so I'm hoping someone else will knock of the Huskies but I'm not a sadist, it's okay if they lose in regulation.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Pitt beats UConn again
Sam Young played his last game at the Petersen Events Center today. He went out in style. Against #1 ranked Connecticut, Young poured in a season high 31 points on 13 of 23 shooting from the field and chipped in 11 rebounds.
Young could be drawing an NBA paycheck right now but he decided to stick around for his senior season, perhaps out of loyalty to coach Jamie Dixon. Dixon, you see, has a habit of finding players who are deemed too small or too slow or too unrefined for the rigors of the Big East, but he manages to mold them into a cohesive, winning unit, greater than the sum of its parts.
For 2 years, Young had to be patient. As a Freshman and again as a sophomore Young scored under 8 points per game. Last year, as a Junior, Young broke out leading the team at 18.1 ppg.
The NBA took notice and many feel Young could have been a first round draft pick, guaranteed money according to the Association's bylaws.
One has to believe Young is happy with his decision to stay. He's been a part of several firsts this season. This year was the first time Pitt ever beat the #1 team in the country(which they've now done twice after today's victory). Pitt was also the #1 team in the country for the first time in their history this season(which they also did twice and might do a 3rd time).
Young has been an integral part of their success. Again, he leads the team in scoring, this time at 18.4 ppg. His unorthodox pump fake has drawn national attention. Any advance scouting report on the Panthers has to note Young's uncanny knack for getting opposing defenders to leave their feet yet players still fall for the fake, game after game, as Young drives around them for dunks, lay-ins or soft pull up jumpers.
One reason the fake works so well is that Young can shoot. Last year, he led Pitt from beyond the arc at 38.3. This year, his percentage is slightly lower at 34.8 but the NCAA moved the line back a bit from last season. One gets a sense of Young's work ethic by looking at his 3 point percentage as a Freshman(19%) and a sophomore(31%). This guy has worked on his game and it's paid off.
Teaming up with sophomore DeJuan Blair and classmate Levance Fields, Young and Pitt just might have locked up a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament today with their 70-60 win over UConn. With only 3 losses, all on the road, the selection committee will have to consider Pitt a #1 seed even if they suffer an upset in the Big East Tournament in New York next week.
I'm sure Young and his teammates still have their sights set on bigger goals but Young's unselfish decision to stay in school has made that all possible. In this era of one-and-done, take the money and run college hoops, Jamie Dixon, the winningest coach percentage-wise in Big East HISTORY has inspired loyalty in his charges and shown the rest of the nation you don't have to have a roster full of McDonald's all-americans(or any McDonald's all-americans for that matter) to compete and succeed at the highest level of college basketball.
Young could be drawing an NBA paycheck right now but he decided to stick around for his senior season, perhaps out of loyalty to coach Jamie Dixon. Dixon, you see, has a habit of finding players who are deemed too small or too slow or too unrefined for the rigors of the Big East, but he manages to mold them into a cohesive, winning unit, greater than the sum of its parts.
For 2 years, Young had to be patient. As a Freshman and again as a sophomore Young scored under 8 points per game. Last year, as a Junior, Young broke out leading the team at 18.1 ppg.
The NBA took notice and many feel Young could have been a first round draft pick, guaranteed money according to the Association's bylaws.
One has to believe Young is happy with his decision to stay. He's been a part of several firsts this season. This year was the first time Pitt ever beat the #1 team in the country(which they've now done twice after today's victory). Pitt was also the #1 team in the country for the first time in their history this season(which they also did twice and might do a 3rd time).
Young has been an integral part of their success. Again, he leads the team in scoring, this time at 18.4 ppg. His unorthodox pump fake has drawn national attention. Any advance scouting report on the Panthers has to note Young's uncanny knack for getting opposing defenders to leave their feet yet players still fall for the fake, game after game, as Young drives around them for dunks, lay-ins or soft pull up jumpers.
One reason the fake works so well is that Young can shoot. Last year, he led Pitt from beyond the arc at 38.3. This year, his percentage is slightly lower at 34.8 but the NCAA moved the line back a bit from last season. One gets a sense of Young's work ethic by looking at his 3 point percentage as a Freshman(19%) and a sophomore(31%). This guy has worked on his game and it's paid off.
Teaming up with sophomore DeJuan Blair and classmate Levance Fields, Young and Pitt just might have locked up a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament today with their 70-60 win over UConn. With only 3 losses, all on the road, the selection committee will have to consider Pitt a #1 seed even if they suffer an upset in the Big East Tournament in New York next week.
I'm sure Young and his teammates still have their sights set on bigger goals but Young's unselfish decision to stay in school has made that all possible. In this era of one-and-done, take the money and run college hoops, Jamie Dixon, the winningest coach percentage-wise in Big East HISTORY has inspired loyalty in his charges and shown the rest of the nation you don't have to have a roster full of McDonald's all-americans(or any McDonald's all-americans for that matter) to compete and succeed at the highest level of college basketball.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Dejuan Blair draft position
I'm guessing Pitt's Dejaun Blair is vaguely familiar with the 80's band The Clash and their 1981 hit "Should I Stay or Should I Go". Soon, the 6-6 sophomore will have to ask himself that very question about whether or not to leave his beloved Pitt and apply for the 2009 NBA draft.
The question is where would Blair go in the draft? Is he a first rounder? Is he a lottery pick? The answer could surely affect his decision but it wouldn't necessarily be the only factor.
There are plenty of reasons for Blair to stay in school. First and foremost, Blair is from Pittsburgh. He went to Schenley High School about a mile from the University of Pittsburgh campus. His upbeat personality combined with his on the court exploits could make Blair one of the city's most famous sons but Pittsburgh doesn't even have an NBA franchise so he may decide to stay home as long as possible.
Some people didn't feel like Blair, at 6-6, was big enough to be effective in major college basketball, especially the rough and tumble Big East conference. Perhaps they didn't take into account his 7-foot wing span or the tenacity that makes Blair college basketball's best offensive rebounder. His loyalty to Pitt coach Jamie Dixon could well be another factor in his decision.
After last season, Pitt forward Sam Young was faced with the same question. Young elected to stay and now teams with Blair to form one of the nations best tandems on one of the nation's best teams. Young, a senior, will no doubt go in the first round of the 2009 draft.
There's no doubt, Blair is under-sized yet the list of taller big men whom Blair has outplayed continues to grow. Blair has erased the doubt in the minds of those who didn't think he could dominate D1 hoops but now the same sorts of questions will arise about his ability to do the same thing in the pros.
I haven't seen all of the NBA prospects. Indeed, I don't watch as much college basketball as I'd like to and I know practically nothing about the European players which creep their way into the draft every year. I watch Pitt religiously and I'll catch a few other games during the course of the season but until March Madness gets underway, my viewing oppurtunities are limited. From what I've seen though, I'd consider Blair as the #1 pick overall. No one, with the exception of Oklahoma's Blake Griffin, another sophomore, is dominating the college game the way Blair is.
One NBA mock draft I found on the internet had Griffin going #1 overall while Blair was way down the list at #23. Granted, the NBA draft is about "upside", a term used to describe what a player will or could be rather than what he currently is. In the same mock draft that had Griffin going #1, UConn's Haseem Thabeet, all 7-3 inches of him, was penciled it at #2. For those of you who saw Pitt and Blair dismantle Thabeet and his Huskies this past Monday, you might question that assessment. Let's just say it's easier to imagine someone 7-3 developing into an NBA star ahead of someone who's 6-6.
Still, some of the players on the list ahead of Blair are ridiculous(Arizona's Chase Budinger?). I have a hard time imagining there are 22 players out there I'd rather have on my NBA team than Blair. The problem for those who search too hard for upside is they sometimes forget to see what's already there.
Success at the college level doesn't necessarily equate to success in the pros. Duke's JJ Redick and Gonzaga's Adam Morrison are two recent players that come to mind. They were in programs which took maximum advantage of their skill sets and I'm surprised they were drafted as high as they were(Morrison #3, Redick #11 in 2006). A long, NBA like body, also doesn't guarantee NBA success(Patrick O'Bryant, Saer Sene, and Hilton Armstrong-#'s 9,10, and 12 from 2006).
NBA teams would be wise to look closely at Blair. Look at what he's done, how quickly he's improved. As a Pitt fan, I certainly don't want him to leave for the pros, but when he does, I've begun to expect him to gobble up offensive rebounds by the dozen, put in the easy put backs, and continue to display the work ethic, attitude, and selflessness that make him an excellent teammate.
The question is where would Blair go in the draft? Is he a first rounder? Is he a lottery pick? The answer could surely affect his decision but it wouldn't necessarily be the only factor.
There are plenty of reasons for Blair to stay in school. First and foremost, Blair is from Pittsburgh. He went to Schenley High School about a mile from the University of Pittsburgh campus. His upbeat personality combined with his on the court exploits could make Blair one of the city's most famous sons but Pittsburgh doesn't even have an NBA franchise so he may decide to stay home as long as possible.
Some people didn't feel like Blair, at 6-6, was big enough to be effective in major college basketball, especially the rough and tumble Big East conference. Perhaps they didn't take into account his 7-foot wing span or the tenacity that makes Blair college basketball's best offensive rebounder. His loyalty to Pitt coach Jamie Dixon could well be another factor in his decision.
After last season, Pitt forward Sam Young was faced with the same question. Young elected to stay and now teams with Blair to form one of the nations best tandems on one of the nation's best teams. Young, a senior, will no doubt go in the first round of the 2009 draft.
There's no doubt, Blair is under-sized yet the list of taller big men whom Blair has outplayed continues to grow. Blair has erased the doubt in the minds of those who didn't think he could dominate D1 hoops but now the same sorts of questions will arise about his ability to do the same thing in the pros.
I haven't seen all of the NBA prospects. Indeed, I don't watch as much college basketball as I'd like to and I know practically nothing about the European players which creep their way into the draft every year. I watch Pitt religiously and I'll catch a few other games during the course of the season but until March Madness gets underway, my viewing oppurtunities are limited. From what I've seen though, I'd consider Blair as the #1 pick overall. No one, with the exception of Oklahoma's Blake Griffin, another sophomore, is dominating the college game the way Blair is.
One NBA mock draft I found on the internet had Griffin going #1 overall while Blair was way down the list at #23. Granted, the NBA draft is about "upside", a term used to describe what a player will or could be rather than what he currently is. In the same mock draft that had Griffin going #1, UConn's Haseem Thabeet, all 7-3 inches of him, was penciled it at #2. For those of you who saw Pitt and Blair dismantle Thabeet and his Huskies this past Monday, you might question that assessment. Let's just say it's easier to imagine someone 7-3 developing into an NBA star ahead of someone who's 6-6.
Still, some of the players on the list ahead of Blair are ridiculous(Arizona's Chase Budinger?). I have a hard time imagining there are 22 players out there I'd rather have on my NBA team than Blair. The problem for those who search too hard for upside is they sometimes forget to see what's already there.
Success at the college level doesn't necessarily equate to success in the pros. Duke's JJ Redick and Gonzaga's Adam Morrison are two recent players that come to mind. They were in programs which took maximum advantage of their skill sets and I'm surprised they were drafted as high as they were(Morrison #3, Redick #11 in 2006). A long, NBA like body, also doesn't guarantee NBA success(Patrick O'Bryant, Saer Sene, and Hilton Armstrong-#'s 9,10, and 12 from 2006).
NBA teams would be wise to look closely at Blair. Look at what he's done, how quickly he's improved. As a Pitt fan, I certainly don't want him to leave for the pros, but when he does, I've begun to expect him to gobble up offensive rebounds by the dozen, put in the easy put backs, and continue to display the work ethic, attitude, and selflessness that make him an excellent teammate.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Pitt beats up UConn
There's no truth to the rumor a member of the XL Center janitorial staff in Hartford picked up Hasheem Thabeet's ulna bone off the court after Monday's game against Pitt but it was a little scary to see the ferocity with which Pitt's Dejaun Blair ripped down a rebound with Thabeet's arm caught in the proverbial cookie jar. The sheer force of Blair securing the ball lifted Thabeet completely off the ground, up and over Blair's head where he landed, hard, on the other side. Free advice to Big East big men: if you're contesting D.Blair for a rebound and he gets his hands on the ball, scream "you, you, you" and run down to the other end.
Blair finished with 22 points and 23 rebounds and Sudden Sam Young led the Panthers with 25 points to help the Panthers upset #1 ranked Connecticut on the road 76-68, the first time Pitt had beaten a #1 ranked team.
Levance Fields, held scoreless most of the game, came to life with back to back treys late in the game. Fields leads the nation in assist to turnover ratio, an underappreciated statistic ignored by the casual fan. The form on Fields jumper is far from perfect but the senior never fails to rise to the occasion. He had a couple of shaky possessions down the stretch yesterday but he also hit the aforementioned three pointers. The fact is the ball will end up in his hands down the stretch of a close game and he's proven time and again he'll make the right decision.
The difference though between Pitt now and Pitt early in the season is the maturation of junior college transfer Jermaine Dixon. Dixon has gotten better in Big East play and he's just what Pitt needed, a ball handling athletic shooter who can take some ballhandling pressure off Fields and/or hit a big three as he did late against the Huskies.
Right now, this Pitt team looks like a #1 seed but with games against Marquette and UConn again before heading into the Big East tournament, their work isn't done. Still, I can't help but imagine a Pitt-Oklahoma game with Blair and fellow sophomore Blake Griffin flexing their games with the national championship on the line. Don't bet against the man who will most likely be the mayor of Pittsburgh when his playing days are over. Pitt's first local recruit in years, Blair is a great teammate according to Coach Dixon, but he is absolutely not a great opponent, just ask Hasheem Thabeet.
Blair finished with 22 points and 23 rebounds and Sudden Sam Young led the Panthers with 25 points to help the Panthers upset #1 ranked Connecticut on the road 76-68, the first time Pitt had beaten a #1 ranked team.
Levance Fields, held scoreless most of the game, came to life with back to back treys late in the game. Fields leads the nation in assist to turnover ratio, an underappreciated statistic ignored by the casual fan. The form on Fields jumper is far from perfect but the senior never fails to rise to the occasion. He had a couple of shaky possessions down the stretch yesterday but he also hit the aforementioned three pointers. The fact is the ball will end up in his hands down the stretch of a close game and he's proven time and again he'll make the right decision.
The difference though between Pitt now and Pitt early in the season is the maturation of junior college transfer Jermaine Dixon. Dixon has gotten better in Big East play and he's just what Pitt needed, a ball handling athletic shooter who can take some ballhandling pressure off Fields and/or hit a big three as he did late against the Huskies.
Right now, this Pitt team looks like a #1 seed but with games against Marquette and UConn again before heading into the Big East tournament, their work isn't done. Still, I can't help but imagine a Pitt-Oklahoma game with Blair and fellow sophomore Blake Griffin flexing their games with the national championship on the line. Don't bet against the man who will most likely be the mayor of Pittsburgh when his playing days are over. Pitt's first local recruit in years, Blair is a great teammate according to Coach Dixon, but he is absolutely not a great opponent, just ask Hasheem Thabeet.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)