Day 1: Start spreading the news
LONG ISLAND CITY -- Today was an odd start, as it began at my aunt's house instead of mine. It still started early -- she woke me up at 5:15 -- and I was able to easily make the 9:00 flight in Pittsburgh. Points to the airport folk who had a live pianist playing near the ticket counter. However, minus points for playing such songs as "Please Release Me" and "Crazy".
It was a longer-than-expected layover in Philadelphia due to the weather, causing me to arrive an hour late in Newark. That put me at Penn Station during the 4:30 underground rush and to my hotel here in LIC a little after 5.
The rain that delayed my Philadelphia-Newark flight found me once again here in Queens. But in addition to the rain, the storm system brought a howling wind which took my umbrella and snapped it in half. That left me dashing many big raindrops for the rest of the evening.
En route to the St John's game in Jamaica, I stopped off and dined with the Kabab King in Jackson Heights, trying the beef tikka -- which are beef cubes marinated in spices and yogurt, which explained why the beef had a (cooked) reddish-pink hue.
After dinner, it was back out into the storm for several hundred feet and back to the subway station complex. Once I got to the Kew Gardens stop, I was fortunate to catch the Q46 bus before it pulled out. Once I got off at the SJU campus, it was another slow slog through two equivalent blocks to the on-campus basketball facility, Carnesecca Arena.
Speaking of, the original "Coach Lou" was in attendance, watching his former Red Storm team cruise to an easy 91-67 win over Providence.
Upon leaving the arena I was again fortunate to catch the return Q46 bus -- this time, a little less crowded -- and got back to the hotel with a drier head.
This week, I am hotel-hopping, thanks to the frequent-sleeper points at different hotels. Tonight, the Days Inn-Long Island City, just steps from the 7 line.
It was a longer-than-expected layover in Philadelphia due to the weather, causing me to arrive an hour late in Newark. That put me at Penn Station during the 4:30 underground rush and to my hotel here in LIC a little after 5.
The rain that delayed my Philadelphia-Newark flight found me once again here in Queens. But in addition to the rain, the storm system brought a howling wind which took my umbrella and snapped it in half. That left me dashing many big raindrops for the rest of the evening.
En route to the St John's game in Jamaica, I stopped off and dined with the Kabab King in Jackson Heights, trying the beef tikka -- which are beef cubes marinated in spices and yogurt, which explained why the beef had a (cooked) reddish-pink hue.
After dinner, it was back out into the storm for several hundred feet and back to the subway station complex. Once I got to the Kew Gardens stop, I was fortunate to catch the Q46 bus before it pulled out. Once I got off at the SJU campus, it was another slow slog through two equivalent blocks to the on-campus basketball facility, Carnesecca Arena.
Speaking of, the original "Coach Lou" was in attendance, watching his former Red Storm team cruise to an easy 91-67 win over Providence.
Upon leaving the arena I was again fortunate to catch the return Q46 bus -- this time, a little less crowded -- and got back to the hotel with a drier head.
This week, I am hotel-hopping, thanks to the frequent-sleeper points at different hotels. Tonight, the Days Inn-Long Island City, just steps from the 7 line.