A Royal Birthday Celebration for the Prince!

Prince at the Pavilion

After I got out of work Friday night it was time to start the royal celebration.

I met my parents in Astoria where I now live and we went out for dinner at Romano's Famous Pizza and Gyro. They serve Greek cuisine. It was a great way to reunite with my parents and I got to have a nice meal too.

Afterwards I went home to rest up for the busy weekend I had lined up.

I got up Saturday morning which was my birthday and I took public transportation out to where I used to live so I could go to Avis to pick up a car for the weekend. I did get treated to some royal treatment as the MTA didn't let me wait too long for the buses and trains I needed to take in order to get there.

I wound up renting a Crown Victoria which had plenty of room. I got in touch with my pal Eddie Pelle who was on his way to the Philadelphia area via public transportation from Long Island. He was also going to Villanova, Pennsylvania to see the Wildcats play the Cincinnati Bearcats in a college basketball game. The King and I were doing the same.

I called Eddie when I got into the car. He said he was in Queens so I arranged to meet him after I went back home to pick up the King. It worked out well as we got him by the entrance to the Queensboro Bridge and away we went.

We arrived in Villanova around 1:40PM which gave us enough time to get ready for the 2PM tip off.
We also met up with Andrew Van Cleve aka the Ultimate Sports Fan and his son Dylan aka the Ultimate Sports Baby.

I love seeing the "USB" if you will. He's adorable and he's getting so big.

Ironically we were all visiting the Pavilion, which is the home of the Villanova Wildcats' basketball team on campus for the first time. They play a handful of games there. They play the rest at the Wells Fargo Center where the Flyers and 76ers play.

It was a thrill to finally see a game there. It was very intimate since it only holds 6,500 people. The seating area is comprised of mainly benches that are very close to the action.

As for the game we saw, it was a competitive one right throughout. The Wildcats who are having a bad season wound up coming up short as the Bearcats of Cincinnati beat them, 72-68.

After the game, we said goodbye to Andrew and Dylan. They went home. Eddie, the King and I continued on to Washington DC where we went to see the Wizards play the Cavaliers at 7PM.

We stopped off in Baltimore first so we could pick up our friends Peter and Carmen Agnew. We got them just after 6PM. Thankfully Peter had a parking pass for the garage that's connected to the Verizon Center since we had no margin for error as we arrived right at game time. In addition, Peter arranged to get us all free tickets for the game. He always asks us to come down so I looked at the schedule once the lockout ended and this was the perfect time to go there.

As for the game we saw, the Wizards they've had a horrible season so far but on this night they found a way to win, 101-98. It worked out well for our friend Eddie who said this was the first time he had ever seen the Wizards win live. I was glad to help arrange for him to join us.

After the game, we drove Peter and Carmen back home. They live right near Looney's Pub, where we went to get a late dinner since we were all very hungry. The burger and chicken wings we had we tremendous as usual.

After we ate we dropped Eddie off at the Amtrak station because he wanted to get back home to see some college basketball in NYC on Sunday.

The King and I drove 30 miles to Aberdeen to Super 8 where we spent the night. We arrived there around 2:30AM.

We got some sleep then we got up in the morning and we drove back to Baltimore to have breakfast with Peter and Carmen at another of our favorite eateries in the area, Eichenkranz Restaurant which is located in a local neighborhood.

We were served by Rose, who loved my accent. Needless to say, the food, the service and the company were priceless and well worth driving the extra miles for.

After we parted ways with Peter and Carmen, we headed towards Philadelphia where we were seeing the 76ers play the Bulls at 7PM.

Since we had plenty of time to kill, we decided to stop off at the Hollywood Casino which was conveniently on the way in Perryville, Maryland off exit 93 on I-95.

We spent a few hours there pressing our luck on the slot machines. I had some luck but the King didn't. Regardless it was entertaining experience.

We got back in the car and we drove to the City of Brotherly Love. We arrived there around 4:30PM. It worked out well because we got to meet up with our friend Rich Wolber aka Staten Island Rich who took a Chinese bus from NYC to join us for the 76er game. We went to the bus terminal and we picked him up.

On the way to the Wells Fargo Center, we stopped off at the Oregon Diner to have dinner before the game.
I thoroughly enjoyed my meal there. You can't beat the value you get there. I had broiled flounder with crab meat stuffing which came with two sides and a small cup of soup along with rolls and cornbread for a mere $9.99. They have a nice variety of food items for that price that they offer everyday.

After I stuffed my belly, we drove over to the arena which is right nearby.

We met up with our friend Frankie Centola who got us tickets for the 76er game. We also were joined by Andrew Van Cleve who got a ticket outside on the lower level from a buddy of Joakim Noah, who plays center for the Bulls.

At halftime, I got a royal upgrade as I went down to sit with Andrew who had a few empty seats by him.
As for the game we saw, the 76ers led into the fourth quarter but the Bulls led by their superstar guard Derrick Rose who had 35 points and 8 assists held off a late 76er push to win 96-91. Joakim Noah had 11 points and 18 rebounds to help the cause.

After the game, I drove Rich back home to Staten Island. I got him back just before midnight. I proceeded to drive the King to work at the Post Office at Grand Central Station. I got him there at 12:40AM so he had plenty of time to relax and unwind since he starts at 2AM.

I finally arrived home just before 1AM. I went to sleep and I returned the car in the morning.

I want to thank everybody who remembered my special day. I had a blast all weekend long.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 12/5 in review

Monday morning the King and I flew back from the Twin Cities on American Airlines. We arrived at NY-LaGuardia airport at 12:20PM which was 10 minutes early. As a result, we had a little more time to recuperate from our incredible weekend getaway.

The final numbers were as follows:

1,095 miles driven over the three days. It cost a mere $37.83 for the car we rented for the weekend from Alamo. Needless to say, we got our money's worth.

Three games, three days, two sports, two states and one province in two different countries.

We replenished our energy as we went to Madison Square Garden to see the Rangers play the Toronto Maple Leafs.

With our pal Sean MacDonald, who currently lives in Japan was there in royal spirit as we saw his favourite hockey team hold on to beat the Rangers by a score of 4-2. They added an empty net goal with just five seconds left after they held a 3-0 lead midway through the game.

Tuesday I went back to work. Afterwards I went back to the Garden. This time for the Jimmy V Classic. I saw a college basketball doubleheader with my friends Phil Butleman and Frank Anichiarico while the King went out to the Nassau Coliseum to see the Islanders play the Tampa Bay Lightning.

We saw the tenth ranked Missouri Tigers of the Big 12 play the Villanova Wildcats of the Big East. The Tigers maintained a comfortable cushion throughout the game as they cruised to a 81-71 victory. They were led by guard Marcus Denmon who finished with 28 points to lead all scorers. Teammate Ricardo Ratliffe added 17 points and he grabbed 11 rebounds to pace the Tigers.

In the second game, we saw the eleventh ranked Golden Eagles of Marquette of the Big East defeat the Washington Huskies of the PAC 12, 79-77. Jae Crowder hit a game winning three pointer with just 6.3 seconds to give the Golden Eagles the win. This was a tightly contested and entertaining game.

Wednesday night I met the King and we went up to Riverdale, NY where we saw the 104th "Battle of the Bronx" as the Jaspers of Manhattan College hosted the Rams of Fordham.

As for the game, it didn't turn out to be much of a battle as the Jaspers blew away the Rams, 81-47 in front of a packed house at the Draddy Gymnasium. Our friend Bryan Gilligan was very happy to hear the good news because he graduated from Manhattan College.

Thursday night after work I went out to Newark, NJ to see the Devils play the Ottawa Senators. The Devils fell behind 3-0 in this one then they rallied to take a 4-3 lead midway through the third period. The Senators forced an overtime session by scoring to tie the game at four with a shorthanded goal no less with just five seconds to go in regulation time. Neither team scored in the extra session.

The Devils wound up outlasting the Senators in a four round shootout to win the game, 5-4.

After work Friday night, I had a much needed night off as I prepared for a busy weekend in the local area. It didn't stop the King and I and our friends Bryan Gilligan and Frank Anichiarico as we went to Donovan's Pub for dinner and drinks.

Saturday morning after I did my wash, I trekked back out to Newark, NJ to see the Devils take on another team from Canada, this time they hosted the Montreal Canadiens. A number of buses came down from north of the border to see their team play on the road. They picked the right game to attend as the Canadiens held off the Devils as they beat them by a score of 2-1.

After the game, our friend Dennis Barbera gave the King and I some royal treatment as he drove us out to the Nassau Coliseum where we all saw the Islanders play the Pittsburgh Penguins. We met up with our buddy Eddie Pelle who was also present and accounted for at the game.

As for the game we saw, it turned out to be a wild one. The Islanders took an early 2-0 lead but the Penguins tied it up at two. The Islanders went back up by a goal at 3-2 but the Penguins came back again to tie it at three then they pulled away by scoring three more unanswered goals to escape Long Island with a 6-3 decision.

Sunday was another local double dose of sporting events as the King and I went out to MetLife Stadium to see the Jets battle the Kansas City Chiefs with our pal Richie Wolber aka Staten Island Rich. It turned out to be scalping as the Jets whipped up on the depleted Chiefs. They beat them, 37-10.

After the game, the King and I headed back to the Garden where we saw the Rangers play the red hot Florida Panthers. The Rangers cooled them off as they blew them away, 6-1.

With that, another busy week is in the books. I hope you enjoyed reading about it as much as I enjoyed writing about it.

Remember if you want to take part in the royal experience in the future please get in contact with me so I can arrange to make it happen for you.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman