Summer Trip to New York and DC

Over the summer I made three trips to California to play in water polo tounaments. About four years ago I received notice that my HS swim and polo coach was being inducted into the Water Polo Hall of Fame. That got me thinking about playing again.

I had been back to competetive swimming for about 8 years, but going to swim meets is not all that much fun. One sits around a lot, waiting for one's event. The results do let you know how your fitness program is doing at fighting off the aging process. Polo is a lot more fun.

Next summer I am planning on participating with a California team in the World Masters in Boras, Sweden, near Goteborg. We will probably spend 3 or 4 weeks prior in Oslo, where we have some time coming on an exchange.

For this summer we had planned to take a trip to NY and DC with our two oldest grandsons, both 12. One of them is in Australia with his family for the year, so we had a great experience with Clay.

For NY we stayed in Flushing at a place we found on VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner). $100 per night with two bedrooms and a kitchen. Our host even showed us around the local China town. Flushing has changed from a predominantly Jewish commuinity (I did see a temple) to a predominantly Asian, with concentrations of Korean, Chinese, Viet Namese and other groups. Each has its restaurants, which makes for some great choices.

Our ride into NYC was on the train. The station was less than a two block easy walk. The train went past the 1962 World's Fair Globe and the USA Tennis Open Stadium. The ride was about 25 minutes to Grand Central Station.

In NYC we wandered around. We saw Times Square. We did the Empire State Building. We walked to Central Park. We rode the subway. We went to see The Fantastiks, which was a reasonable price compared to most of what was available. I remember sitting in the third row to see Barbara Streisand in Funny Girl in 1965 for $23. Tickets to The Jersey Boys were about $150, and we would have been a football field away from the stage. For Fantastiks we were in the 2nd of four rows.

We were able to spend some great time with two of Jayne's nieces. One is a daughter of her brother Byron, one a daughter of her sister Kitty. It is incredible to see how these girls have matured into beautiful women who are coping confidently in New York.