Royalty Tours USA

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Royalty welcomes back a fellow roadtripper to NYC to start 2014!‏

After the King & I returned from Ann Arbor, Michigan to begin 2014, we got a visit from our pal Steve Fekete aka the Padre Punk who was back in the Northeast. He came to see some more venues he needed as he continues he quest to join Club 122. He spent his New Year's Day in Upstate New York. He went to Utica with our other buddies from Buffalo, Andrew Kulyk & Peter Farrell who met him there. They went to see the Comets play at the Utica Memorial Auditorium which the guys from Buffalo gave a rave review. The King & I went there in November. We enjoyed our visit. 

While the King & I drove back from the Midwest, Steve drove down to NYC. We wound up meeting up with Steve who returned the car he rented in New Jersey. He wound up getting a ride to the Nassau Coliseum from me. He met up with the King, our friend Frank Anichiarico aka Duck & I. He took public transportation to Queens. Since I was off from work, we were able to leave extra early which allowed us to get out there with plenty of time to spare. We stopped off at Popeye's in Hempstead for a pre game meal. We then drove over to the Nassau Coliseum to see the Islanders host the defending Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks who Steve likes & follows around. They were the main reason he came to visit us. After the game, I drove him back into Queens where he took public transportation back to New Jersey where he was staying while he was in the area. The weather was getting bad as it started snowing as we drove back. Luckily I was able to park the car on the street near the house that the King & I live in. 

Friday morning I went back to work. After work, I took the subway to the World Trade Center where I picked up the Path train to Newark. The Devils were playing the Blackhawks on this night at the Prudential Center. Steve once again joined us as did our new neighbor Sean MacDonald who had just returned from his NFL Stadium Journey. He saw all 32 NFL Stadiums during the 2013 season. He started in Denver on Opening night in September & he finished the regular season in Seattle on Sunday December 29th. A few days later he returned to NYC which is where he calls home for the time being. 

After the game, Sean & I said goodbye to Steve since that Saturday we went in different directions. Steve met up with the King as they both went back to the Nassau Coliseum to see the Islanders play the Carolina Hurricanes. Sean & I wanted to see more football so I extended the car I rented for a week for an additional day. Thankfully I was able to dig the car out of the parking spot Friday night. As a result, I was able to pick up Sean around 11AM so we could drive down to Philadelphia earlier because there was a college basketball game at 2PM in the area. St. Joseph's Hawks were hosting the Denver Pioneers at the Michael J. Hagan Arena. We were also joined by our buddy Andrew Van Cleve who showed up with his son Dylan. It was great to see them again.

St. Joseph's Hawks basketball at Michael J. Hagan Arena
After the game, Andrew went back home to drop off Dylan. Sean & I went to the Landmark Americana where we picked up our pal Frankie Centola who had my ticket for the Eagles NFC Wild Card game with the New Orleans Saints that night. I drove Frankie to Lincoln Financial Field then I dropped Sean off at the Holiday Inn which is walking distance from the Sports Complex since he wanted to watch as much of the early football game between the Chiefs & the Colts as he could. In the meantime, I went to park the car on the street. After I did so, I met up with Sean at Holiday Inn where we both ate a pre game meal together. Shortly thereafter, Andrew Van Cleve joined us there as well.

Prince at Lincoln Financial Field for Saints & Eagles NFC Wild Card Game 
As for the game we saw, the Eagles put up a good fight but they wound up falling short to the Saints who beat them, 26-24 to end their season which turned out better than expected.

After the game, I drove Sean back to Astoria with me. That Sunday I wound up staying home after I returned the car I rented to Avis in the morning. Since there were no local games in the area to go to, I watched the other football games on TV. In addition, I got to catch up on some much needed rest since I was ran around all week. As a result, I went to sleep early that night.

Stay tuned for my w/o 1/6 in review. In addition, I plan to do some special posts that will highlight some more of the adventures we experienced during the month of January.

Thank you for reading & following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

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