NYC, US Open, and a hurricane

Way back in August, we were fortunate to be able to visit NYC before starting my full-time position at the Olympia store.

This was a vacation unlike any other thus far. Atabout this time, Hurricane Irene was making its way to New York and surrounding areas. We were determined to go and were lucky to have had flights that landed before all the cancelations started.

The night before we left, a very (very) worried Mama Rice filled our bags with all sorts of snacks and flashlights and candles to bring for us and Jo. We didn't know what to expect.

The first couple nights, Critty left the hotel room to us and stayed with Jo and her roommates.

They moved the essentials upstairs from their basement apartment to be on the safe side.

We went to bed Friday Night, hearing the worse was coming the next couple of days.

The city was a ghost town. Everything was taped up and shut down, including the subway. We had the last thing that was available from Wendys for dinner and bought some Nutella, gross bread, and lots of bottled water from the only open store we could find.

Saturday. was. the. best.

Since Critty was at Joanna'a- and no one was supposed to go anywhere, we listened and stayed in bed aaaall day. We stayed in PJs, watched several movies, and snacked on trail mix and nutella. We laughed and talked and played-- we were honeymooners again. When else do you have nothing to do but follow orders to stay inside and ride a storm out? We took advantage...

We did rebel a bit and took a walk down the street to Battery Park (where the boat leaves that takes you to The Statue of Liberty). We were about the only people out there besides news crews. The next day we woke to find that NYC got the least of Irene, but that the city wouldn't be up and running until atleast Monday. We took the hour-long walk through Manhattan to meet everyone at Joanna's apartment. By Tuesday we were super excited to pack our sunscreen and get over to Flushing Meadows for the

US OPEN!...

(The guys watching on the practice courts.)

(I learned that day not to wear flip-flops in New York. Gross.)

Some Players:

Cilic

My fav: Berdych

...Aaand the guys' fav: Kirilenko
;)

Cibulkova

Stud Ferrero

A fun Monfils match

Cibulkova and Schiavone

Davydenko

Jeff getting strapped in to have his serve analyzed.

Joanna and Mike met us their twice for the night session. There is a party wherever Joanna goes. So, of course she found out how to get into an awesome air-conditioned Chase lounge that served free food and drinks and had plenty of fun stuff inside. Way to go Jo.

Court of Champions:

A few more shots before wrapping up our US Open experience...
They are blurry but I love these ones. We were so happy and had such a great time.

For the non-tennis portion of the trip, we ran around the city having fun with Mike and Joanna. We ate at Chocolate by the Bald Man again, Took to-go Carnegi Deli sandwiches to Central Park, ate cart-food at Rockefeller Center, had breakfast at the Seinfeld Restaraunt, and ate Gelato through Little Italy.

(Jeff loves Johnny Utah...?)

Central Park is so PRETTY!

(Movie scene!)

Jo helped us get Letterman tickets. David Arquette was a guest was absolutely hilarious.

(Jeff also loves Muppets...?)

(Central Park- The Boathouse Restaraunt)

A little rest. Us Seattle folk aren't used to so much walking!

The Central Park clay tennis courts where the guys played.

One night we went to a park on the water to play tennis with Mike and Jo. We had about an hour and a half wait, but it was worth it. We passed the time with races along the boardwalk and learned how fast Mike was.

We had a layover in Wisconsin and are now Green Bay fans. Everyone there is so nice, and it was the prettiest, most fun airport ever.

It was fun to be play like kids for a week, and to be able to say we survived our very first hurricane experience.

Until next time New York...!