We woke Thursday morning to a gloomy frigid day , by 9am the predicted rain had arrived . There would be no Opening day baseball to attend , luckily our tickets are still valid for the following day . Today we are not staying in our room . We will explore . Fortunately there’s still plenty of undercover opportunities. And let’s be honest we are from Melbourne , cold wet days are not something we are unfamiliar with . Emma and I are determined that we will soldier on . We move through various shopping malls , The Occulous ( a large architectural building ) and underground eateries . We visit The Twin Towers memorial , the constant rain adds an extra layer to the gravity of this site . 21 years prior is still a morning I’ll never forget . I had turned the tv on by instinct , something I normally wouldn’t do at 530 am before work . The incredible scenes on tv were surely a movie . It would be the only time I have ever woken Emma up out of bed to come and see the tv . It’s a surreal memory and even more so now that we are actually standing here looking at all the names on the stone plaque that surrounds the Twin Towers memorial fountain . The two large chasms where the towers once stood is fitting . It’s a heavy place .
After a day exploring the subterranean surrounds in our corner of NewYork we are greeted to a glorious Friday . It’s time to finally get out on the street . Luck would have it that an Australian cafe was located in our foyer ;The Black Fox . What a treat it was to get up each morning and head down the lift to have a coffee .
We walked a couple of kilometres through New York to our breakfast destination . Several blocks pass but there doesn’t seem to be an end to the NewYork skyline . This joint is truly a behemoth when it comes to cities . It’s hard to measure the size of this place but I’d start by imagining it in Melbournes space . Think Victoria parade all the way down St.Kilda rd to until least the war memorial in sky scrapers , and that’s just north to south . It’s a serious beast and a place that would take weeks to really see it all .
From breakfast we go back to the subway . This time I feel a little more comfortable. We are dressed in the darker shades that New Yorkers adorn. There’s no suitcases , dragging feet and lost looking faces . At least this time we try to pretend we know what we’re doing , that is until we descend in to the underground. Once again we seek advice from transit personnel who are still hardly enthusiastic to help . We get on our train . It’s packed , there’s a few Yankees caps and jackets . Maybe we’ve got it right . Things get better when a tall older guy sees my hoody with the Hermosa Baseball logo . “Are you guys from Hermosa Beach “, he asks . “ Yes “ , I reply . “ My daughter lives there , she lives on 28 th street “ . I look at him incredulously .”So do we ! “ The world can be so small sometimes . The Hermosa Beach logo does the trick , it will happen the next day as well . This guy gives us the complete run down on when and where to transfer to the next train and what trains we need to catch when we exit from Yankee Stadium .
We arrive at the Yankee Stadium station , piling out with the Yankee supporters . It’s hard not to get caught up in it . There’s an electricity in the air . Music throbs through the air . I thinks it’s Jay Z , but whatever it is it brings goosebumps to the back of the neck . There are bars and cafes in the underpass , with baseball lovers spilling at the seams . “ How good is this “ , Tex cries . That’s unusual to hear from Tex . Compliments are hard earned from him , especially any sport outside of surfing . We buy caps from hawkers , line up with the New Yorkers and soak it all in . We listen to the deep New York accents , a couple of Boston ones too . There’s big guys here , real big . Construction workers , blue collar , white collar , Italian , Irish and four Aussies squeezed in between. It’s tribal . We are in the Bronx baby and at at Yankee Stadium .
It’s different energy at Yankee Stadium than it is at Dodger Stadium . I am a Dodger man , you have to be when you live in LA but the pull to toward New York is immediate an undeniable once in Yankee Stadium . It’s a bit realer today , there’s less of the theatre goer , even on Opening Day ,which is a marquee day in American baseball . I couldn’t help myself , of course I had to buy the pinstripe beer . I even bought an opening day collectors cap , and I’m not one for souvenirs. Someone will get it when I’m back in Australia . The opening pitch came from living icon Billy Crystal and The US National Anthem was sung by Shoshana Beam ( a cabaret singer ) with gusto . With beer in one hand ,the cap on my chest I looked to the US flag with almost a tear to my eye . Wake up Howie , don’t get caught up in this American hype .Gee , it’s a great National Anthem , it gives the Aussie version the Bronx cheer . If only we could have a song of our own like the Yanks have . There’d be nothing better and no one sing it louder than a large Aussie crowd singing our own song , I want to be alive to see it happen , as it will one day . The day is not over , we’ve still got things to see but today is a magical experience for the Howard family . With thanks to Emma’s amazing organisational skills we are very lucky to be in the Bronx , at Yankee Stadium for Opening day between grand old rivals , Yankees and the Red Sox .
New York ….we have barely started .
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