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Published: April 22nd 2010
Day Thirty Three 17 March 2010
Location: New York City, New York
Hotel: On the Ave Hotel, New York
The new day dawned and it felt like it had arrived all too soon. We awoke after a brief sleep in and were soon getting ready. Today promised to be the most fun day yet, as it was St Patrick’s Day in New York City. Not only that, but we had another hockey game to attend tonight and finally I would get to see Sidney Crosby lead my Penguins on the ice. I couldn’t wait.
We wanted to catch the St Patty’s Day parade which was due to start at 11am down on 5th street. We got ready and Erin wore her newly acquired St Patty’s gear. We made our way downstairs and found the street to be significantly lacking in people dressed in green. We knew that this wasn’t where the party was though and we were soon on the subway making a beeline for 50th street.
We got off the train and made our way along 50th street towards 5th Avenue and the parade. Along the way we passed through Rockefeller Plaza and decided that we would
head there straight after the parade. We arrived at 5th street and we couldn’t believe the crowd. It was 10 people deep on either side of the street for as far as the eye could see.
Obviously we were expecting a crowd, but this was something else. We slowly navigated our way north up 5th street, hoping to find a decent vantage point, but eventually we came to a standstill, we simply couldn’t move any more. We accepted the fact that we were trapped in the crowd and did our best to grab glimpses of the parade but it was slow going and there didn’t appear to be anything more than scots and soldiers.
We decided to retreat from 5th Avenue and head back towards Rockefeller. We found the crowds much lighter as we entered the Plaza, and decided to explore the area. As huge fans of the popular show “30 Rock” it was great to finally see Rockefeller with our own eyes.
The plaza is like a mini city centre with an ice rink and shopping mall in the centre. We wandered the plaza for a while and finally came to a ticket booth selling tickets
to the “Top of the Rock”, which is the observation deck at the top of 30 Rockefeller, the second highest view of New York City.
We spoke to the woman at the ticket booth and she ended up coaxing us into a package where we go on a tour of the plaza before ascending to the top of the building. What we didn’t realise was the tour was actually an “architectural tour”. Upon learning this, Erin gave me a look that definitely wasn’t screaming excitement. I maintained a positive outlook though and we walked towards the meeting point of the tour.
After about 10 minutes of waiting, our tour guide approached us and we realised we were the only ones on the tour….must be a popular attraction! Luckily we were joined by another young woman who also seemed to have made the same mistake as us. Our confidence was not bolstered by the fact that the tour guide looked like he was 3 days from retirement.
We all received our own headsets so we could hear him more clearly and we set off through the each of the main buildings that make up the plaza. It was
actually quite interesting and while we weren’t overly interested in the architecture itself, the tour guide did have quite a few entertaining stories about the history of the buildings and the rich and famous who have roamed the halls.
The tour lasted about an hour and we wandered through the buildings and outside the plaza. We got to see a lot of the area that you normally wouldn’t be able to see if you were just a passer-by and we appreciated that. While I wouldn’t tell people to do the tour at the cost of something else, it was still fun and if you’re interested in the history of Rockefeller Plaza (and the name-sake family) then it’s well worth the money.
After the tour we made our way to the elevators that would take us to the 70th floor of the building. Upon entering the elevator the lights dimmed and suddenly it was like we were in a rock show as the elevator started to ascend towards the Top of the Rock. Lights flashed everywhere and on the roof of the elevator you could see projections. The roof was also see through, so you could actually see the
elevator tunnel as you moved skywards. It was a great addition to the attraction.
Upon arriving at the 67th floor we found ourselves inside a glassed observation room, which is obviously a great place to view the city when the weather outside isn’t welcoming. We didn’t spend much time on this level and quickly ascended to the 69th floor, which houses a gift shop and a room with an electronic light show.
We moved up one more flight and walked out onto the beautiful observation deck. Standing 70 stories above the street in New York City is simply amazing. On one side you have Central Park spanning as far as your eyes can see and on the other, the financial district with its towering skyscrapers sitting quietly in the distance.
We found a quiet spot and stood to enjoy the view together. I showed off my knowledge of NYC and started pointing out the sites and various areas of the city. Erin simply stood and admired quietly, taking it all in. It really was a great place to relax and the street noise is non-existent at this height. It turns NYC into a serene, picturesque landscape that
continually offers something else to look at. Be it the flat coast of the New Jersey shoreline, the scattered bridges spanning the East River or the many buildings and avenues that make up Manhattan.
We took our time on the observation deck, before wandering down to look in the gift shop. We ended up buying a few souvenirs from the shop as we wanted a few things to remember our trip to the Top of the Rock!
Back down on the street, we went to look in the NBC store and entered another world, filled with TV paraphernalia the likes of which you have never seen! They had so much merchandise from all their big shows that we didn’t know where to look first.
I went straight for the section housing all “The Office” products and couldn’t believe how much stuff they had. We spent a good 30 minutes in the store and I ended up walking out with a few Office bobble heads, a couple of mugs and a few other bits and pieces.
By this stage, we were getting rather ravenous for some lunch (even though it was already mid-afternoon) and we wandered down
to the shopping plaza to find some food. We managed to find a store serving nothing but soup and we wandered in to grab a bowl each. I selected the clam chowder and Erin got the Seafood Bisque. I was disappointed that the Soup Nazi was not at the counter (a Seinfeld reference for those rare readers that don’t watch Seinfeld).
After lunch we continued to stroll around the area, looking at Radio City and the surrounding streets. It was getting to be late afternoon by this stage and we had to get back to the hotel to get ready for the hockey game in New Jersey.
We took the subway back to the hotel and had a break for about an hour before getting in our gear. I had my fantastic new Crosby jersey to wear, with matching Crosby wristband and Erin was wearing her new black Pens shirt. It was the hottest she’s ever look!
We made our way out towards the arena at 5:30. The game was due to start at 7:30, but we had to make the trip over to New Jersey and we wanted enough of a buffer just in case we
got delayed on the trains. We caught the subway down to Penn St Station and bought tickets for the NJ Transit System. It was relatively simple and only cost $8 each for a return ticket.
Just about every train going to New Jersey was stopping at Penn Station NJ and so we jumped on the next one leaving and it was soon on its way. The trip to NJ was fairly uneventful. There were a few other Penguins supporters on the train, but I knew we would soon be outnumbered by the home team supporters.
We arrived at Penn Station NJ and simply followed the hoard of New Jersey Devils fans to the arena. It was about 2 blocks from the station and didn’t take more than 5 minutes to walk there. The Prudential Center is a brand new arena, having only opened last year and you could tell as soon as you arrived. They had a street hockey game going on out the front of the stadium and the Devil cheerleaders were performing for the fans entering.
We hit our first roadblock of the night when we tried to enter the stadium. The security weren’t not
happy that I had a video camera on me and had soon ushered me out of the line. After explaining that I was a tourist and that I didn’t have a car to leave it in, they said the only way I could keep it is if I declare that I have it and sign a waiver saying I won’t use it. Fair enough.
Turns out the waiver was for handguns and the guy in line in front of me was signing that he had a pistol tucked into the back of his jeans, that I could clearly see as he bent to sign the form. Are you kidding me! They had given me 10 times more hassle over a video camera and here you could bring in firearms as long as you tell someone about it. Erin and I were in shock!
We finally passed the security check (I’m surprised I didn’t get stripped searched) and made our way up stairs to our seats. We looked around the arena a little bit, but I wasn’t interested in looking in the Devils Team Store and we felt rather uncomfortable as the Devils fans didn’t look too hospitable to
Hockey Statue
notice the little kid pretending he's the puck!those supporting the Pens. I had already witnessed a few heckles and the game hadn’t even started.
We grabbed a few drinks and hotdogs as we were starving and went and found out seats. Unfortunately we were a bit higher than we were at the Capitals game, but the seats were still good. After a little wait, the teams came out for the pre-game warm up and I finally got to see him in the flesh. Crosby, number 87, the youngest captain to ever host the cup, was skating in front of me.
It was great to see the team I’ve supported since the early nineties on the ice. I just wished Lemieux was still skating as then it would have been really amazing! It was also a little disappointing that Malkin was out with a foot injury after being stung by a fast slapshot in a previous game.
The team warmed up and I took mental notes of everything they did, including the stretches. I wanted to try it all when I got back home and started playing again. The warm-up ended and the teams disappeared for the final pre-game chat. I spent the next few
minutes talking non-stop about Crosby and his crazy skills!
About 10 minutes later the lights dropped and the show started. The Devils knew how to wow the crowd like the Capitals did and the home team supporters loved it. I tried to voice my cheers for the Pens when they came on the ice, but I was lost in the sea of chanting for the Devils.
The game got underway and the Pens managed to get the first goal! I was one of about 3 people in my section that cheered, but we soon learned that drawing too much attention to ourselves was not a good idea. The home team scored to tie the game and then went one up after a breakaway goal just before the end of the period.
It was at this point that the crowd started to get overly obnoxious. The cheer of “Crosby Sucks” after every goal was spiteful and at the start of the second period, a Pens supporter sitting a few rows in front of us was involved in a fight when three NJ fans provoked him. They were all ejected from the game.
At this point, it was
CROSBY!! #87
I'm not worthy! no longer a fun experience and we cheered quietly. Erin looked visibly nervous that the crowd would turn on us next. It didn’t help that NJ scored 3 more times to finish the game 5-2. The crowd actually became more hostile with every goal they scored and we couldn’t believe how disrespectful everyone seemed to be.
Now I understand sports and being an Aussie, we have some very passionate supporters at our AFL matches, but I’ve never played witness to the type of aggression and disrespect that the NJ fans showed towards the away team. They seemed more interested in booing the other team than cheering their own team. Instead of celebrating their goals, they used it as an excuse to jeer the Penguins.
It ruined the game for us and we ended up leaving a few minutes before the end to avoid the onslaught of jeering that would undoubtedly be pointed at us once the players were no longer on the ice. Luckily we had bought jackets and we put them on and quietly slipped through the crowd. We did see a few cases of heckling at the train station, but luckily it didn’t seem to be too aggressive.
Deflated, we boarded the train and made our way back to Manhattan. It had been a disappointing night, but at least I had watched Crosby play live. I wanted nothing more than to go back to the locker rooms and tell the boys to keep their chin’s up. A couldn’t imagine playing in front of a crowd that hostile, but I guess their use to it.
It was about 11pm by the time we got back to our hotel and we had planned to go out for some dinner, but we were too tired and deflated from the game. We opted to get some ice cream from a nearby drug store and enjoyed out dessert in the comfort of our hotel room.
As we readied ourselves for bed I was lost in thought. As Erin went to sleep, I quietly rummaged in my suitcase and pulled out something that I had been keeping a secret for the last 33 days. Even in the darkened room, it sparkled beautifully. I got back in to bed, kissed Erin on the forehead and as I fell to sleep, I couldn’t help but grow excited.......this would be the last night we would go to bed as boyfriend and girlfriend.
To Be Continued…
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Linda Bever
non-member comment
Day 33
Was despairing of reading more about your trip and was so excited to pick up again today. Well you have left me in suspense now! Cant wait to hear how Day 34 went. Love NY and Orlando. Well USA generally and visit London often which for us is only about 2 hours drive away. Son studying at University there. Please post more soon. Thanks.