NYC: From Soho to Upper West Side

I spent less than 48 hours in New York City.. and thanks to the great subway system covered a lot ground in Manhattan. This building is in Soho...



Upper West Side, this the Rose Center for Earth and Space @ American Museum at Natural History.

I couldn't stop thinking about Robin Williams character in the hit movie "Night at the Museum" when I saw this statue outside the Museum of Natural History. If you haven't seen the movie, he plays Theodore Roosevelt the main statue that comes alive after dark.

Back in Soho... outside a pub/bar, I loved this art work...

While in NYC, I went inside two Museums. The first was the International Center of Photography near Bryant Park. The second (below) is my favorite NYC Museum, the Guggenheim designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. In October, it will celebrate it's 50th Anniversary of its dedication. On display now is tribute to the famed architect Wright with sketches of his built and unbuilt building from across the country.

Times Square at night...

Yankee Stadium 2009 # 2

More photos from the Yanks-Blue Jays Game on Wednesday. Which had two solo home runs by Yankees...



Scary moments in the first inning when the Captain Derek Jeter was hit by a ball. He had to come out later in the game.

Johnny Damon at the plate...

Alex Rodriguez at the plate...

Robinson Cano after a solo home run, touching the plate.

Tomorrow I will post some photos from New York City (from Soho to Midtown to Upper West Side)

Yankee Stadium 2009 # 1

Earlier this week I went to the new Yankee Stadium (for the first time) and saw a day game against the Blue Jays. The weather wasn't the best (light rain for a couple of innings) however the game was exciting and the stadium was awesome! I took a lot of photos (what do you expect) but I have narrowed them down to two postings. Here are some inside and outside photos of the stadium.

This was the view for the stadium from my seat. Section 307, Row 10, Seat 1.

Everyone at the stadium had different Yankee jerseys on. But I thought this one represent the storied history of the Yanks. For you non baseball fans, from left to right: Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, and Mariano Rivera (the Yanks current ace closer)

Before the game, I waited in about a 40 minute line to get into Monument Park in the outfield. This is were all the great Yankees (who's jerseys have been retired) are honored. For a life long Yankee fan, it was a treat!

Later today I will post photos from the game. BTW, the Yanks won in extra innings. It's been a great season so far!

Wildwood New Jersey

It's vacation week! First stop was Philadelphia and then my friend and I (and his two young daughters) drove down to the NJ Shore and spent the night in Wildwood New Jersey.

These first two photo's were taken just after and before sunrise. I hadn't planned to be up at early, but my friend had to take care of a high fever child and I decided to take advantage of being near the ocean at that hour. Unfortunately there was a lot of clouds and I didn't have a picture perfect sunrise. But I like this seagull in the little puddle on the beach just after sunrise.



The boardwalk can be pretty quiet before sunrise. Not sure where this guy was going (maybe work?)

Sunday Night after eating dinner and the kids went on some rides (and adults went on the Ferris Wheel too) then a torrential rain storm hit the boardwalk with amazing lighting too! The fire department came out to up right this tram shelter on the boardwalk.

I love this sign! This was shot pre-sunrise Monday morning!

Another storm photograph from Sunday Night. A lot of people were running for cover.

According to wikipedia, this is the tallest ferris wheel on the East Coast. I can tell you when it stopped at the very top, my fear of heights came back to me very quickly.

I was lucky enough to be in Wildwood for the 16th Annual Rubber Ducky Regatta at Raging Waters Water. We did not stay to see which duck won. How can you tell the difference?

This is view of downtown boardwalk and amusement parks from the top of the ferris wheel.

Next stop New York City tomorrow (with visit to new Yankee Stadium on Wednesday) lots of photo's for the blog!

Legg Mason Tennis Classic

Spent Thursday Night at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Rock Creek Park in DC. The feature match of the night was the # 1 seed Andy Roddick vs. Sam Querry. Roddick beat Querry 7-6, 6-4. It was Roddick's 500th career win, and he was presented a cake after the match.

This is Sam Querry, from California. The 21 year old made Roddick earn his 500th victory.

It was sell out crowd Thursday Night.

Before the Roddick match, I saw the defending champion Juan Martin Del Porto beat Lleyton Hewitt 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 in a very entertaining match!

This is Hewitt, who I was pulling for but he came up short.

26 Hours in NE PA: Part 2 Baseball

Saturday Night was spent @ PNC Field in Moosic, PA (near Scranton/Wilkes-Barre). In 2007 the NY Yankees AAA team moved from Columbus Ohio to this field. This field had been the home for the Phillies for more than 15 years.


I will be heading to the Bronx next week, to photograph and take in my first game at the new Yankee Stadium... This poster got me very excited for my trip (and upcoming vacation).

I always love the guys (possibly father and son) who stay in the very top seats, even though lower seats are available.

The Yankees mascot was hit among the kids.

This was the ground crew working in between games (it was a doubleheader). They had about 25 minutes between games.

This Yankee hitter got a free pass to first base, after being hit by a ball thrown my the Red Sox pitcher.

As I wrote in Sunday's blog posting, the Yankees beat the Red Sox in both games (8-2, 4-0).

26 Hours in Northeast Pennsylvania

I got a new car on Thursday... And on Saturday, I hit the road meeting up with couple of my close friends who where up to Northeast Pennsylvania. The first thing on the agenda was some gambling, at two locations... The Mohegan Suns near Wilkes Barrie and Hollywood Casino outside of Hershey, PA. For the record, between the two casinos, I only lost $10.

This was my dinner view, looking at the Montage Mountain which I am told is a popular ski mountain in the winter.

Inside Mohegan Sun @ Pocono Downs...

Outside view of Mohegan Sun, the Casino part is only two years old.

And in the evening, my friend and I went to a AAA Wilkes-Barre Scanton Yankees baseball game. The the Yankees were playing their arch-rival Red Sox (AAA Pawtucket, RI team). Check back tomorrow for game photos! I will tell you now, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Yankees beat the Pawtucket Red Sox in both games (it was a double header), now only if the big boys could beat the Sox thing would be great in Yankee land!