A weekend in the city

Nicole is due on September 28th, so we thought we could take one last weekend while we could to get away. I’ll be in Cambridge for a SQL Saturday this coming weekend, then a SQL Saturday here in Providence the weekend after that, so if we were going to do it, this was it.

We left Saturday afternoon, and stopped to visit some friends in Rye and their new twin boys. Martin and Elliot were a hoot even if Elliot did destroy my shirt. 🙂

Then to the city. We got to the apartment on W 75th, and found a sweet, free parking spot right close by. We freshened up and then hit the restaurant where we did most of our falling in love: Sol y Sombra. Best tapas in the city. We walked around, had some gelato, then called it a night.

Sunday, we got up nice and early, took the 2 to Times Square, then took the 7 out to Flushing Meadows to catch some tennis. We saw Djokovic completely dismantle someone, then saw Andy Roddick play a great match against Fabio Fognini. We lucked out and were glad to see Roddick before he retires. I was in attendance when he won his US Open in 2003. We had decent seats in the corner:

And Nicole captured match point. That’s me screaming “You’ve got this Andy!” when the rest of the crowd settled down.

Next we went to the 9/11 Memorial. They’ve done a fantastic job at the site of the World Trade Center.

This morning, we went for breakfast at Monk’s Cafe Tom’s Restaurant, then went to 96th for a coffee and to visit Nate at his Whole Foods store. Then to hit the road back home. Which is where things got interesting.

We decided to take the Merritt Parkway because it’s a much nicer drive than 95, especially that close to the city. It was Nicole’s turn to drive, and as we passed exit 42, I was reading the Wikipedia entry – most notably the part about decrepit trees occasionally falling on cars. Which apparently happens most frequently in the low 40s exits. Then, all of a sudden, a tree branch fell right in front of us. It was too big, too close, and happened too quickly to swerve and avoid, so the car took the brunt of it. The windshield shattered and there is minor damage to the hood – mostly dents that they should be able to pop out. The pictures don’t give the damage justice:

The most ironic part: I was scheduled to return the car to the dealership tomorrow morning (on Friday we traded the car in, but we couldn’t drive the new car away yet). Now I have to wait until insurance assesses the damage and arranges the repairs. I’ll also be able to file a claim with Connecticut’s DOT, but the state trooper who arrived at the scene suggested we’ll see SheBert’s first birthday before that claim ever gets settled.