Take me out to the ball game, take me out with the crowd!
We all have a bucket list – a list of places we’d like to go but in some cases, can’t or won’t ever end up seeing. Monetary, time, logistic limitations make some trips easier to achieve than others.

We had been to the Big Apple several times, probably over ten times in our lives. It was so easy to access from growing up in South Jersey (which now seems like such a blessing being in Florida!)

But this specific time, we visited the Big Apple to cheer on Logan’s college baseball friend and roommate, Daniel Murphy, at the real deal: a World Series game.

Logan watched the first few games of the Series on TV and would comment on how cool it was that his friend actually made it to the big dance. Under his breath, Logan would mutter things like, “That’d be really cool to be there” but then that thought would be gone as we cleaned up the milk one of our young boys had spilled.

Meanwhile, my family in New Jersey was facing tumultuous times as my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer and needed immediate surgery.

Then it dawned on me – we could surprise my sister in the hospital and see Logan’s friend in the World Series in one trip! And so, that is exactly what we did.

It was such a sweet time to be with family as my sister was facing such an uphill battle. We felt so blessed to be able to sneak in a quick trip to the hospital and to surprise our nieces and nephew with hugs.

Although the Mets/Daniel ended up losing the World Series (but did win the game we attended!), we had such a wonderful time. And even more importantly, my sister ultimately won in her fight against breast cancer!

The game was such a unique experience that is hard to describe in words. The energy of the fans is electrifying! It was cold, at least to us now-Southerners, but we wouldn’t change seeing this in person for anything!

The National Anthem itself brought tears to our eyes as the crowd literally screamed for our country.

And special bonus, we squeezed in seeing the leaves change to their autumnal colors, which is one of the biggest things I miss from the North.

We have had so many special memories in New York City over the years, other than the World Series game. When Logan and I first started to date, my parents took us sightseeing on {what had to be} the coldest day in history. And he still married me. I also have enjoyed seeing a Broadway play with my mom and sweet cousin, Molly.

But two NYC past trips stick out to me:

Our Mini-Moon:

After being married in Philadelphia in 2009, we snuck over to the Big Apple to watch Murphy play (see a baseball theme here?) and do some sightseeing. It was a sweet time being tourists and drinking frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity III.

A Tour of 9/11 Memorial and Museum:

We also snuck in just a little sightseeing in between visiting with family and the World Series game in 2015. The 9/11 Memorial and Museum was raw and emotional and a definite sight to not miss when in NYC.

We felt so proud to be Americans as we went through that tour.

3 Trip Tips:

• Eat real Italian food! If you live in the South like us, you miss it.
• Take the tour at 9/11 Memorial; you can buy a ticket to just walk around and explore on your own, but I’m so glad that a tour guide led us through all of the details of the museum.
• Serendipity III’s frozen hot chocolate is a must!