Happy birthday to me... (and Happy Fathers Day)

Sunday June 21, 2009... First day of summer, longest day of the year and birthday of yours truly...(51 years--I used to be young and foolish, now I'm not young anymore--just foolish). After 6 1/2 hours of driving and getting rained on while playing golf yesterday with cousin Lynn, I am back in Newburgh, NY. I lived in New York State for about six years and owned a condo in Newburgh just before my company offered me a chance to manage their warehouse back in New Jersey. We didn't get back to Bill and Cathy's until late and we had an early tee time at Grossingers on Sunday morning, so we had to sleep fast (up around 5-5:30am). Grossingers is in the Catskill Mountains and was in its heyday back in the post-Depression era through the 50's and 60's... (Anyone who saw Dirty Dancing can imagine what the area was like back then). The Catskills (aka the Jewish Alps) offered hotel resorts with golf, swimming, camps for kids, tennis and the whole works... and Grossingers Golf Course was one of the crown jewels of the area. The hotel is in ruins but the course is still in good shape...(there are rumors that they will close the course due to lack of play). There were about 5 cars in the parking lot when we got there, so we pretty much had the course to ourselves... They charged me the equivalent of a weeks worth of golf in Arizona (God bless the desert!) but if they are going to close the course, I'm glad I had a chance to play it again...(besides, it wasn't about the course, it was about playing with the boys).

Of course, it rained on the first few holes...(nightmarish recurring theme on this trip) but by the time we hit the back nine, the sun actually made an appearance and it was pretty nice... We finished up and stopped for ice cream at our favorite roadside stand (Billy didn't have anything, Cathy...lol) and went back to Bill's house to watch the Open. Saw some good golf in between bouts of unconsciousness (nodding on the couch). Then my friends surprised me with a cake and sang Happy Birthday after dinner (sweet!). What a great day... and the Open was going to Monday, so I decided to go back to Long Island and catch some of the action...(and buy some swag). Passed out finally and was awakened at 5 am (time for work). I gathered my belongings (Billy lent me his driver and 3 wood) and headed "Back to the Black".

Before continuing I would also like to wish all of the June birthday friends a very happy birthday and a Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there in bloggerland... Saw a lot of Dads and their kids on Monday at the Open (brought back memories of going to baseball and football games with my Dad when I was kid). Nothing better than spending some quality time with your Dad by getting to see something together you both enjoy...

Monday's ride through traffic back to the Island (not as bad as Saturday night) and I arrived around 10 and it was overcast and threatening again... (I refused to bring an umbrella...ENOUGH already!). The rain held off and the sun made an appearance or two and the golf action was superb... (Phil, after so many great shots, could you make a freaking putt and win this stinking tournament already?? No one remembers who came in second, dude, unless you do it everytime!!). I got into the Merchandise Pavillion, bought some swag and hightailed it outta there...(I had my own shuttle bus). I left early because I had a ticket to the Mets-Cardinals game that night and wanted to go early and see Citifield and ride the 7 train... I drove into "the City" (just like I drive on "the" 10) and checked into my hotel in Midtown Manhattan... I managed to find free parking on the streets...(experience I accumulated over the years of running races in Central Park).

The ride on the 7 train was great...(you can actually hear the next stop over the intercom now--ain't technology grand?). I got off at Mets-Willet Park in the borough of Queens (pronounced Queentz) and walked to the new digs of my beloved Mets... I was very impressed. A great mixture of old (the look and feel of Ebbets Field, home of Da Bums from Brooklyn, my Dad's team before the Mets) and new. My seat was down the rightfield line between the infield and the right fielder and the Amazins' actually beat the Cards 6-4 with a very depleted line-up. Daniel Murphy hit a homerun (in fact, my niece emailed me that while they were watching the game, they saw the back of my head on the replay... how could you miss this head!). The ride back to the city was a sardine run on the train (but all the fans were happy)... Back in Manhattan, I re-marvelled at the amount of people walking the streets and all the places still open after midnight... what a town!