Morton Fox's journal

I checked the NYC parking calendar and Christmas Day is a free parking day. Also, I figured most of the restaurants in Flushing Chinatown would be open for business as usual so a trip to NYC seemed like a winning plan for the day.

There were lots of new geocaches in the Bronx in the East Tremont and Throgs Neck sections so that's where I started. I solved the restroom problem on the first drive through by noting that there were porta-toilets at Ferry Point Park next to the Whitestone Bridge toll plaza. All of those geocaches were fairly easy and located at or near sidewalks. Parking spaces were easier to find than usual too. So I was done with the first 12 geocaches before 2pm. Then I went to Queens and found a few more. Then I got a new geocache in New Hyde Park before heading to Flushing.

As I expected, Flushing Chinatown was mostly open for business on Christmas Day. Only a few restaurants were closed. I went to Curry Leaves again to try two more items from their menu. Then I went shopping on Roosevelt Avenue. Got some dumplings for breakfast tomorrow and some Asian pears. All in all, it was a good day.

( The caches... )

Today, I did a mascot gig at Shea Stadium for American Cancer Society Relay for Life. Of course, since the weather was good, I did some geocaches in the morning on my way to the gig. WHY?! (Did I hide a micro) and Don't Get Stumped! are both in Secaucus by the Mill Creek Marsh Trail. Very easy.

Then I crossed over to the Fordham section of the Bronx for Five of Diamonds. Now, that was a different experience. The cache was by the sidewalk at an auto repair shop. I got there and a helpful guy from the shop started directing me towards the cache. Wonder what tipped him off that I was looking for the cache. That was great because coordinates were soft. I found the cache and then had a brief conversation with the fellow.

After that, I navigated the congested streets of Fordham to Damian's place. Picked him up and went to Shea Stadium to meet up with the rest of our group: jbadger, foxwell, flykat, rapidtrabbit, jdpuppy, and jimwolf24. I especially wanted to do this gig because last year's gig at the same event was good and this is the last time we'll get to do this at Shea Stadium before it is torn down. (Citi Field, which is currently under construction next door, will be its replacement.) I wasn't disappointed. It was good. Lots of people. Good crowd and good interaction. We took turns going out in costume. I did the first shift in costume, escorted in the second shift, and did a short third shift in costume again.

After the gig, we made a quick stop just around the corner from the stadium for a geocache for jbadger. (It's one that I'd already found a week ago.) Then we went to Flushing Chinatown and had dinner at Sentosa. I had nasi lemak and ordered a lobak (shrimp and pork fritters) appetizer to share with the group.

( Some pictures from the gig... )