I must be living right!
I awoke today to steady rain this morning and the dread of sitting in inclement weather to watch a baseball game. But there was no way to back out. My friend Stacie had agreed to pony up $86 each for two tickets for us to share our virgin experience of Yankee Stadium together before I head back to L.A. on May 12. This says a lot because Stacie is no sports fan. She’s a fashion chick and while the two do mix in a lot of cases – not this one. She has little to no interest in sports and has been to one sporting event in the past seven years. So for her to want to not only join me at Yankee Stadium but pay for the tickets was huge and a testament to our friendship, which started when we both lived in Florence.
Neither she nor I would back out. We spent last night texting each other after hearing that rain was expected to start during the game. I told her the rain wouldn’t be heavy enough for the game to be called and if it is raining during the game we’ll spend most of our time at Tommy Bahama’s Bar and then leave early.
As you know from reading my previous post, I made my first trip to Yankee Stadium on Wednesday. But no game was being played. I went for an event at the Tommy Bahama bar. Today marked my first real trip since the Yankees were scheduled to play the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. (I HATE that name!!) I was excited but Stacie was more psyched than me when she arrived at my apartment, wearing her huge Versace purse and a bright orange rain slicker that would make it easy for me to find her should we get parted at the stadium. I wore my Earnest Sewn skinny leg jeans tucked inside my bright red Sigerson Morrison rain boots and my bright yellow Martha’s Vineyard rain jacket. She’d have no trouble locating me either.
We arrived and first went to check out our seats in Section 324 in the terrace. Yep, in the rain. No overhang to protect us. I checked my watch and saw it was beer o’clock. We grabbed brews, a slice of pizza for me and nachos for Stacie. We walked, talked, drank. Eventually we noticed it was nearly 1:30 p.m. and the tarp was still covering the infield. Oh well, time for more beer. We walked, talked, drank. While in the loo, the announcement came that the game was being postponed due to rain. Oh well! We headed to the Yankees store so Stacie could buy something for her 11-month-old son Alessandro. The store was so crowded I thought I was at Bloomingdale’s the day after Christmas. Stacie grabbed a cute pinstripe outfit for her toddler and we plotted our next move. I craved a burger since I didn’t go to Johnny Rockets at the stadium. The adjoining Hard Rock Cafe had a two-hour wait, according to one man who had just gotten his table.
We decided to head back to Manhattan. We went to Vnyl, on Ninth Avenue, in our old neighborhood, where our friendship blossomed. It was halfway between her house and mine when we lived in the 50s and where we usually gathered, just like Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha at their diner on Sex and the City. But we were SOL. The kitchen closed after brunch and wouldn’t reopen for another hour or two. We cabbed it to the Shake Shack on 77th and Columbus, where I got my burger fix on and enjoyed an ale and Stacie had a meatless cheeseburger. I felt the day was complete and it really was the best of both worlds. We got to eat our junk food at Yankee Stadium, which is my number one priority at a ballpark, and Stacie now can exchange the tickets for another game within the next 12 months so she’ll get her money’s worth at some point.
It’s OK that I didn’t get to see the Yankees suit up. It really is all about the junk food and beer for me. I remember eating a Dodger dog at Dodger Stadium with my dad, who died in 1969. As a little girl, I rooted for the Dodgers. Don Drysdale, Sandy Koufax and Vin Scully were names I learned early on. But mostly I rooted for the Dodger dogs and time with my dad. Maybe that’s why I still get such pleasure from eating junk food at sporting events.
