The Sinatra song lyrics just come at you as you walk around, crossing Broadway…if you can make it here you can make it anywhere! The hotel we’re in is on 42nd Street, giving you a whole different set of lyrics. I guess there must be a reason that Tin Pan Alley was here!

We left the hotel in Philadelphia at 9 this morning and took a leisurely bus ride north. The tour leaders popped a baseball movie into the DVD player…the trip was just long enough to play through “Trouble with the Curve,” starring Clint Eastwood.

Today’s baseball game was at Citi Field, pitting the Amazin’ Mets against the Chicago White Sox. The Mets didn’t put up much of a fight, losing 6-2. It was noted by multiple people that the home teams are 0-2 on this trip. I’m not sure what that says about us…

One more bus ride followed the game, getting us from Citi Field to the Hyatt next to Grand Central Station. The tour guide knew something we didn’t know…and popped “Sandlot” into the DVD player…we almost got through the movie in the better than two hours it took to drive roughly 7 miles.

But all is well now…all checked in. I spent the evening exploring the neighborhood. NY is a really busy place, even now I hear a constant din of horns and sirens outside. Times Square was a crazy place, Grand Central was what you’d expect of such a hub of transportation.

Friday is free time until 4:30 PM, when we leave for Yankee Stadium. I have a 9 AM ticket for the 9/11 memorial, and hope to do other sight seeing until game time. Talk to you tomorrow…

It has been a wonderful day of walking through history and of watching baseball. I’ve never been to Philadelphia before, and this short trip will stay in my mind for a long time.

Our hotel is attached to the airport, so the day began with a commuter train ride into the city. The national park area in old downtown has so much to see and to understand…we’ll just have to come back. I spent time visiting the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, the US Mint, Benjamin Franklin’s gravesite, and just in general walking for about six hours.

The mindful part is this: first, just how perilously close the nation came to not becoming a nation. It took a remarkable series of events to win our independence. Secondly, just how fragile freedom is. One of the rangers quoted Franklin (and I’m loosely re-quoting): when asked what kind of government we should have Franklin answered, “a republic, if we can keep it.” The precious gift of a republican democracy faces pressures from both the left and the right, and deserves the greatest care in preserving it.

Enough politics, we move on to the sports desk. I met the travel group this afternoon and we went by bus to see Philadelphia take on the Milwaukee Brewers. Considering the Brewers once were the Seattle Mariners I had a vested interest, and it paid off…they won 5-3. It was a great game,and the rain held off until we were on the way back to the hotel.

At 9 tomorrow morning our bus driver takes us on to New York for an afternoon game, Mets vs White Sox. We’ll have the evening free, so I’ll have more to say tomorrow night.

This trip has been a long time in the planning, and fittingly it was a long day today. Between tomorrow and Sunday night I will see four baseball games and make a trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame. On top of that I will be visiting two cities I’ve never seen and getting a strong dose of history.

Leila was kind enough to give up some sleep this morning, and took me to the airport, arriving at about 4:15 AM. Easy flight to Minneapolis, followed by a four hour layover there, and an easy flight to Philadelphia…and here I am.

So, tomorrow the plan is to go into downtown and see Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, then enjoy the Brewers vs the Phillies. Details tomorrow…

This test was taken from an article on Flipboard: Comments are welcome…

A maiden at college, Miss Breeze,
Weighed down by B.A.s and Lit.D’s,
Collapsed from the strain,
Said her doctor, “It’s plain
You are killing yourself—by degrees!”

Leila and I had three wonderful days celebrating our anniversary this year. We really should make it a long affair next year too…

Greetings! I am just getting going on this internet thing…thirty years or so in. Not really…we hope to use this blog to let our family know what’s going on, as we hopefully start traveling later in 2021. Let’s see how it goes…hopefully can make this better as time passes.