From CoCo's Courtyard to Martha's Vineyard...

Ever since our good friends, Chris and Tarryn, moved away from here in Wilson County to Fort Wayne, Indiana, we have started a yearly tradition of meeting them somewhere for a little get-together trip.  First it was Columbus, Ohio, to see a Predators game.  Then, last year, we met in Chicago for St. Patrick's Day.  This year, we stepped it up a notch with a little bit bigger trip to New York to catch some world class tennis at the U.S. Open, and then on to explore the islands of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts.  

Saturday, August 31 - We flew into NYC's Laguardia Airport this morning and then Ubered a short distance to an Airbnb apartment located in Flushing/Queens that we had rented.  We spent the rest of the day in this area since we've never visited this blue-collar side of New York.  The tennis stadiums are so close to the airport that you can see them on approach.  Our weather was perfect as you can see.

After meeting Chris and Tarryn at the apartment and dropping our bags, we headed to the Long Island City Farm open house before it closed for the weekend.  This is one of the largest rooftop gardens in New York City (45,000 square feet) and a part of three such set-ups around town known collectively as The Brooklyn Grange. It sits atop a re-purposed Standard Motors building with a heck of view of the Manhattan skyline in the distance.

Our next stop was the swanky, new Boro Hotel which proposed a whole different kind of rooftop that was a bar.  Unfortunately, it did not open until 5 PM (weird on a lovely Saturday afternoon), but we decided to have a few libations and split a tasty pizza downstairs on the outdoor patio of their in-house restaurant, Beebe's.  From there we headed to the nearby Big aLICe Brewing Company per my suggestion, of course.  We split a very good 6-beer taster flight in their small, but popular, tasting room. LIC stands for Long Island City which is the name of the brimming neighborhood here.

Dinner was our next endeavor, so we Ubered again to the ethnically-diverse Jackson Heights neighborhood to check out the Arepa Lady Restaurant, a long-standing and popular staple here since it's beginnings as just one lady and a food cart.  Arepas are Columbian corn cakes (photo below) and we had several tasty ones along with interesting pork belly (chicharrion) patacons (photo above).  Patacons are fried mashed plantains with an avocado spread and your choice of meat topping.

We walked off our large dinner with a stroll down 37th Avenue to the fascinating Apna Bazar Farmers Market/ Supermarket.  It was like stepping into another country (or several other countries)  here with an amazing array of ethnic food choices. And despite it being around 9 PM, the place was jammed with customers.  I mean where else are you going to get fresh pooja nuts when you need them?  Yes, we had to Google what pooja nuts are also, so don't feel bad.

We Ubered back to the apartment after a long day of travel and exploring to relax and turn in fairly early in preparation for a long day of tennis tomorrow.  Our AirBnB apartment was nothing special, but it was clean and spacious enough occupying the third floor of the owner's own home.  It was cheaper and gave us more room than two hotel rooms would have.  A couple of unexpected bonuses of the apartment included the fact that jet planes didn't buzz our roof at all hours despite it being a stone's throw from Laguardia. The runways are mercifully on the opposite side of the area. Secondly, there was actually a decent view westward of the Manhattan skyline from the third-floor living room window.   You take what you can get.

Sunday, September 1 - Good mornin' Manhattan, from over here in Flushing/Queens! 

Another reason for our apartment choice was that it is close to the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park which is hosting the 2019 US Open tournament. It's already to the fourth rounds of the singles, and we had a day pass for the entire grounds and then assigned seats to the prime-time night session.

We started the day with another ethnic meal as we walked to the only place close the apartment, The Laguardia Cafe, a Dominican-based restaurant.  The food was decent and plentiful and you get chicken soup for breakfast...it's a Dominican thing, who knew?

We had great weather once again as we Ubered a short distance from the apartment to the U.S. Open.  Our first stop before going in to the tournament was to check out the giant Unisphere from the '64-'65 World's Fair in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.  In the background are the abandoned observation towers also from the world's fair history, and which are in the process of being restored.

The US Tennis Association Center is an amazing facility.  It even underwent a multi-million dollar renovation recently.  The impressive and massive Arthur Ashe Stadium is an imposing site to see inside and out.

Today was Round 4 of the women's and men's singles and the second round of doubles matches of the  prestigious Grand Slam tournament and we had a bevy of games to choose from to watch with our day pass.

We opted to watch most of today's action in the second biggest venue in the complex, the beautiful  Louis Armstrong  Stadium where we saw:
China's # 12th-ranked Qiang Wang upset # 1 overall, Australian Ashleigh Barty to move on to her first-ever Grand Slam Quarterfinal
Britain's #11 Johanna Konta pull another upset over  # 2 Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic to advance to her first-ever U.S. Open Quarterfinal

Our biggest thrill of the day was getting to see the 15-year-old  U.S. sensation, CoCo Gauff, and her 100 MPH serve take out an older, more-experienced and ninth-ranked doubles team of Nicole Melichar (US) and Kyeta Peschke (CZR), along with her U.S.  partner, the excellent, Caty McNally, who herself is only 17.   The stadium was packed for this one.   Look for team  "McCoCo" to move up fast in the ranks in the near future! 

This magical day in New York took on an amazing glow as night approached.  As we filed into Arthur Ashe Stadium for the two night-time, prime-time sessions, our nose-bleed seats afforded us the jaw-dropping sunset view of Manhattan from the upper outdoor tiers.  The picture has ZERO filters, folks.  

They call it "Prime Time Under the Lights" and it's as big a presentation as any NFL  football game, NHL hockey game or arena concert we have been to.  And why not, in the world of pro tennis, these players are rock stars. The place was packed and there were famous folks in the crowd including comedians, Chris Rock, who we saw flashed on the big screen, and Adam Sandler, who we saw being interviewed earlier in the day.  This was being shown on ESPN with millions watching world-wide.  It was an honor and a thrill to be here.

This may be the best IPhone panoramic shot I have ever taken.  It's just about perfect.
 Tonight, we got to see two important matches under the lights and in prime time:
American hopeful and # 9 in the world, Madison Keys, fell in two straight sets to # 5 Elina Svitolina of the Ukraine who was just on fire with her swings.

The only men's game we saw turned out to be very exciting, very strange and very memorable at the same time.  The # 1 in the world monster, Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, fresh off his Wimbledon win, was down in a third straight set to # 19, Stan Wawinka, of Switzerland when he suddenly retired from the match due to injury...we think...it was never really confirmed.  Djokovic had a strange tournament overall with angrily shushing the crowd with colorful language;  getting in a heated debate with a fan during practice; and winning a match though complaining of a shoulder injury, then being perfectly dominating in the next match, and then quitting while getting trounced tonight to a packed house that was definitely pulling against him.  It's always hard being on top of the mountain.

Like him or not, you gotta respect the power and grace of Novak Djokioick.  He nearly made a play with his back to the net  way in the back-court between his legs that sent the ball back to just within millimeters of clearing.  Maybe one of the most amazing athletic things I have ever seen live.  

After the matches, we filed out of the stadium along with thousands of others and our plan to head south through  Flushing Meadows/Corona Park to grab an Uber back to the apartment were dashed as we walked under the spooky, abandoned and kind of otherworldly (remember the end of Men in Black?) World's Fair Observation Towers and were told by the police that we didn't want to go any further because the park isn't lit up at night past here and thus it is not a place to walk in the dark.  Yes sir!  Thank you, sir!  Hey, it's still New York. 

We did make it back to the apartment after a fairly long wait in the official ride-share line.  It was late and we were exhausted, but it was such a great day and experience.  

BUCKET LIST CHECK!!  

Monday, September 2 - We awoke today to some light rain, so what better time to leave New York and take a short flight to Nantucket, Massachusetts .  We got a light breakfast around the corner from the apartment at a deli/market that was actually pretty good despite giving it a skeptical second-chance.  Sorry about that, Danny's Deli and Grocery.  You are awesome despite your, crowded aisles, weak beer selection and somewhat dirty floors! 

To say our short flight on Jet Blue was easy and casual is an understatement.  The terminal we flew out of was mostly empty since many flights south had been cancelled or delayed due to Hurricane Dorian churning off the coast of North Carolina.  Since it's the end of the in-season on Nantucket, the flight was almost empty and we had entire rows to ourselves.  The weather improved as we headed east also and we touched down under sunny skies.  

Our first views of the uniquely-shaped Nantucket Island were surprising as it did not seem as developed as you would imagine as a playground of the Northeastern rich and famous might be.  

One of the first things you notice (and feel in the Uber from the airport) are the cobblestone streets.  The town of Nantucket is idyllic in every way.  You can tell there is money and history here, but you aren't beaten over the head with either.  They are just here and accepted.  

We chose the Hawthorn House based on a reasonable price and a good location in town.  It's one our first encounters with an invisible service hotel, meaning no front desk, no bellmen, just our keys to our rooms in envelopes in the hallway entrance.  Kinda nice and obviously a very low crime area!  It's a beautiful, old large house built originally in 1849 and has served as traveler lodging since 1920.  Our room # 1 was right inside and quite lovely with an incredibly nice and comfortable bed.  

After settling into our rooms, we immediately headed out for a walk around town and out to beautiful Brandt Point Lighthouse.  We had a pretty good dinner and drinks around the corner from our hotel at the Company of Thieves Pub and then headed back to the Hawthorn House and wiled away the rest of the evening on their secluded back patio with libations and laughter.

Tuesday, September 3 - This morning we were scheduled to take a ferry over to Martha's Vineyard for a guided tour of the famous and swanky island.    We started the day with breakfast as the excellent Black-Eyed Susan's restaurant just around the corner from our hotel. 

It was just a short walk to the ferry dock, so we did some casual shopping and browsing on our way there.  It was during this time we had quite a disturbing incident with our scheduled tour operator on Martha's Vineyard.  I try to keep this blog positive and upbeat, so I won't go into too many details, but let's just say we were very let down by our expensive, private, pre-paid-in-full and booked-months-ago tour and it's unprepared operator this morning.  We wound up having to cancel the tour the morning of due to her shocking unprofessional ineptitude.(Editor's note: We did end up receiving a full refund and future credit also thanks to booking through ToursByLocals.com instead of directly with this twit of a tour operator. They treated us great from the start with a frantic phone call to them that morning and then thru email afterwards.  Here's a big shout out to Tours By Locals for all their help. and we will definitely be using them again!)

Despite the setback with the tour, it was still a beautiful day and the Hy-Line Ferry left right on time like our  pre-paid tickets said it would (see how that works, Dee-Dee?).  We had a smooth ride over enjoying the scenery including this front view of Brandt Point Lighthouse again.  After a bit of looking around at the dock in Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard at our options, we decided to rent a car for the day to see as much of the island as we could before our return trip in the afternoon.  The guy at Sun and Fun Inc. car rentals was nice and professional (see how that works, Dee-Dee?) and gave us a four-door sedan for a reasonable price as well as some great tips on where to go and what to see.

Our first stop was the famous Jaws Bridge from the classic film just outside Oak Bluffs heading toward Edgartown.  If you can't read my lips, I am saying..."there's a sh-sh-shark!  A shark in the pond!!"

We did a drive-by of the Edgartown Harbor Lighthouse.  The whole town itself is beautiful.

Our next stop was my call, of course, but we all enjoyed it.  Bad Martha Brewing is named after the beautiful siren mermaid Martha who summoned many a sailor to his doom.  She just showed me where the tasty beer is, so I got no problems with her. 

On the far westernmost end of Martha's Vineyard is Gay Head Light which was actually moved back a few hundred yards recently due to erosion around its base.  This was our final stop before heading back to Oak Bluffs to catch our ferry back to Nantucket.  

Gay Head Light overlooks the beautiful Aquinnah Cliffs.  Sure wish we had had more time here.

Our time on lovely (and larger than expected) Martha's Vineyard Island was much too short, and while a lot of it was seen from a passing car window like these awesome gingerbread houses that the island is famous for, we still really enjoyed it enough to know we would consider a return trip if the opportunity every arises. 

The ferry ride back to Nantucket was quick and easy, and when we disembarked, we went to get in the line out the door of The Juice Bar, a very popular ice-cream shop cleverly disguised as something healthy.  Some of the best ice cream we've ever had, no doubt about it.  We spent our last evening on Nantucket back on the patio of the Hawthorn House with a lot of libations, more laughs and even a pizza delivery.  

Wednesday, September 4 - We had a late afternoon flight home scheduled with a layover in Newark for a late arrival back home while Chris and Tarryn's flight was around noon, so we had just enough time to go back to Black-Eyed Susan's for breakfast again.  This is my "side" order of Yucatan chicken sausage that was unbelievably good with my scrambled eggs.  

We tried to book a sail around the harbor, but there were not enough people for it to go out, so with a few hours to kill and some pretty hot temps, we decided to duck into The Nantucket Whaling Museum.  Despite our opposition to whaling, there is no disputing that it was a major part of history and the industrial revolution in America, and Nantucket was the undisputed capital for it.  The air-conditioning and displays were very nice and we enjoyed our visit more than we thought we would, and seeing the full skeleton of a grown sperm whale was amazing.  

An added bonus to The Whaling Museum was the 360-degree views of their Roof Walk. This panoramic shot out toward the harbor shows the beauty and meticulous upkeep of this cool little historic town.  

You know what else is close to The Whaling Museum?  The Juice Bar!!!  This is a scoop of their "Dirty Grasshopper" flavor (chocolate mint ice cream with Oreos) which they were out of during our visit yesterday, but in stock today and it was amazing.  

An added bonus to our admission to The Whaling Museum was that we also gained access to some other historic points of interest on the island.  The closest (and most interesting) to us was The Old Mill.  This beautifully restored wind-power grist mill is the last survivor of a row of seven of these beautiful structures that once adorned the landscape here grinding out corn hardtack for the scores of whaling ships heading out from Nantucket.  Built in 1746, it is also the oldest mill in the United States still in operation and we got to have a private tour and demonstration of it in action (private because we were the only visitors at that time) by the folks working there.  See video above.  The wheel in the photo above the video is for rotating the entire top of the windmill and its blades to whatever direction the wind is blowing .  Clever, huh? 

We were done with learning and history and it was time for some drinking!  We took an Uber out to Cisco Brewery a few miles from town for a few afternoon libations since they not only brew craft beer, but distill liquor and also make wine.  We met a great couple there while sharing a table who told us about a free shuttle that Cisco was running from downtown Nantucket out to the farm so we hopped on with them to head back to town at no charge.  That was the good news...

then came the bad news..

Yep, first time ever in all of our travels together, United Airlines cancelled their last flight out of Nantucket today which we were supposed to be on.  With no good alternative, we were stuck on the island with Hurricane Dorian down south and churning northward.  We were forced to spend another night in this beautiful place even though it screwed with our work and other plans.  Our room at the Hawthorn House was still available, so at least we got that..but at no discount...and since it was not the fault of UA...supposedly an air traffic control issue at Newark...we probably won't be getting reimbursed for it or our other expenses to stay the extra night.

We just had to trust the UA gate agent who was confident we would get on their 9 AM morning flight with no problems even though the hurricane had us worried about more flight delays and cancellations.  With no other choices and hungry bellies, we decided to try the restaurant here at the airport called Crosswinds which we were told was great by a flight attendant when we were coming in on Jet Blue.  He was right!!  The food was amazing, so at least we had that.  The Wednesday night weekly special is unlimited pasta (Ashlee) and 50-cent jumbo wing (me).  It was cool to see that some of the stars of the long-defunct TV show about a small airport in Nantucket called, "Wings", had visited here also and left signed photographs on the wall.

It was another beautiful night in Nantucket and although we don't live on Easy Street, it is fun to visit it now and then, and eek out a pretty darn good trip despite some major snafus along the way.

Thursday, September 5 - The food was so good at Crosswinds at the airport that we came back for breakfast.  Check out my wonderful steak and eggs platter.  And the potatoes and rye toast were perfect.

We did make it off the island on time and with no issues.  Goodbye, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, it's been a memorable time for sure.

The window was a tight 45-minutes to change planes in Newark which we made without much trouble and a little bit of sweat from having to cross three huge concourses.  The flight home was smooth despite a warning from our captain that we might be on the runway in Newark for a long while before departing (that didn't happen), and it might be a bumpy flight due to the outer trails of Hurricane Dorian (that also didn't happen). And we did get Stroopwafels which may be United Airlines only redeeming value.

We used a lot of Ubers/Lyfts this trip (about $200 in total) and as I was going back through my receipts I could recall that all of them were pretty good, but this guy's name stood out.  

You know the ladies love Lovejit!! 

Epilogue: Hurricane Dorian got close to Nantucket as a CAT 1 storm, but missed it on it's continued path north. Our thoughts are with those affected in it's terrible path of destruction.
None of our faves at The U.S. Open won their brackets.
As I mentioned before we got our refund from the botched MV tour.
We have yet to hear from United Airlines about any reimbursement for the cancelled flight.
We miss eating at Crosswinds.