A bit of a break from the norm on this one, something totally off the grid relative to previous trips that have been talked about on this here blog. You would think that living in Europe summer vacations would stay European focused and for the most part they have, save for a few special occasion trips back home. And I guess this too would classify as a special occasion, in this case my Dad's upcoming 70th birthday!
Yankee Stadium
I had the idea maybe a year or so ago to take my dad on a trip for his 70th birthday, something he would never do on his own and something that surrounded a shared interest. Given we are both big baseball fans and San Francisco Giants fans, why not try and do something around the game of baseball. My Dad's actual birthday isn't until October, but with the SF Giants and baseball theme in mind, we planned the June trip to the Northeast to see the Giants play in New York. Since we are in the neighborhood this also allowed the opportunity to take in a Yankees game, see the Baseball Hall of Fame in upstate NY, and trek to Boston for a game at Fenway Park. All in 1 short week.
With a week in June that lined up all the dates for the games just perfectly, off we go!
Top of the Rock!
With me coming from Europe and my Dad coming from Oregon, NYC was really a good meet in the middle spot too. My Dad had never been to New York either so along with the baseball games, we would also have the chance to see some of the main attractions in the big city.
After arriving in NY around noon and my Dad coming in later that night it also meant I could sneak in happy hour with our Parisian friends Jaclyn and Rio, who have re-transplanted back to New York, enjoy their amazing roof top deck and check in on their own little bun in the oven!
Citi Field, Go Giants!
With two sightseeing days in NYC we hit up quite a bit, seeing Times Square, Rockefeller Center, the "Top of the Rock" observation deck, 9/11 memorial, Wall Street, Statue of Liberty, and on and on and on. NY is really endless and always an amazing place to visit. Perhaps for me after living in Europe for the past 4 years, my highlight is really the food including good old fashioned deli sandwiches and a stop at the famous Katz's Deli for their hot pastrami.
You may know this place from this iconic scene from When Harry Met Sally.
Pretty much looks the same inside with the exception of the 80₵ soda, more like $3 - but worth every penny!
Giants team representation at HOF
With two days of sightseeing and two baseball games under our belt, including a Giants win against the Mets, off we went via train to upstate NY to the small town of Cooperstown, New York where the Baseball Hall of Fame and museum is located. After a really pretty ride right along the Hudson River we made it to the very quaint - straight out of a Norman Rockwell "slice of Americana" type painting - Cooperstown, NY. There can't be more than about 1,000 people and the town sits at the base of a lake in a very idyllic setting. We spent the night along the lake, resting up for a full day at the museum in the morning.
Being avid baseball fans since we were both kids, the museum was absolutely fantastic. A real highlight not just of this trip, but a place I'll remember for a long time. It obviously helps when you have deep interest in the subject matter, but they did such a good job with the exhibits, memorabilia, design, and all the stuff to look at and read about, it was a really fantastic museum. Then of course the room with all the plaques of all the guys who have been enshrined in the Hall of Fame was a really cool thing to see. If you ever find yourself in upstate New York, I highly recommend a visit.
Hall of Fame Plaques
From there we then made our way to our last stop of Boston for a pilgrimage to Fenway Park and a Red Sox game. We landed a perfect sunny Saturday afternoon in Boston to check out the area around the stadium complete with bars and restaurants and lots of people out before heading in to our seats. Taking some very good advice from a colleague of mine, we had seats on the shady side of the field which meant we comfortably enjoyed the 103 year old park.
With one last day in town I did a bit of sightseeing myself as I think I had just about worn out my old man by this point, before calling it another successful trip in the bag. Happy Birthday Dad!
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