patrick and raquel dot com

We got off to a bit of a late start on Sunday. We were slow to wake up and slow getting ready, but we finally made it to the train and were in the city by about 3:00 in the afternoon. Those of you who have been following the US Open action might know that the whether was absolutely gorgeous for the last few days of our trip, and it was most definitely that on Sunday in the city. We rode the subway a few blocks north and walked several blocks to the USS Intrepid Museum.This was really a pretty incredible museum, actually built on the USS Intrepid, a World War II aircraft carier that served in the Pacific. You can read more about her here. Being the military aircraft buff I am, and in an effort to not spend too much time there, I skipped over the aircraft displays (with exception of the Concorde that is retired there) and paid more attention to the actual carrier. What an impressively huge ship she is. I snapped a few pictures, explored the ship, and we moved on.We had planned to meet up with Drew and Tara in the city at some point and as we were walking out of the museum, they called and we made arrangements to meet them outside of Rockefeller Center, as that’s where we were headed next. We walked east on 46th Street from the museum, which is apparently known as Restaurant Row, passing by several eateries, brew houses, jazz clubs, ethnic places, and everything in between. There were tons of people walking around and there was a sense of electricity in the air, with it almost being dinner time and the restaurants gearing up for a busy night.We stopped in at a little souvenier shop on the way for Raquel to pick up a few things. When we walked out, we turned the corner and found ourselves in the middle of Times Square. You may find it hard to believe that I had no idea that we were right there before leaving that store, but there I was, completely awestruck and amazed by where I was standing. I really can’t put into words the awesomeness of this place. The lights, the sounds, the people, the traffic. It’s no wonder there was an electricity in the air a few blocks west of there. It’s because we were only two blocks from Times Square. But we had people to meet, so we kept on hoofing it.While in Times Square, Tara called us and changed the rendevous point to 72nd Street and 5th Avenue which was several blocks northeast of where we were, in Central Park. On the subway again, trying to make it to the Park with enough time to see some of it with some daylight still in the sky.We found them in the Park with Jonathan and enjoyed a long, peaceful walk and talk with them. Drew and Tara now live in Rockville Center which is about 45 minutes ouside of the city on Long Island, but they both used to live in Manhattan and spend quite a bit of time in Central Park, so we had our own guided tour. We went to the Bethesda Fountain, the Boat House, the Alice in Wonderland sculpture, saw the Great Lawn, and walked by one of the many performance stages in the park. We probably were walking for about an hour or more and had run out of daylight when we decided that we should probably get something to eat. Drew and I were having a hankering for some good sushi so they took us to one of their favorite places called Haru. It was such a good time for all of us, sitting outside on the sidewalk, visiting, drinking, and having some of the finest sushi ever prepared.As I am writing this now, I long to be able to relive those few hours over again. Drew and Tara are such wonderful people and Jonathan is the most precious baby boy in this world. It was such a quality time.As all good things must, our time with them winded down and we parted ways for the last time of our trip. We walked them to their car and we continued south to go visit Serendipity 3 for some dessert, but decided against that when we couldn’t even walk through the door due to how packed it was. It was also getting late so we decided to head back to Penn Station to get the train to Long Island. The best way to get there was to take the subway through Times Square again so we took a few minutes to go above ground to see the place at night. It was everything I described above, but with more lights. Simply amazing.We made it to the station to catch a late train and by the time we arrived back at the house and turned in. It was 2:00 in the morning.

How many of you remembered that Monday was our one year anniversary? For our anniversary, we decided that we would spend a night in the city at the Waldorf Astoria hotel, meaning Monday would have us saying our goodbyes to Uncle Bobby and Aunt Adele. We woke up around 10:00 or so, and started packing. With Sunday having been such a long day, we took our time in getting ready to go, enjoying what time we had left with Aunt Adele.We decided that we would splurge a little bit for our anniversary and call for a Towncar to pick us up and take us to the hotel rather than riding the train in. The car arrived at 2:00, but it wasn’t a Towncar, like we had requested. It was a stretch limo. What a way to enjoy our anniversary! We got to the hotel around 3:00, got all checked in, and arrived to a nice room overlooking Park Avenue that had a beautiful bouquet of roses for Raquel (courtesy of yours truly).Monday’s agenda included the Museum of Modern Art, Rockefeller Center, trying again to go to Serendipity 3, and an extended visit to Times Square seeing as we hadn’t yet spent much more than about five minutes there.MoMA was what you would expect from a museum of that calliber. Truly magnificent art was displayed from the likes of Picasso, Dali, Van Gogh, Pollock, Cézanne, Pissaro, and even the Apple Corporation (they had an iPod on display). They even had the original of one of my all-time favorite works of art, Van Gogh’s The Starry Night. It was so cool to have seen that.

We had a few celebrity sightings too, the first of whom was Conan O’Brien after leaving MoMA. Even though it was Labor Day, he did tape a show and he was walking up 6th Avenue afterwards. Raquel saw him before I did, but we weren’t close enough to say hi to him. We walked from there to Rockefeller Center where we enjoyed a nice time with each other, having some drinks and appetizers, and taking a lot of pictures.

From there, it was over to Serendipity where we had a very nice dinner and dessert. We waited for about thirty minutes during which Raquel had celebrity sightings two and three with Venus and Serena Williams, who were leaving. I was in the men’s room so I missed them. Oh well. Being at Serendipity was a highlight for Raquel being that she had wanted to visit this establishment for a long time.

After dinner we hailed a taxi for my first ever NYC taxi ride, and made our way down to Times Square again. This time, we had an opportunity to actually enjoy the sights and sounds taking our time to walk up and down. We stopped in a few souvenier shops, saw the MTV studios, the ABC studios, and walked up to the Ed Sullivan Theatre where David Letterman tapes his show. That was cool to have seen all that.

We walked back to the hotel and turned the page on the first year of our marriage, reminiscing about the greatness of what went on a year prior and everything that followed our wedding day up to our anniversary night. What a perfect close to the most perfect first year ever. I said it in one of my entries last week, but I’ll say it again: If the years that follow are as sweet as the first one was, ours will be the greatest ever. I have no reason to think that it won’t be.

Home again, but not without a couple last minute stops. We had wanted to get out to the Statue of Liberty on our first trip into the city last week, but didn’t get to Battery Park in time. After stops at the NBC Studio Store and standing outside the Today Show broadcast, the CBS Store next to the Ed Sullivan Theater, and at Rupert Jee’s Hello Deli, we headed to the subway for Battery Park. While waiting to cross the street we found ourselves standing right behind Max Weinberg of E Street Band and Conan O’Brien bandleader fame. He was kind enough to respond to my hello and stopped to take a picture with me, despite his being short on time. He even complemented my More Cowbell t-shirt.We arrived at Battery Park, and headed straight for the Statue of Liberty Ferry. We didn’t have a whole lot of time since we had to be back at the hotel to get our bags for the airport by 2:00, so stayed on the ferry for the entire trip, not getting off at Liberty or Ellis Islands. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves when they get posted.We stopped for a hot dog after getting off the ferry and darted for the subway, now pressed for time. We took one last subway ride, ending at Grand Central Station, snapped a few pictures while practically running through it, got our bags at the hotel and hailed a taxi for the airport.Of course we arrived home safely without incident.

This was quite possibly the most rewarding vacation I’ve ever had, giving me the chance to replenish my spirit, my mind, my attitude, and even lose a little weight. It was very hard to leave our vacation behind and come back to the real world, but we are back refreshed and ready to get back into the swing of things.We hope you have enjoyed reading this journal of sorts. Thanks to the few of you that actually commented. We like getting those.Pictures from the trip will be posted soon.

I love to play golf. I don’t know why. I’m really terrible at it. I suppose it’s because of the quality time I get to spend with the folks with whom I play.This morning was an early one, with a 6:30 call time. I was extended an invitation to play a friendly round with Dad, Drew (Raquel’s oldest brother), and Rob (Uncle Bobby and Aunt Adele’s son) at Bethpage Black. Our golfing readers (are there any) might remember Bethpage Black as the home of the 2002 US Open. As the picture above might hint at, this is “an extremely difficult course” for “highly skilled golfers.” Yeah, nothing subtle about that, is there? The sign should just say, “You probably suck. You have no business playing here.” But somwhere between my saying, “I’ll think about it.” and Drew clucking at me because I’m too chicken, I got roped into showing up this morning.

I was somwhat relieved when Drew announced that a reservation opened up on the Blue Course which amounted to a nicer day of golf. I still suck, but I truly enjoyed myself. Drew and Rob are amazing golfers, Dad is really good, and I…well…I enjoyed the company.

I met Drew last year when he and Tara came to Dallas for our wedding. I’ve not really had the chance to hang with him for longer than a few minutes, but I really enjoyed his company today, and the fact that he thought to invite me along this morning. And if nothing else…hey, just one more place I get to add to the list of “Places I’ve Walked In The Tracks Of Tiger Woods.”

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Tonight, Uncle Bobby took us (Dad, Roberta, Adele, Raquel, and me) to a beautiful restaurant overlooking the harbor. We got a VIP table (not really, but that’s what it felt like) on the second floor. It was a very nice time. But the highlight of the night for me (if not the entire day) was when Uncle Bobby let me drive his brand new car to and from the restaurant. What a life. I could easily get used to this.

Today was a good day and tonight my eyes long for sleep. Tomorrow brings my first ever trip into New York City. We’ll ride the train in and see where wind blows when we get there. So many things to see…