After grabbing some coffee, Anna Marie and I packed two or three boxes that would be shipped back. It didn’t take long. When I was home packing, I wasn’t sure what to take. Now, there was no question. EVERYTHING was going back. Getting this out of the way was good so very little would be left for the next day.
Once that was complete, Anna Marie and I left for Yankee Stadium to watch a game. What a great way to end my 7-month stay. It was a beautiful day, a perfect day, really, to sit on a bleacher and watch a game. We went by subway which is by far the best way to get to The Bronx and to the stadium. In case you haven’t noticed, I NEVER took the subway by myself in this entire seven months. Almost every morning I heard a news story about subway incidents; the last one was at the Bowling Green station, the station closest to where I lived. When I heard that story, I knew I would never be using the subway by myself.
I couldn’t wait to show Anna Marie the field across the street from the new stadium—home of the original Yankee stadium where so many great ballplayers played in the past. It took about 30 minutes to get there; it would have probably taken an hour and a half any other way. The subway dropped us off right in front of the Stadium.
This stadium’s construction began in 2006, and the first game was played on April 16th, 2009. I found this out after the fact. So there we were 14 years later to the day! It holds 50,287 fans, is situated on 24 acres, and cost $2.3B to build. From my limited knowledge of baseball stadiums, this is a nice one. It is comfortable and clean and I found the pricing for food and drink to be much more reasonable than at Dodger Stadium.
The Yankees played against the Minnesota Twins and won 2-0. We took our time leaving; we had to take it all in. After the game, “New York, New York,” sung by Frank Sinatra, was being played repeatedly. The Yankees have quite an homage to their superstar players in the vestibule of the stadium; from Babe Ruth to Aaron Judge.
It was relatively early when we returned by subway back to Bowling Green, so we walked through Battery Park towards the water. I showed Anna Marie the walls of tribute to WWII veterans who lost their lives in the Atlantic Ocean during the war. The walls, with names inscribed, are organized by military branches, which includes Merchant Marines. There are more than 4,600 names listed. It is known as the East Coast Memorial. Side note: the Merchant Marines suffered more losses than any other branch of the service in the Atlantic Ocean.
After a small snack, we returned to our rooms to rest a bit and freshen up before dinner. I had one more dinner left in this city, and it would be at my all-time favorite restaurant. Here’s a hint: We took the 8-minute ferry ride to get there and returned on the same ferry. Yes, Cecconi’s in Brooklyn. By 11 p.m., we were back in our rooms where I would spend my last night in NYC.
I was not sad, but it really was hard to believe my time was up.