Getting to MA and the US Open

On Tuesday, September 5^th we (my mom, step-dad Mark, and me) set out on our 17-hour drive to Massachusetts. Day 1 was uneventful, but Day 2 got a lot more exciting.

 

Wednesday we woke up in Cleveland and went to The Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame, where we spend 2.5 hours. We could easily have spent several more hours if we weren’t in a rush to get back on the road. This is definitely a must see for any music fan. There is cool memorabilia, guitars, outfits, etc. from artists of all genres. Outside the museum we were able to walk around in Johnny Cash’s tour bus, which was especially cool for Mark who is a huge Cash fan. Something that I thought was fascinating was a display on Otis Redding. For those of you who are unfamiliar with him, one of his most famous songs was “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.” He died in a plane crash in Madison, WI in 1967. There was a photo of his plane crash in Lake Monona with a view of downtown Madison and the Capitol in the background, along with a piece of the plane that was recovered from the lake.

Early afternoon we left Cleveland and continued on our way. Everything was going well until we reached New York. Mark was driving with cruise control when all of a sudden my car, which is only 2 years old, stopped accelerating, could not go over 40mph, and two lights on the dashboard turned on. Luckily we saw a sign that said a rest stop was 1.5 miles away, so we put our hazards on and crawled to the rest stop. I called Hyundai assistance to see if they could tell us what was wrong, which was a waste of time and no help. There was a gas station and small garage at the rest stop, so the clerk called a tow truck to take us to a Hyundai dealership. This was the first time being towed for my mom, Mark, and me! We still had no idea what was wrong. Worst-case scenario, it would take until the next day to fix and I would miss orientation. Best-case scenario, it would only take a little while to fix and we could be on our way. Thank God it was the latter! Apparently something was wrong with the transmission, which they had seen happen before. All in all, we got delayed 3 hours.

After two days of orientation, where I meet other exchange students from places like China, Poland, Portugal, Canada, Louisiana, and Arizona, we left for New York City Friday night. The three of us took the train out of Springfield, transferred in New Haven, and arrived in Penn Station 3.5 hours later. On the itinerary I selected on amtrak.com, it said we would take a shuttle to New Haven. I thought that meant a bus, but it is actually a train.

Saturday, Sunday, and Monday we went to the US Open in Flushing Meadows on Long Island. It was incredibly crowded and multiple times we had to wait in lines to get into the stadium. While I did see some great tennis, I don’t think I would go back unless I had reserved seats in a stadium or tickets to Arthur Ashe, the main stadium. If you are interested in seeing some professional tennis up close and in a less crowded atmosphere, I would recommend the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, CA (near Palm Springs). While it is not a major tournament like the US Open, most players were in both tournaments.

After watching the tennis Saturday night, we walked through Times Square. I have decided that I am tired of Midtown, especially Times Square. There are too many people, a lot of creepers, and too touristy. Next time I go to New York, which is hopefully this semester, I want to spend time exploring other neighborhoods Manhattan has to offer.

After a tearfully goodbye in Penn Station, I headed back to school on a train all by myself.