Vacation Day 1
US Open time!!!
We hit the road (in two cars) at 9 AM sharp, heading into Queens hoping to get a good parking spot. Luckily we arrived early enough to park in the best lot, right next to the subway station and boardwalk between the US Tennis Center and Shea Stadium. Zee Fwenchies always have some drama happen, and this trip was no different. Somehow, the keys to their still-running car were locked inside. D'OH! Last year it was the cell phone, this year the keys in the car. Apparently neither the NYPD, FDNY, nor the Park Service had any way to open the lock to his car. Luckily, our third party was still on Long Island and went by and got the extra set of keys to save the day.
Inside, we took our seats in Louis Armstrong stadium and watched Taylor Dent play Lars Burgsmuller (yeah, he's German). Dent won and we decided to head to Court #10 and watch some Japanese players. Ai Sugiyama gave us an exciting match against Michaela Pastikova. She came back from being down 1-4 in the second set, to winning 8 games in a row and eventually winning the third set. Good stuff! The Japanese fans aren't the most vocal group out there, as the Argentinians from the next court easily out-shouted our applause.
Next we saw Nadia Petrova finish off Aiko Nakamura in 58 minutes. We then went to the Grandstand too see the end of Lisa Raymond vs. Julia Schruff. After Schruff won we watched a bit of Francesca Schiavone's punishment of Emma Laine. After one set of that destruction we decided to check out the men's doubles match in Louis Armstrong. Paes-Zimonjic were beat in straight sets by some people I've never heard of: Delic-Morrison. Ok, truthfully, I have no clue about Zimonojic either. Leander Paes used to play mixed doubles with Martina Navratilova and they were excellent. That's the only reason I know who he is.
Finally, we went to sit and enjoy some time in the beer garden and have a bite to eat. Unfortunately the rain finally came down to get us wet, and we decided it best to end the day. Traffic wasn't so bad on the way home, but there was one major annoyance. Gas prices jumped 50 cents!!! Holy Crap! Apparently my weekend travel budget must be increased a bit to cover gas, thank you hurricane Katrina.
Today: Photos are up.
Tomorrow: Green Day Concert.
Friday: Natural History Museum
Update: I have some fairly creative tan lines as I did not apply the spray-on sunscreen in a liberal fashion. I missed my inside wrists and he top of my knees. Pass the Aloe!