Monday, July 7, 2014

Baseball, Bones, and Birdies

I attended multiple "cultural events" this week, as one of our roommates parents came in town and treated us to a Yankees game, and it was the first week Grace and I were actually given some time off of work to enjoy the city. This was also the weekend of July 4th so I traveled to West Virginia to attend the Greenbrier Classic, as well as a Maroon 5 concert at the State Fair Grounds, with my best friend.

On Monday night, our friend Ann's parents took us to Yankee Stadium to the the Yankees play the Tampa Bay Rays. It was a beautiful night for a baseball game, and I was excited because I have never been inside the stadium before. We found out that it is relatively new, being redone in the last 5 years. There was plenty of good food and good beer to last us 8 innings. We left before the last inning because we wanted to beat the wave of people coming out to catch the subway back into Manhattan. At this point the game was tied 2-2. Ann's parents took us to a rooftop bar to enjoy the incredible view of the city all lit up at night. The game ended up lasting 12 innings, and unfortunately the Yankees lost 4-3, so we were glad we had a better view than a thousand+ disappointed fans leaving the stadium and cramming on the next train home.





Since we did not have to be at work the next day, Grace and I decided to get up early and go to the Natural History Museum to explore multiple exhibits, cultures, and time periods. We started by visiting the Hayden Planetarium and watching a documentary called "Dark Universe", about how outer space came to be what it is today, and how it is ever expanding with dark matter. We learned that the stars, planets, and galaxies are constantly moving away from each other as gaps between them are filled with dark matter. No one knows how big the universe is, or how much these spaces are capable of expanding. The theatre is really cool because you look up onto the domed ceiling and actually feel like you are flying through space during the duration of the show.

Next we moved onto some exhibits dedicated to animals living in different habitats and areas of the world. We saw North American Mammals, Ocean Creatures, African Mammals, and Asian Mammals. We also explored Asian and Native American Peoples, which were exhibits that showcased each cultures customs, clothing, rituals, antiques, religions, artwork, war-fare tactics, etc. After this, we traveled to my favorite part of the museum -- the dinosaur exhibits. It is so amazing to me that archeologists are able to discover such massive artifacts and piece them together into something so gigantic and mythical looking. There are so many species of dinosaur that all have different physical characteristics. The most mind-blowing portion of the exhibit for me was one that had the discovered skull of a baby triceratops next to the skull of a fully grown triceratops. It is absolutely crazy that something that started out so small could grow into something so incredibly massive. The museum was fun and entertaining, as well as educational, and I am really happy we had a whole day to explore everything. After we were finished at the museum we found a local bar to watch the USA vs. Belgium World Cup match. Although the US ended up losing to Belgium 2-1 in overtime, it was still an exciting game and they played their hearts out.




On Thursday morning, I woke up at 7 AM to catch my 10 AM flight to Washington D.C. With all of the weather from the hurricane, I was delayed 2 hours, so I ended up missing my connecting flight into West Virginia. I had to get on the later flight for 5:45, and around 3:30, this plane too was delayed until 7:45. I finally arrived in Lewisburg, WV at 9:20, to attend the Greenbrier Classic Golf Tournament the next day, July 4th. It was well worth the grueling traveling. I have never been to a golf tournament before, and although I did not know the golf terms or even what hole I was standing at, and I had to be relatively quiet the entire time, it was so incredibly beautiful that I had no problem enjoying myself. First, stepping into the Greenbrier hotel was breathtaking. The decor is so sophisticated, yet fun and playful at the same time. Then, as you travel through to the golf course, the view of pure and perfect greenery is even more breathtaking. After being in a city so long, it was nice to get some open, fresh air, and see miles of green grass. After the tournament started dwindling down, we headed home for some hamburgers and to get ready for the Maroon 5 concert that was to be in the State Fair Grounds that night. Maroon 5 is one of my favorite bands, so it is no surprise that it was one of the most fun concerts I have ever attended. Not only did they sound almost exactly the same as they do on the radio, but I knew almost every word to every song and didn't stop dancing or singing along the whole time. The next day was spent on the river at my friend's Aunt's cabin house. It was so relaxing and I was relieved to get some sun after getting pretty pale in the city, where you've really got to be part of the "In-crowd" to belong to a pool. We ended off the day/night with drinking some wine around the bonfire. Even after the terrible time it took to get there, my July 4th weekend in West Virginia was well worth the wait!





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