Part 2 of the trip to the USA to support Tanya doing Ironman World Championship in Utah and the New York Marathon. Very important bag carrying / support crew role. 23rd October to the 18th November 2022.

Wednesday 2 November. We arrived early in the morning into New York, but had to wait a while for our driver to come and pick us up to drive us to the Westhouse Hotel on 55th in Manhattan. Took a while in morning traffic and then the lovely ladies at the hotel let us check in early (we didn’t look great obviously). Breakfast at the hotel and a shower and then off for a nap. We got up and went for a walk around Central Park and the Museum of Modern Art. We had Italian for dinner and a cocktail, before having an early night.

Thursday 3 November.  I left Tanya to do her tour of New York with Travelling Fit and see Beetlejuice. I jumped on the subway to head to Bronx Community College to present to CUNY.  I met up with Neal and the chemistry department and had a tour of the campus and met the Provost. Gave a presentation to the students and attended staff meeting. Caught an uber over to the Bronx Special Victim Detective office but Carolyn was busy so then I uber to her house. Later we headed to a retirement dinner and had drinks with her colleagues… maybe a few too many drinks but was a good night out.

Friday 4 November.  I woke up not feeling great (self inflicted) and we headed to have brunch with Carolyn’s Mum and Dad, sister Lauren and their cousins. Then we jumped on the car and headed to Philadelphia to meet up with Maureen. We had an early dinner of Sushi and then headed to Eastern State Penitentiary. The old prison doubled as a haunted house experience around halloween. Five haunted houses inside the cellblocks, plus historic tours, themed bars, & more. We like the machine room and delirium (really cool special effects) and the last scary nightmares. The tour of the hospital by torch light was also interesting. After we had a drink and tots at the bar across the street before heading back to the hotel for a night cap. Tanya headed to the Marathon Expo, explored New York and went to the Harry Potter Cursed Child play.

Saturday 5 November. Bit of a late morning, as we checked out we had to wait for valet to bring the cars around, we had donuts (at the chicken place) and coffee for breakfast. Said our goodbyes to Maureen and we headed over to see the Liberty Bell and then onto the Rocky steps (to pose and run and recreate infamous movie moment).  One last thing needed in Philly was an authentic Philly Cheese Steak. So after being read the riot act about not taking to strangers we got out sandwich and enjoyed the meaty goodness in the car before the drive back to New York. Afternoon nibbles and drinks with Jordan and Sha before uber back to Manhattan to Tanya. After some quick plans for the next day it was an early night as Tanya had to be up to catch the bus.

Sunday 6 November.  Up bright and early for breakfast and to put Tanya on the bus to Statton Island to the start line. I went back to bed for a bit before meeting up with the other Sherpas to catch the subway to Queens to watch the Marathon at about the half way mark. What a crazy day watching 47,000 people run the Marathon and had to be double out watching. Tanya said other than the bridges there were people out cheering the whole way! We cheered on all the Aussies we could see and finally Tanya ran passed. She was in the last wave staying at 1130 so a long morning sitting around waiting. There were no cups or food at any of the aid stations so loaded her up with a muesli bar and off she trotted. I headed back to Manhattan with some of the others and watched the race for a bit at the bottom of central park about a half mile from the finish line. It started to get dark and then Tanya ran passed (she didn’t see me – there were people everywhere!). Tanya ran the Marathon in 5 hours 49 min (not quite what she wanted but after a week after ironman amazing effort). After she finished and had to walk another 2 miles to get out of the finishing area, we wandered back to the hotel for showers. Dinner was close, right across the street and had Mexican, before going to find the patisserie she’d seen the day before for dessert. Movie and dessert in bed and lights off and straight to sleep.

Monday 7 November. We caught an uber to Carolyn’s house and offloaded the bags. We picked up Yandy and headed to SoJo’s Spa in New Jersey. The spa is 4 levels of heated outdoor baths, toasty saunas, delectable fusion cuisine, and world-class massages. We spent hours in the heated pools & baths, saunas and even got a Korean full body scrub (to wash off grimey NYC). On the way home we picked up pizzas and went to the grocery store before enjoying diver at Mike and Yandys with Emma and Alana. We made the try vegemite on the garlic knots. And then we made smores on gas stove for dessert – they are pretty tasty! Back to Carolyn’s to crash on the couch.

Tuesday 8 November. Carolyn woke us up to say goodbye as she headed off to work. We packed up and tried to work out the best way to get to Connecticut, in the end we uber half way and Gary picked us up in the Big Red Truck. Headed to Danburry, to the lake house. Deb was due to fly in late that night so we hung out with Gary, Jaxon and Jilly. We went for a walk to see the lake and went off road into the woods for a look. Poor puppies were stuffed when we got home. Lasagne and salad for dinner and a few wines with great conversation while we waiting for Deb to get home.

Wednesday 9 November. Up and Deb shared her newly acquired Maccona Coffee with me and made bacon and eggs for breakfast. Then Gary, Tanya and I headed to Dinosaur National Park in Rocky Hill. A bulldoze driver discovered the dinosaur tracks on the rock on a building site and they stopped the digging and preserved the site turning it into a national park. They built the education centre over the rock and had interesting exhibits and even some live animals. We went for a little walk on the blue track to see the swamp and rocky trail. We decided to drive over to see Gillette Castle (because Gary got free entry) in East Haddam. William Gillette was the actor that probably played Sherlock Holmes in the silent films and on stage. He built and lived in the castle, and even had a mini rail line. We couldn’t go inside the castle but we enjoyed the grounds and marvelled at the architecture and views of the Connecticut River. Starting to get hungry I found a quirky Cafe down the road called the Two Wrasslin’ Cats (good rating and the pictures looked nice). It was certainly cat quirky and the sandwiches (all named after cat puns) were delicious – I had the catprese toasted sandwich. Back on the road to Danburry, with a stop at Stew Leonards to pick up pumpkin pie for tonight’s dessert. What a place – the largest dairy store. They even had singing and dancing displays – including avocados, chickens and cows. Couldn’t find the heavy cream so we got whip in the can and home we went. Steak and salad for dinner and Tanya accidentally put the pumpkin pie in the oven (which is apparently not how it’s eaten) but it was yummy warm!

Thursday 10 November. We all piled in the Big Red Truck… Gary, Deb, Tanya, me, Jaxon and Jilly. On the road again up to Hunter in upstate New York to the cabin in the Catskill Mountains. We got there and the construction guys were working hard on the extension. We left Gary to supervise and we headed to the Catskill Mountain County Store for lunch. I was curious and feeling adventurous and tried “The Wayno” – a Virginia ham, cheese, tomato and lettuce toasted on cinnamon raisin bread. I liked it without the tomato but the apple donut and icecream afterwards was yummy! Bought some souvenirs and checked out the Hunter Antique store before taking Gary his sandwich and donuts back at the cabin. Gary had got the ATVs out so Tanya and I went for a drive around, found fallen trees and a cool river, riding on the old rail line clearing. Saw something move in the woods but probably a deer not a bear. We piled back in truck and headed back to Danburry, after a little scenic route detour, we arrived home to pizza we’d ordered on the way. Caprese and the Planet Pizza special.