Greetings loyal readers! Been a long time since I posted, so I thought I'd share a fun day today.
Ellen and I got to go sit in a suite at Yankee Stadium (the "new" Yankee Stadium) for a great (if you're a Yankee fan) game against the Mets. Yanks crushed them, 15-0, and seriously needed a win, but that was just a small part of the day. Today was a true Daddy-Ellen day, and we just had a ball.
We arrived early (around 11) and wandered the Stadium, stopping first to get some Garlic Fries, which were seriously garlicky but good! We walked around the ground level, munching our fries, getting as far out as center field (and watching batting practice) before we realized that we were supposed to get to our seats to watch the paratroopers by noon (yes, I said paratroopers).
So, we hustled upstairs to our seats, nice, cushy, seats with a terrific view and watched as an Army plane circled overhead about 10 times before finally disgorging 6 separate paratroopers who spun in for landings in the middle of Yankee stadium. It was pretty amazing, honestly.
Shortly thereafter, we got up to check out the suite that came with the tickets, the Jim Beam Suite, which was a nice, glass enclosed, air conditioned room with a bar, lots of stand up tables, a made-to-order brick oven pizza place, and a food network kitchen serving some more exotic fare you'd get at a ball game. Today's special (which I didn't get to try) was chunks of smoky kielbasa dipped in fresh corn batter and fried crisp. Sounds good.
After the Suite, we perched back in our seats to watch a good, old-fashioned drubbing by the Yanks. Burnett had it; Santana did not, and the game was quickly out of hand, but much fun. Along the way, Ellen and I wandered downstairs to grab a big, crazy chocolate-caramel apple, which she got all over her face as we peered onto the field for a big, 7 run inning. It was great coming back from getting our apple repaired (the stick broke as we were eating it!) to a home run and seeing Ellen jumping up and down, absorbed in the game on her own. Warms a sports-fan-dad's heart, I can tell you.
After further wandering, we perched back in our squishy seats and Ellen wanted to stay for the entire game, even though the game finished 15-0. We listened to Sinatra warble New York, New York and drove off into the sunset.
Honestly, one of the best days I can remember. Thanks for a great time, El.
