Baseball game off day so Rick and I did our own personal tour of New York. We left our hotel in Jersey for Queens and a stop at Flushing. Our first site was the United States Tennis Center, home of the U.S. Open. This is a view from the courtyard of the Arthur Ashe Stadium where the championship match of the U.S. Open is held. In the foreground, a statue commemorating the late, great Arthur Ashe shows him preparing to serve. It was really neat to see all the children in their tennis camps on the secondary courts.
Across from the tennis center is the old and the new of the New York Metropolitans. This view peeks into Shea Stadium which will be closed following this season. Like their cross-town rival Yankees, the Mets are building a brand new ballpark for 2009. This picture shows the mural honoring the Amazin's 1969 World Championship.
And this is a view of the new. No offense to Yankee fans, but the new Mets stadium which will be known as Citi Field is phenomenal. Modeled after the Dodgers' old stadium in Brooklyn, Ebbetts Field, Citi Field combines the best of the modern with the historic. The entry, with its arched windows, is a beautiful duplication of Ebbetts. On a side note, there remains controversy over the Mets' decision to sell the naming rights to Citi Bank. New Yorkers and Mets fans were clamoring for the new stadium to be named Jackie Robinson Stadium. It would have been a fitting memorial, especially since the stadium is located on Roosevelt Avenue in Queens. Nevertheless, as is the case in the modern era, the Mets took the money and ran and so the new ballpark will be named for after a bank.
The view on the approach to the historic Brooklyn bridge. From Queens, we made our way around Brooklyn and crossed over into Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge. We drove by Ground Zero but the crush of people and the lack of parking didn't allow for any good pictures.
Finally, the view of lady Liberty from Liberty State Park on the Jersey shore. The views of Manhattan, the Empire State building, and the Statue of Liberty are just phenomenal from this vantage point. Unfortunately, I can't figure out blogger on how to post more than five pictures so I hope this one will do.Now, we are in Philly and preparing for Cheesesteaks and an Independence Day baseball treat: the Phillies and the Mets from Citizens Bank Park. The weather forecast for Independence Day is not promising, with a 60% chance of thundershowers for Friday evening. We're calling on the good luck of the C.J. bobblehead to hold the rain at bay.
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Do me a favor. Click this link to see the YouTube video chronicle of Chandler Harris' night at Yankee Stadium. Chandler is the junior broadcast journalism major at Abilene Christian University who is interning for Jeremy Schaap of ESPN this summer. Chandler's video is outstanding. You'll love his work.
