Big Apple Pinstripe Bowl Game Trip Highlights

Brooklyn Bridge - wish we'd had time to walk across it!

I've blogged a long-version daily diary of our trip. Here is the concise version - for anyone who might be considering a trip to the Big Apple. Paul Goldsmith had never been there - I'd tried to talk him into going, along with our son Jud. They weren't interested. Until the Cyclones were asked to play there.

I admit it - I was one of the doubters when the Cyclones were sitting with five wins and a gauntlet of games left. What do you mean, you ask? Let me tell ya: Our team - picked for last in the Big 12 was faced with #2 Oklahoma State (home), and two other top 20 teams - Oklahoma and Kansas State (both away games).

At work, my supervisor sent around a calendar for employees to fill in holiday schedules. Jokingly, I put a sticky note on it saying - "and time off for ISU's bowl game". Wow -the Cyclones blew me away with their upset of the Cowboys! Next it was Bowl Watch - Paul and I were hoping for someplace warm - not the Pinstripe Bowl.

Boy are we glad our hopes didn't come true! When ISU was selected for the Pinstripe - held in Yankee Stadium in New York City on December 30, we were iffy. Would any of our friends want to go? It turned out the answer was yes. Tailgating buddies McKims, McFees and Conovers all signed on - we few into Newark on 12/28 and home on 1/1/2012. It was a fantastic trip!



We stayed at the Carlton a 4-Star Hotel, on about 28th and Madison, sharing rooms to keep costs down. On Wednesday and Thursday rooms were about $350, they were $500 the next 2 nights. We talked to people who stayed in cheaper spots in New Jersey but they spent lots of time on buses and wished they'd stayed in Manhattan. And for the record - it's true - we did prance all around NYC in ISU gear complete with Santa hats...they did help us find each other in crowds.

Also Dr. Don McKim has a future as a tour director when he tires of fitting Creston area folks with corrective lenses and curing eye-related diseases. In ten years or so, look for Donnie and Dee to be offering touring trips to old folks in who like to have a good time. He knows how to schmooze information out of people everywhere, how much to tip and how to figure out how to get from A to B. Good guy to travel with! In fact our whole group got along great as travel partners.

Wednesday 12/28 arrival, Little Italy meal, Rockefeller Center

• -Little Italy is shrinking - as it's next to Chinatown, which is expanding. We ate at a place - the name I don't remember, and I went with boring spaghetti and meatballs. The staff argued with each other like - family! Everyone liked their food. We got to Little Italy on the subway - each ride was something like $2.40, and we bought $20 cards that we swiped each time we used the system, refilling as needed. Subways were clean and efficient - not scary at all.

The security guard kindly took our photo.

-After supper we hopped back on the subway and got off at Rockefeller Plaza. The place was packed with lots of folks lined up to go up to the observation deck - there's a fee and you need a ticket. We headed out to see the Christmas tree and ice skaters.

A window display on our walk home

-We decided to walk the 14 or so blocks back to our hotel. People everywhere - window displays, Starbucks on nearly every corner.


Thursday 12/29
Today Show (Fox and Friends for McKims), Grey Line Bus Tours and Cyclone Gatherings on Times Square

-McFees, Paul and I headed right back to the Rockefeller Plaza early - walking in the dusky chill with our Dunkin Donuts and coffee, all decked out in Cyclone gear. I'd read you should be at the Today show by 6 a.m. if you want to be in front - and we didn't make it until 7 - so we weren't in front. A security guy was nice enough to tell us we needed to scoot around near where all the other people were gathered to get camera time. I did get 3 seconds of fame, standing behind some goofy guys who got on the weather gig. Al Roker was already in LA preparing for his Rose Bowl Parade gig so Stephanie from the Weather Channel was in charge. She chatted up the crowd in our area. She picked the dudes by us due to their goofy hats - so dress goofy and be in front if you want face time! Fox and Friends doesn't have big crowds so McKims were on there quite a bit.

Just like you see on Law and Order...except for the dead bodies

-Our walk from 30 Rock to Times Square to catch the Grey Line provided lots of photo ops. I love visiting places I read about and see in movies and on TV. It makes me feel so connected to those places. And were were there! And it was quite chilly early that day. Our bus pass (we purchased 72 hours for like $60) allowed us to hop off and on) was just the right thing. Some of the tour guides on the buses were good...some not. They were pretty easy to get off and on - but a friend said in the summer they were packed and they couldn't ever get back on. At some stops you must get off - end of the line. We got off at Battery Park where the ferry takes people to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, but planned to do that Saturday - grabbed a bite to eat and made our way back to Times Square.

The skyline from Battery Park

Freedom Tower - going up near Ground Zero

Not wild about crowds

Tonic bar - gathering spot for red and gold clad fans

-That afternoon was the unofficial ISU Cyclone gathering at 2 bars. We started at an Irish bar, and walked through crazy packed shoulder-to-shoulder Times Square en route to the second bar. They were putting up the stages and getting ready for New Years Eve. Later that night, my burger at 5 Brothers? was yummy. We walked back to our hotel with Conovers.
Friday 12/30

The place was huge inside

Yankee Stadium

-Gameday baby! We grabbed some breakfast, and jumped on the subway headed to the Bronx for Yankee Stadium. Don McKim is handy with his iPad, and he had all the routes figured out - some trains stop a lot and we took the one that didn't. We headed to The Dugout - a bar that opened up early for Cyclone Fans, and on to the Spirit Walk, to welcome the team. It was cool seeing Yankee Stadium. Too bad the game didn't go so well...

Yankee Stadium

Foley's - full of sports memorabilia

-After the game we ended up at a cool sports bar, Foley's. Evidently they banned Danny Boy...but they have thousands of pieces of sports memorabilia and good food. We had a chance to catch up with a long time college friend and his gal there. They live here - or at least close. It was nice to catch up and spend time with them.  

Pile of garbage everywhere...

-I must comment on the state of waste handling in the Big Apple. Dismal! They must pick it up in bags daily, because it's all on the curb each night. Recycling containers are hard to find. One would think that the fact that landfills are scarce in the vicinity of NYC, they would come up with good infrastructure for recycling. But it's not evident in Manhattan.

Saturday 12/31

Lady Liberty is always an awesome sight...

Diana etches her mom's name at Ellis

-We hopped on the Gray Line to Battery Park to buy tickets to the ferry to the Statue/Ellis. They're working on the Statue again, and planned to go to Ellis only, but the ferry stopped at the Statue to drop people off. Some people had wisely bought tickets ahead for the ferry, but we were lucky our wait wasn't too long. Security is just as tough as flying, so be prepared to strip down and don't bring bags if you want to go on this trip. Diana's mom came through the island - living there for a few months after WW2 as a young war bride speaking only Italian. The former Isolina Consilvio (Betty Brown) passed away last year in a tragic car wreck. We found her name on a memorial wall and Diana did a rubbing on paper. It was quite moving. For more info. on her amazing life journey, see Betty's Obit here: http://www.messengernews.net/page/content.detail/id/527178.html?nav=5011

-We wandered around Wall Street after Ellis, looking for food, but the holiday weekend shut most places down. So we ended up at the pier and took the subway back to our hotel area.

-That night, Dwight talked us into Korean Barbecue - a unique experience. Our hotel wasn't far from the Korean district and we walked there. The food was cooked on griddles at our tables. Lots of spices and little bowls of stuff that I couldn't identify. My suede purse still smells like the joint! In the street outside - the evening revelers had started to wander. We were nearly hit by a biker on a giant stingray, wearing a foam Statue of Liberty Hat. Instead of braking he just screamed and put up his arm. Crazy!

-Then, instead of braving Times Square, (yes I'm a wimp), we headed to a new bar a half block from our hotel called The Churchills, where Churchill gives moving speeches in the restroom. The place wasn't packed so we did our best to give a warm Iowa welcome to folks coming in the door - cheering and clapping. The English owner thanked us, asking where we were from. When we told him, he said..."I have no idea where that is...". Regardless we had such fun there - dancing to the 80's hits blasting on the sound system. We watched the ball drop on TV, surreal thinking it was really just a few blocks away - hugs and kisses all around.

What a way to start a year! Then we joined together doing high kicks to Sinatra's New York - whilst in New York. Bars here stay open until 4 a.m.! But we headed back to our room just after 2 a.m., tired but happy Iowans, ready to take on 2012.

Cheers 2012!