For the first time in almost a year I left the comforts of Southern California for a much needed week long vacation. This isn’t to say I haven’t left Southern California during the past year, as I have a many occasions, but this was not related to a business trip whatsoever.

Number 1 on the list of things to do was to visit Citi Field, the relatively new home of the New York Mets. The Wednesday night game against the Baltimore Orioles turned into a barn burner… and I’m not talking about the game itself. The temperature was in the mid-90′s and humid that day, which made things slightly uncomfortable, but enjoyable nonetheless. Why is that? Well, in the immortal words of Dave Matthews, it “turns out not where, but who you’re with, that really matters.” Well, joining me (Or was I joining them?) at the game were a couple of former co-workers and current friends, Joker and Vinny. It was nice to catch up. Joker was his usually self, confusing me with text messages. Prior to the game I received the same message, “where are you now?, 4 times. Throughout the remainder of the game I received messages like, “Did you get here yet?” and “Man – It’s going to be hot tonight.” I’m still wondering if it was a phone glitch or random texts to confuse me. I’m venturing a guess that it was not a phone glitch, but that’s just a guess.

The following night I met an old friend, by length of friendship, not age, at the New York Beer Company in Manhattan… or, as the locals call it, the City. It was nice to see Mary for the first time since she was in Southern California a few years ago. Turns out it was just a few days before she got engaged. Apparently I’m supposed to keep May 4, 2013 open on my calendar.

Early in the week I met my parents for dinner at a Greek restaurant, Loukoumi, in Astoria, Queens. I then spent a few nights with the parents on Long Island. Since it was right in the middle of Fathers Day and my dads birthday, we celebrated with Carvel cake, a favorite of mine… along with Colosseo’s Pizza, which I had for lunch and dinner during the one full day I spent on the Island.

I did miss out in seeing my goddaughter during the week, a big no-no and a regrettable mishap. Hopefully I’ll be able to see her soon. Also missed was having dinner at Clyde’s Wine and Dine, named and owned by Walt “Clyde” Frazier, a former Knicks standout.

One side note before calling it a post, was the extensive amount of walking done during the week, to the point my legs were sore by the time the week was over. Staying in the City I took the subway to get pretty much everywhere, but getting to and from the subway required going 4 street blocks and 4 avenue blocks, a hefty walk to say the least, but a bonus of being in a city where outdoor activities are somewhat nonexistent.

Let’s hope I don’t wait more than a year to get back to New York once again.