DC Days

[Guest Edgy DC]

You all DC-bounders get my epistle? I only heard back from Scarlet and Vic.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Oop. Just saw Doc and KC in my inbox.

Dickshot and Point?

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Hottie - how old are your Dockettes?

[Willets Point]

Aaaaarrr Matey, all the directions are printed out.

Edgy, you have mail.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

Scarlett, my son is 16 and my daughter is 14.

For all of those staying at the Jury Hotel I thought I would pass on the following. We are actually going to be leaving tomorrow evening so we can do sight seeing on Saturday. When I went to look for a hotel for tomorrow night, I found that rooms were still available at the Jury. The kicker is that the rooms are available for $99 a night through the weekend, which is substantially better than the price they gave us in February. I called to inquire about the difference and was advised that the $125 price extended to the Crane Pool Forum was a corporate rate. I explained that we were not a company, but rather a crazed bunch of Mets fans coming to see a baseball game. Needless to say we have all now been kicked out of the hotel...just kidding on that point. I was told that they could not change the rate, but I could book a new reservation for the lower price and upon receiving a confirmation call and cancel the initial reservation. I took their advice and did just that.

If anyone is interested in getting the same rooms for a better rate, check on the web (both Orbitz & Hotels.com had the lower rates) to see if the company you generally use had a better rate. I was able to add Friday night to my new reservation for less than the total had initially been for Sat., Sun., and Mon. nights.

Look forward to seeing everyone.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I'm forwarding that to the group via e-mail. Sheeee...

[Willets Point]

I'd probably be more recognizable if I wore a kilt, but that was a rental, so I don't have one handy.

[Guest holychicken]

Have fun at the game this weekend guys and girls. Wish I could have made it.

I'll be watching tho, so you all better be in bright orange and blue so I can locate you. . .I suggest you all go out those bright and, some would say, hideous batting practice jerseys so you stick out like a fist of sore thumbs.

AND, you need a "cahnfidence" sign so they will put you on TV.

[Guest KC]

I have two tickets for the Tues night game available if anyone is interested.
We have to return home earlier than planned.

PM me if interested.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Scarlet, I indeed have someone who would like that last ticket.

[Willets Point]

I hope her name is cooby.

We need to make t-shirts that spell out C-A-H-N-F-I-D-E-N-C-E.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Great - Edgy's friend gets the final ticket.

And :( that Kase and KB can't stay for Tuesday's game.

[Diamond Dad]

We'll have the "Let's Go/Vamos Mets" banner in honor of Pedro's start on Tuesday. Probably won't be able to hang it in the stadium, but maybe we can hold it up between innings for the TV crew.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

The southern contingent rolled into DC around 9:00 PM on Friday. Found the hotel without too much trouble, missed one turn just a few blocks from the hotel, but otherwise smooth sailing and the traffic was surprisingly light.

Spent yesterday touring Mount Vernon, cruising the Potomac River and taking in the sights Arlington National Cemetary. Will be heading out to the presidential and war monuments/memorials shortly. Should return to the hotel around 3-4 PM this afternoon. To clean up before heading to Edgy's this evening.

Look forward to seeing everyone again. To those staying at the hotel, we're in Rm. 429, please give us a ring so we can organize our travel plans for the evening. Safe travels everyone.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

We should be hitting town around 3:00-4:00 ourselves. We're looking forward to seeing everyone.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

Just got in from a hectic day of sight seeing. I feel like I've walked enough to almost be at Shea. Had a fun time taking in the sights of the Tidal Basin and downtown monument area.

An awful lot has changed since I last toured DC as a teenager. A fun time has been had by all and the holiday weekend is still young.

I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful July 4th holiday.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Dinner at Edgy and Cha Cha's place was a lot of fun. We were there with Kase, KB, Rockin Doc and the Dockettes, and Mr. & Mrs. Dickshot. Good food and lots of laughs for all in attendance. Tomorrow we tailgate at RFK before the game.

Missing the rest of you - wish you were here!

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

So I e-mailed cooby and told her that we all missed her tonight, and she said, "Yeah, sure."

Would you guys tell her that we all missed her?

[Guest Edgy DC]

She's being coy.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

D-Dad just went out to grab us something to eat for breakfast (keeping it small, since we'll be tailgating soon). He came back with Starbucks Coffee and Krispy Kreme Donuts.

Edgy - you picked a great location :)

[seawolf17]

It's both interesting and yet completely bizarre that we can get the play-by-play of everyone's trip to DC. Wish we could be there. Perhaps next year. We went out for ice cream last night, and I almost got a Nationals helmet sundae to be with you in solidarity... then I realized that I hat the Nationals (no pun intended), so I got it in a regular dish instead.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

So here's what the rest of you missed.

We arrived at the hotel aroune 3:30 (I guestimated our arrival time very well). KB was in the lobby, so after unpacking we met up with her and Kase at the Irish bar. I called Rockin Doc, so he joined us as well. The Dockettes and Knight kids hit it off from the start, finding common interests in Harry Potter and comic books to bond over. Eventually the Dickshots joined us, as well as one of Johnny's high school friends. After a time, we organized ourselves in the lobby to tackle the mean streets of DC and head over to Edgy and Cha Cha's place.

Dinner was lovely, with great food and a lot of story telling. I was laughing so hard at one point that I could barely breathe - if you think these guys are entertaining on the internet, you really need to see them in person! Cha Cha graciously agreed to play the piano so that we could let the group see that my daughter really does have a great singing voice. Tattoos were compared, and others threatened to show off moles. Eventually we headed back to the hotel, and were able to find our way back successfully.

We're now about 45 minutes away from congregating in the lobby so we can caravan over to RFK for the much anticipated tailgate party. After that it's dinner at that place Edgy found that has pumpkin pecan pie (with that on the menu, nothing else matters) and fireworks at night.

Hope that the 4th is a good one for all of you. I'm sure you'll hear more from us later.

[Willets Point]

We missed Cooby. In fact, we all mentioned her when we saw Carlos Baerga in the Washington lineup and again when Baerga made a good catch in foul territory.

So I want to hear the report on the dinner last night and the fireworks in DC. Ms. Tiger and I had fun at our friends' cookout and then flew home seeing fireworks displays in communities across the eastern seaboard. The fireworks themselves looked just like little cottonballs from above, but it was neat to see several towns' fireworks all at once. It was also fun to fly over places like Brooklyn and Queens where it looked like every street corner and rooftop was exploding with color.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

Our family returned from a fun filled holiday weekend in the nation's capital a few hours ago. It was a great gathering filled with good food and even better fellowship.

Edgy and Cha Cha were great hosts for the group. They found us a great hotel in a nice neighborhood and helped to ensure that everything flowed smoothly for the group.

We had a wonderful gathering at Edgy and Cha Cha's apartment on Sunday evening. The food was wonderful and the beer was plentiful. Combine that with the company of some great Mets fans and you have the makings of a memorable evening. Cha Cha graciously agreed to accompany Scarlett's daughter for a beautiful rendition of I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables. Both performed flawlessly and it was a treat for all in attendance.

The little Knights and the Dockettes hit it off very well, as if they had known each other for years, which was nice to see. It made the gathering more enjoyable for them since most of them (other than my 16 year old son) seemed to find the discussions of the adults rather boring.

Monday morning we formed a Mets motorcade to RFK for a tailgating party. KC and Diamond Dad manned the grills expertly and no one left the lot hungry. Cold beer and blue margaritas were available in abundance. The three plus hours of the tailgate party seemed to pass too quickly as the stories flowed throughout the morning. Willets and his fiancee (Ms Tiger) joined the group midway through the festivities. Shortly before game time, ABG stopped by for a surprise cameo appearance. He had been tailgating with friends elsewhere in the lot and somehow figured out who we were amid all the cars and people.

Soon it was time to break up the party and head into the stadium for the game. I unfortunately had difficulties with an overly zealous security guard that decided my camera was not allowed. He stated that the telephoto lens was too large and told me that "professional cameras" were not allowed. So I had to return to the car to change to a smaller lens before I could enter the stadium. I unfortunately missed the Mets top of the first, but at least I was able to enjoy another cold beer on the return trip across the lot.

We cheered the Mets throughout their come from behind victory. We even shouted down Screech (the Nationals "pigeon" mascot) when he tried to rouse the lethargic Washington fans in our section. It was nice to see that the Mets fans were present in abundance throughout the stadium. It was even nicer to see the Mets earn a win.

After the final out was recorded and the victory sealed, we hurried to our cars. We returned to the hotel to prepare for our group dinner reservation along the waterfront in Georgetown. The food was wonderful and afterward the fireworks display helped to cap a great day of fellowship.

I would like to thank Edgy and Cha Cha for being such wonderful hosts in organizing this outing and I would urge others to consider attending, if at all possible, the next time the CPF plans a group gathering.

[Guest Edgy DC]

You're welcome. Thanks for being no stranger.

No stranger than Knight or KC or Dickshot, baw, haw, haw.

All were welcome and I hope to see them again. Families also.

[Guest KC]

Home safely ... I hat NJ traffic in the summer. Hat NJ in general, er nevermind.

Thanks to Ed and C. for finding us a nice place to stay and for the hospitality.
Thanks to Mrs. Fields for getting the group tix thing organized.

I'll post more tomorrow with pics but I wanted to check in.

[Guest silverdsl]

I'm sorry I didn't get to meet up with everyone prior to the game. Unfortunately I wasn't able to convince the folks I was with to see if we could find you guys since they were very anxious to get into the stadium. But I'm glad to hear that everyone had a great time!

Rockin' Doc wrote: I unfortunately had difficulties with an overly zealous security guard that decided my camera was not allowed. He stated that the telephoto lens was too large and told me that "professional cameras" were not allowed. So I had to return to the car to change to a smaller lens before I could enter the stadium.

I can't believe this happened to you and the reason being that not only was I allowed in with a 300mm lens on my digital SLR but someone in the stands a few sections over from us on the lower level without a press pass had a huge professional lens. Had to be at least a 1000mm lens with a monopod too. I assume he knew someone to get in and sit in the regular seats with that but he didn't seem to have any kind of special I.D. and I looked because he stuck out so much where he was sitting.

We ended up with great seats thanks to someone who gave us his season tix for the game. So I wandered around the lower level periodically to take pics which you can check out here if you want: [url=http://www.aplaceformyphotos.com/photos.php?cat=18]http://www.aplaceformyphotos.com/photos.php?cat=18[/url].

I got in there towards the end of Mets BP and I have to say while I haven't always liked everything that Pedro had done on the mound, he gets a huge thumbs up from me because he clearly gets it when it comes to the fans. I don't know what he does at Shea or anywhere else but yesterday he was signing balls and throwing them into the crowd during BP. Sometimes it seems like a lot of players would rather not be bothered with tthe fans - not Pedro. More players should do as he, and others who do similar things, do.

Anyway, it was a hot but fun game!

[Guest Edgy DC]

Those are great shots.

Sorry we missed you.

[Guest cooby]

Very nice pictures! Thanks for including Baerga

[seawolf17]

Great pictures! Nice job!