There's nothing like a trip to the city during the holidays.
First, my apologies for a lack of a blog post the past couple of days. But it seems like, all of a sudden, I’m packed up with everything. I’m back, however, with some notes and such from recent things.
On Monday, I took my annual trip down to the city to New York City. I like to try and get down there during the Christmas season because it’s quite the place to be. From the lights to the decorations to everything else, it’s really quite magical.
For avid readers of the blog, you’ll remember I went out to Chicago earlier this year to see a friend, Brendan, graduate from the Navy’s basic training. He’s been in the Chicago area ever since, working through his schooling and such. He got liberty for a couple of weeks, however, and is home. So I took him with me to the city and met one of the finest guides one will ever have for the city — fellow geocacher Heather.
Brendan with his new buddy, Elmo!
Despite a delay in the train leaving Harriman, it was a fun day. A little colder than it was supposed to be, but still a fine day. We got to see a bunch of good things (including Rockefeller Center, as seen above). We had a couple of solid meals, saw some interesting things and I, of course, got a dirty dog on the street.
Why wouldn’t I, right?
With this season in full bloom, there were a lot of characters wandering around, looking to earn a few extra bucks by posing with people. It was quite funny to see. And, being it was Brendan’s first trip to the city in this time of year, he had to take advantage of this, no?
The hustle and bustle of the city was definitely there. That comes with people who still don’t have the thought of slowing down and peeking at things. But, I wouldn’t expect anything different.
We stopped and saw the building of the new skyscraper at Ground Zero and went inside and checked out the 9/11 memorial building. We were going to try and check out the new fountains and garden, but ended up having to look at it just from afar and above as the lines to get in were quite long and daylight was dwindling as we were thinking about that. I’ll hope to visit in the spring and see it closer.
We did, however, get to find a geocache this day. A regular-sized cache in the middle of the city, which was awesome.
Heather with Cirque du Cache.
Heather (and her husband, Jim, who met us later for dinner) are mega fans of Cirque du Soleil, mentioned a new cache. Of course, it has a Cirque theme — called Cirque du Cache.
This was a fun cache to do and it’s always nice to snag a cache in the city.
What was really cool about this cache was that once you opened the cache, you signed the log and all, but there was also this piece of fabric. And you could draw something on it. Very neat stuff and very well thought out. The best part is that it was in a high-traffic area, so it was pretty fun to retrieve the cache, walk away a little bit to check things out and then put it back. Fun times.
In all, it was a lot of fun to head down to the city and see things. I got to also see a former co-worker and catch up a little bit and it’s really nice to see things all lit up.
I even got one of the thickest hot chocolates I’ve ever had (thankfully it was small, because it was rich!) while we hung out a little bit at Bryant Park.
Bryant Park is a great little spot in the city.
***
Speaking of geocaching, two of us worked to organize and run an annual ornament exchange event. It was quite the success, too, which is always nice. Having halfway decent weather recently probably didn’t hurt us, either!
A large turnout at our holiday event.
We had about 55 people to the event, by far one the largest since this annual event started four years ago, and also one of the largest turnouts of any of event in our small area.
I co-planned the event with Beth, who had a successful game she created for the event. But, more than that, was her Toy Drive idea. It seemed that most people brought unwrapped toys and filled the large box her and her brother and sister-in-law brought. They then delivered the toys to the local Salvation Army, making sure that the toys would remain in our area.
So as fun as the event was (the spot we held it was excellent as well), it’s even better to know that our geocaching community was good enough to give back to the community during this holiday season and thought about others in need.
As this week continues, if you have the chance to give to an area Toys for Tots or something else, try and remember that there are people out there that have it worse than many of us. So if you can give at all, try and do so this holiday season.
***
Eddie Edwards vs. Sami Callihan delivered on a recent 2CW card.
For the final part of this Notes From My Noodle, I want to turn to 2CW, an independent wrestling federation out of the Syracuse area. Several of us have gone to a bunch of their events, but basically in Binghamton. We took the trek to Syracuse on Friday to see one of their biggest events of the year and to see a match that indy fans have wanted to see — Eddie Edwards vs. Sami Callihan.
Each time we’ve gone to watch 2CW, I thought the federation has delivered some great entertainment, good matches and a well-planned event. But this event was really solid (seeing matches such as Brodie Lee vs. Jay Freddie was outstanding and many other matches were excellent). And it was capped by Edwards vs. Callihan, a match that made me really want to drive to Syracuse.
I have seen Eddie Edwards many times. He’s athletic and works stiff — in other words, believable beyond belief to the point where some of the things he does really make you wonder how these guys do it.
Callihan, well known among the independent fans, is also a top-notch talent.
A five-star match was predicted. And these two delivered. It was a high-paced match, full of athleticism and character. Say what you will about professional wrestling — no matter if the outcome is determined or whatever — you have to be athletic and be able to tell a story inside that ring. These two did it.
The card, overall, was excellent. I would make the trip to Syracuse to see these guys again.
A funny afterthought. We stopped at a convenience store down the road from Syracuse to grab something to drink and something to snack on. While there, Sami Callihan came in. I noted that we had traveled a couple of hours to see that match because everyone was talking about it.
He asked me if it was worth it?
I told him they delivered and it was worth it. We chatted with him for a few moments and he shook hands a couple of times and thanked us for coming. I’ve talked to a few of these others and they, too, are very friendly with fans. That’s a good thing. Independent wrestling survives on smaller fanbases and these guys have the hope to, one day, make it big. Being friendly and outgoing will hopefully help them in their quest to reach the top.
Until then, it’s my hope they keep working local promotions so, when I can get away and go, I get the chance to see this top-notch and affordable entertainment.
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