Sorry for the long hiatus! I have been in and out of town for the past week, so there has been little time for blogging. But I’m back and ready to post regularly! This post is just an overview of my trip to New York City, so I apologize for the brevity!
I have always been an avid tennis fan since I was five years-old. As a matter of fact, my entire family is. I played every single day as a middle and high-schooler and even was the #1 singles player on the varsity team–best memories ever!
Every year I try to keep up with the various tennis tournaments such as the U.S. Open, French Open, Wimbledon, Australian Open, etc. I’ve toured Roland Garros in France and Wimbledon in England in January of 2010 (not during a tournament), when I was studying abroad, so I was VERY excited when my mom told me she wanted to go to the 2013 U.S. Open.
Roland Garros is in Paris, France. This is where the French Open takes place.
Wimbledon is located just outside of London, England.
My family and I went to New York over the long Labor Day weekend, which was a great time to go. We saw so many players and the weather was absolutely perfect. The only downside was that David couldn’t go because he had to work all weekend, but he isn’t much of a tennis fan anyway 😉
My mom was already in New York with a group of girlfriends, so my dad, brother and I flew out on Friday night (August 30th). We arrived at Hotel Edison in Times Square around midnight after a wind-whipped cab ride from LaGuardia. It is always an interesting (and scary) experience riding through New York City in a taxi cab…..let’s just say it was Friday night around midnight and the crazies were definitely out and about!
Saturday morning started off with a delicious breakfast of eggs, wheat toast, and homemade hashbrowns at Café Edison, which was located in Hotel Edison’s lobby. We loved Café Edison because it was quick, fresh, and super affordable.
We spent all day long at the tennis center after a LONNNGGG subway ride, and it was the best day ever! I loved seeing all of the players in action.
Arthur Ashe Stadium during one of Nadal’s matches.
Nadal in action!
Isner.
The Williams Sisters!
I even met Bob and Mike Bryan. How adorable are they?!
Saturday night called for a show–Wicked! We had fourth row seats, so the experience was incredible! If you ever get the chance to see Wicked, do it! It will change your life.
Sunday morning began with a late wake-up, which meant my family and I had to SPRINT to our destination. It was quite hilarious. Anyway, we did one of the boat tours on the Hudson River, and it took us to see significant monuments such as Freedom Tower, Statue of Liberty, Essex Island, and more! It was a very relaxing experience.
After the tour, we explored the city some more–Central Park, Columbus Circle….
We took lots of jumping pictures and talked to some cops.
Watched street entertainers.
And then headed back to the U.S. Open for night tennis! This was so much more fun than the daytime sessions because it was nice and cool, and the atmosphere was “electric” as Novak Djokovic said.
Haas.
Youzhny.
Djokovic.
Sousa.
My family at the Sousa v. Djokovic match.
Novak for the win!
Novak being interviewed.
We didn’t return to the hotel until 2:00 a.m., so naturally we didn’t arise for the day until 11:00 a.m.–just in time to meet some of my college friends for lunch!
Charles, Megan, and Timothy!
We dined at Dervish, which was an authentic Turkish/Mediterranean restaurant and had a blast catching up. I miss my college friends so much!
We were scheduled to fly back to Georgia at 5:30 p.m., but didn’t take off until almost 9:00 p.m. It was very miserable, but I did get a lot of work done which is a plus. After all was said and done, I did not enter my home until 3:00 a.m. It was a long day!
I absolutely LOVE New York City and cannot wait to go back. There is so much to see and do, and the diversity is amazing to me–it is truly a melting pot, that’s for sure!
Fabulously Farah 