I had a great time when my mom was here for Tennis Week. It was hot out, all week long, but we did a pretty good job of finding a/c or shade to try to keep cool. Be prepared for loads of photos, my new phone does a pretty good job...
Before my mom got here, I was looking at a local magazine that always has tips on fun things to do over the weekend. I noticed a tour in Hudson River Park that I'd never heard of before - it was a free walking tour of the piers and of an old ship anchored on the west side. That sounded fun to Mom and me (she really likes hanging out by the water), so we made our way there after her plane landed on Sunday. We made a couple of pit stops first, to Trader Joe's for some tennis snacks, to Chelsea Market for some gelato (unfortunately, no shopping could happen because it was MOBBED), then on to Pier 66 for our tour.
It was surprisingly full, maybe because of the notice in the local magazine, or maybe because it was the last tour of the summer, but there were a lot of people. Mom and I kept to the back to avoid crowding. Our tour guide was young and pretty knowledgeable about the area - he told us about how the city kept building out from its original size, famous ships that had either docked or were supposed to dock nearby, and what efforts are being done to conserve marine life in the area. Then we took a tour of the Frying Pan, which is a popular brunch spot. The original ship is from the 20s and there is some of the original equipment and signage still on board. It was interesting to look around and see vintage sailing paraphernalia and still-visible barnacles. There were a couple of annoying people on the tour, but on the whole, it was an enjoyable and informative hour. We were pretty warm, though, so we went back to my apartment and enjoyed some a/c, pasta and movies I'd taped off cable (
Austenland: not as bad as I'd been led to believe;
Magic in the Moonlight: hmmmmmmmm. I kept falling asleep).
I have a new book of walking tours of NY and in it, I saw a tip that said the main branch of the New York Public Library has daily walking tours. My mom loves that building, so we decided to head to Bryant Park on Monday to check out that tour. It was excellent! It lasted about an hour and we learned so much about the architecture, the library hierarchy, where it's been and where it's headed. Our tour guide was pretty old, but he had a lot of wonderful information stored in his brain and he was happy to share it. Mom was happy to get a look at the Gutenberg Bible and we enjoyed seeing all the nooks and crannies we didn't even know where there. It was terrific and I'd be tempted to do it again with a different tour guide, just to see if I missed anything. After that tour, for the rest of the day, Mom and I wandered along Fifth Avenue to check out Rockefeller Center, then the Disney Store, in case we needed some pre-Disney trip magic. It was a very nice day.
Tuesday, we headed out to the tennis! Woo hoo! We started at Court 17, from the one shady spot in the stadium, to watch a young American, Noah Rubin. Rubin won Junior Wimbledon '14 and recently turned pro. He has a very nice game - he's very quick around the court and has a solid forehand and backhand. Mom liked his game very much. The first set went pretty quickly, but the second set was tighter. Happily, Rubin came through in two sets. After his match, Mom and I decided to stay in our shady seats and watch the next young American, CiCi Bellis, who made a big splash at the Open last year. Her opponent was the oldest lady in the draw, Kimiko Date-Krumm, who is nearly my age! It's insane! She's in incredible shape and her game is still pretty sharp. I'll admit, though, that neither lady was doing a great job in the first set, so Mom and I decided it might be time to go get some lunch, then head to the Grandstand to watch some of the higher ranked pros practice. Plus, even though we were in the shade, the seats at Court 17 aren't all that comfy. Sitting in them for over two hours was not really great on my knees or back...
There's a new coffee/tea vendor at the Open this year, so I was sad to be missing out on my Illy iced tea, but the Lavazza tea is nice, too. Mom and I shared our annual orders of fries, ate our premade sandwiches and Trader Joe snacks, and relaxed in the shade for a bit. Then we went over to the Grandstand. She and I are both very sad that this is the last year for the Grandstand. It's one of the few places on the grounds that has a lot of shade and a lot of room. They're building a new Grandstand on the other side of the grounds, but it won't be the same. Anyway. First we watched two very good German ladies practice, Andrea Petkovic and Angelique Kerber. Their practice was very lively and featured some hard hitting and super shot-making. It was very enjoyable. Then we watched Gilles Muller from Luxembourg practice for a bit with his coach. Since it was just practicing with a coach and not a practice match with another player, we got bored pretty quickly. So we went off to Court 5 to watch another match.
Victoria Duval was a rising young American tennis player who was struck with lymphoma before last year's Wimbledon. After treatment and more than a year off, she got a wild card into the qualifying tournament. Mom and I were eager to watch her match. By the time we got over there, we actually had missed the first two sets, which the players had split. So we were ready to watch the deciding third set. Duval went off court for a medical treatment at the end of the second set, so we were sitting there for a few minutes before the match resumed. She came back with her upper thigh tightly wrapped, so I was a bit nervous she wouldn't be able to finish the match, especially since it looked as if she couldn't get any oomph on her serve because she couldn't power up with her legs. But after a few minutes, she found her footing and got into the match. She quickly broke her opponent's serve, and her opponent also called for the trainer. It was a medical time out extravaganza. Duval took control of the match and won the final set 6-1. She was thrilled and so was the crowd. It was nice to see such a smile on her face after she's gone through so much. On our way out of the court, we watched Duval take photos with fans, sign autographs and do a couple of interviews. Her joyfulness was lovely to see. I'm sorry to report that she lost her next match and didn't qualify for the Open, but at least she's healthy again and ready to resume her career.
Mom and I had had enough sun and tennis for one day, so we left after that match. We stopped and got some ice cream on the way back to my apartment and had an early night. Wednesday, we had to run a few errands before heading to the tennis, so we didn't get there until the early afternoon, but that was ok. We just stayed a little later and saw more tennis. We went straight to the Grandstand and were thrilled to be able to watch practice between Frenchmen Richard Gasquet and Gael Monfils, two of Mom's (and my) very favorites. They're both elegant and stylish players, plus Monfils is a real showman. He has flair and joie de vivre, what he doesn't really have is a competitive spirit. Well, he does, but it seems he would rather entertain than win. He's probably one of the best pure athletes on the tour, but his ranking rarely reflects his talent. Anyway, it was a fun practice full of beautiful shotmaking and Gallic flair. Mom and I had a great time and we were sad when they finished. We stayed to watch young Spanish gal Carla Suarez Navarro practice - wow, does she hit the ball hard! Her one-handed backhand is terrific. I thought she was hitting the ball great and was surprised that she didn't even win her first round match...
Mom and I went over to Court 7 because we saw some shade and also two gents we'd never watched before (Mom and I like to scout new talent - she loves to talk about the year we saw Marcos Baghdatis before he made the Aussie Open final): Marius Copil from Romania and Edouard Roger-Vasselin from France. Mom and I have decided that Copil is our new boyfriend - he's attractive, his game is attractive and he seemed like a pleasant fellow. Plus, he had attractive friends. One of his chums sat next to me during the match and good lord, that man was handsome! I was swooning! But on the inside only. :)
This was a good match, though Copil won handily. I'm now going to report on my seat neighbors for Court 7: in front of the handsome man was an elderly gentleman who slept through the entire match. Well, no, not the entire match. He would wake up to sneeze ten or twelve times, then he'd blow his nose ten or twelve times, then he'd go back to sleep. it was bizarre. And rather gross. Sitting on the other side of me were two younger gentlemen who apparently had no idea what or where Romania is. Next to Copil's name on the scoreboard it said ROU. The young men were puzzled. Did ROU mean Ukraine? No, then there'd be a 'k'. Did it mean Uruguay? No, the guy doesn't look Latin. Their conversation was also bizarre. And don't get me started that they didn't know FRA meant France...
After finding a new boyfriend, Mom and I decided to call it a day. We'd had two great days at the tennis and I was sad that she had to leave. But at least I get to see her again soon when I meet my parents in Disney World...
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