Timothy Lawton

None of the accounts, descriptions, or commentary of this day can be reposted without the express written consent of Timothy Lawton:

On a lovely late July day my parents and I set off in the morning heading for Weehawken, New Jersey. Our initial destination was the Yankee Clipper. Our ultimate destination was the new Yankee Stadium. We had hopes of a wonderful day skirting the skyline of Manhattan and taking in a Yankee game. We also had hopes of a Yankee victory that would inch them one game further in the quest for a coveted playoff spot come October. We got both.

As we traversed the waterways surrounding New York City we not only took in scenes of the major landmarks and bridges, but we pondered what our first trip to the new stadium would bring. All three of us had never been to the new stadium and the old ballpark held a lot of good memories. I was particularly concerned if it would have the same mystique that the likes of Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Derek Jeter, and 26 World Series victories had brought to the original stadium. I think it is safe to say that none of us were disappointed.

Only the future will tell if the Yankees can make the new stadium as historic as the old, but the aura of the franchise seems to have moved accross the street with the team. The new Yankee Stadium is a beautiful site to behold. It was clean, convenient, and a great place to watch the Yankees take on their division rival, Baltimore. The Yanks opened up with a four run first inning and simply had to hold on from there. We got to see Posada hit a homerun, Jeter score, some great play in the field, and Mariano Rivera save another game in his illustrious career.

After the Yankees won we quickly hussled back to the boat as I woofed down my first cigarette in about three and a half hours. We reboarded the Yankee Clipper and got ready for our return trip around the City. As beautiful as it was on our trip to the stadium it was just as beautiful on the way back. The sun slowly drifting its way behind the buildings and our thankfulness that we weren’t stuck in the rush hour traffic of the world’s most major metropolis. We were simply able to enjoy the view and reflect on what had been a very great day.

After waiting for more than 25 years I finally saw a big thunderstorm down The Shore. I have been going to the Jersey Shore for about a week a year for my entire life and every year the weather never cooperates. I chase storms and I never see more than a bit of rain when I’m on vacation. Despite the fact that this makes the rest of my family happy it has been a bane to my existence for decades. Outside of a few rumbles of thunder and a few lightning streaks the storms always seemed to fall apart as they approached or move around us. Between my complaints and the lack of storms my sister even took to calling me the “storm repellent”. Finally this year things sort of changed.

On Sunday morning about 5 AM I was awoken from my sleep by a tremendous clap of thunder. I quickly sprung forth from my bed, dressed, and proceeded to go see what was happening outside. To my shock a ferocious storm was just descending on the tiny bungalows of our neighborhood. After so many years I was treated to a storm with wonderful lightning, potent thunder, and torrential rain. This fortuitous event was followed by a week of storms playing their usual role of how I got the appellation, “storm repellent”, but the fact that I FINALLY got to see a storm kept my attitude positive about the situation.

Yet, God was good to me, as normal, and even more was in store. On my last day down The Shore I wrestled all day with when I would leave. Similar to most of the week thunderstorms were raging all over New Jersey and the surrounding states. Similar to the rest of the week they were continuing to avoid the area that I was in, but as the day progressed it looked like I might get missed again. I kept my spirits high resigned to the thought that I had at least saw one big storm, but hope was revived as another line of storms developed to the west. The little glimmer of possibility made me decide to stay a little longer. Thank God I did!! Around 5PM the skies darkened and the radar returns to the west of us consolidated into a deep dark red blob moving steadily in our direction. The pre-storm lightning show was so impressive that dozens of people stood outside their vacation houses oohing and aaahing like they were watching fireworks. People were taking pictures and my nephews ACTUALLY seemed impressed enough with the cloud formations, thunder, and light show to be interested in me explaining what it was that they were witnessing. And when the sky finally did open up about 6pm the monsoon that was unleashed possibly had gusts up to seventy miles per hour.

So, my long storm drought is over. My family can also rejoice because not one minute of beach time was lost to either storm. All in all it was a tremendous beginning and ending to my vacation down The Shore. Thank you God!!