As I mentioned in part 1, Gary Russell (RIP) and I were in New York to watch our hero Bret Farve play a little football.
However, our having way too much fun; the night before, we weren’t at all that ready for some football, but we did achieve our goal of being hungover for the game.
When we finally flagged one down and asked the cabby to take us to Giants Stadium (the Jets use the same facility as the Giants), he told us in broken English that he had no idea where that was.
So with the clock ticking, we jump out of that cab and into another, only to hear that he also doesn’t know where it is, but at least he got on his radio and found out.
Who could have guessed that anyone living in New York wouldn’t know where Brett was playing today?
When we got on the freeway, there was absolutely no traffic, so I was sure that we must be going the wrong way until after coming over a hill, there it was, Giants Stadium.
Once we arrived, we hustled through the gate and found our seats just in time for the kick-off.
Our seats were perfect; not only were they in the warm sun, but they were on the Jets’ side of the field too.
We were surrounded by a bunch of raucous Jet fans, who, as they kicked off the ball, never stopped being rowdy. Cool!
Our boy Bret had us a nice 34 -0 lead at the end of the first quarter, so of course, we did some leaping high fives with our new best friends.
Bret went on to win 50 to something, so Gary and I were very happy, except, how the hell do we get back to our hotel?
When we left the stadium, we asked one of the attendants if he knew where the cab stand was.
He pointed to a place that about half a mile away, so as the sun started to go down along with the temperature, off we trudged.
When we got there, we found one beat-up old cab, and when we asked the cabby, “How much to Manhatten,” he said, “A hundred and twenty-five plus tolls,” so we passed.
Wow, no wonder these guys were wiped out by Uber.
Looking around, we noticed a bunch of folks lining up for buses, so we hustled over to ask if there were any buses to Manhattan.
The good news was yes, but the bad news was the bus stop was on the other side of the stadium, which of course, was another half-mile away.
We rushed over there as fast as we could, hopin’ and prayin’ that we hadn’t missed it.
Not to worry, though, because as we came around the corner, there was still a long line of folks waiting. Whew!
Two hours later, we were finally on the bus headed back to Manhattan, but we had no idea where the bus ride would end up.
Luckily, the bus terminal was right near Times Square, and as we left the terminal, I noticed a big ol’ statue of Ralph Kramden from the old TV series, “The Honeymooners,” and I couldn’t help but yell, “And away we go!”
As Gary and I made our way back to our hotel couldn’t believe how many people were still in the streets, it was shoulder to shoulder, and it was Sunday night; what an unbelievable city.
What a fun experience and we both agreed that it turned out much better than we’d expected.
The next morning after saying our goodbyes at JFK and I was winging my way back to West Palm Beach, it suddenly hit me that two radio guys were in the Big Apple for three days, and we never turned the radio on once.
(Gary Russell and me pictured on top at my 70th Birthday party in San Diego when he was on his Honeymoon)
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Bob Tracey: Great story. Next time your up head out to the stadium, head to the Candlewyck Diner, where locals go after the game. And check out 101.1 CBS FM. Radio like it used to be. (Big Apple Part 2)
Radio Geo: Thanks for checking in, Bob; I’m a big fan of your voice work.
Amanda Vidler: What a great story about my dad, I can’t tell you how nice it was to read this! I miss him so much. Thank you so much for writing this; he spoke about you often, you were such an important and great friend to him. (Big Apple Part 2)
Radio Geo: So good to hear from you, Amanda. I too miss your Dad, he was a dear friend and a kind and gentle man.