New York, New York........Planes, Trains and Automobiles!

On Wednesday, September 1st, ME and I drove to Seattle in order to catch our early Thursday morning flight to New York. We kicked off our trip with a fun dinner with Caitlin and Dayton at a cornerstone Seattle restaurant, 13 Coins. It was a great way to begin a much needed, anticipated and long overdue vacation.

Having survived a very early morning wake up call, we headed for SeaTac airport for the first leg of our trip. Our flights to New York were uneventful, which is a good thing. Help was available in Seattle, Chicago and New York. ME got a kick out of seeing our name on card held by a private driver as we arrived at baggage claim in New York. We were whisked downtown to the Grand Hyatt Hotel, located across the street from Grand Central Station. Shortly after checking in, Nan Menke showed up with a bottle of wine to celebrate our arrival.

Friday was a quiet day giving us time to unpack and get acquainted with our surroundings. ME, Nan and I went for a long walk around the city. After a quick break in the afternoon, we met up with Nan and Tony, grabbed a cab and charged off to L'Ecole for dinner. L'Ecole is the French Culinary Institute in New York. It was an awesome dinner shared with great friends!

Saturday was our first "tennis" day. Nan and Tony arranged for us all to go to and from Flushing Meadows using the official USTA limo service. Not only was it fun to ride in brand a new Mercedes, but we were dropped off at the entrance to Arthur Ashe stadium. We cruised the grounds of the USOpen for a bit before heading upstairs to the President's box for dinner and the evening session of tennis. Words can not describe how cool this was for us. Tony got us excellent viewing seats for watching the matches. Unfortunately, James Blake lost his match but it was electric being in the house.

Tony was busy with meetings Sunday so Nan, ME and I headed back out to Arthur Ashe Sunday to watch more tennis. We had great seats to see Kim Clijsters, Venus Williams and Rafa Nadal. It was a full day of tennis and sun. ME and I headed back to the hotel in the late afternoon, gassed and happy.

Monday had Tony tied up in meetings so the three of us took the three hour around the island cruise. The weather was spectacular as were the views. We got some great pictures of Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, "ground zero" and many other landmarks making up Manhattan. Monday afternoon had us packing for our departure from the Open and the Grand Hyatt.

After saying our good-byes to the Menkes, ME and I grabbed a cab to Penn Station for the next leg of our trip. It's a very comfortable three hour Amtrak ride "east" to Rhode Island. My folks met us at the train station in Kingston, the home of the University of Rhode Island. It had been three years since I have seen my parents and four years since ME saw them. We enjoyed a great couple of days with them along with my brother Paul and his wife Stephanie.

Thursday had us back on Amtrak, going "west" to New York as we had another early wake up for our flight home Friday morning. All connections worked perfect. We both took naps on the flight home. By 6PM, we were back in Yakima.

It's hard to believe it's over. Back when we initially planned this reward for MaryEleanor, it seemed so far away. Nan and Tony were the ultimate hosts for our time in New York. To see the USOpen live is very cool. To see the USOpen the way we did was nothing short of spectacular, thanks to the Menkes. We really enjoyed the time we spent with my folks. Although they had not seen ME since the event two years ago, they were impressed with her progress.

Everywhere we went, people were willing to help us. Whether it be boarding an airplane, train or a cab, someone was always there volunteering their services. The hotel staff along with the volunteers at the Open were awesome. Our trip was that much more enjoyable knowing that someone had our back.

Well sports fans, game over. ME will be staying in touch on Facebook. I am going to enjoy my retirement as an author.

It's time to set some new goals MaryEleanor!