. . . with Joe & Elaine as they travel the USA and the World.
Sunday gambling turned out OK when I hit the last two races including the double. It’s now Monday morning. Weather looks beautiful for my last day at the track. Tomorrow I check out, drive back to Albany and get the train at 7 PM for the long ride back to Flagstaff. This will be my last post until i get home unless something memorable happens today (like I hit the Pick Six – heh).
Beautiful day at the track. Sunny and not too hot. Gambling wise, meh.
Weather: Continues to be beautiful
Gambling: Blah.
Dinner: Partook of the Marriott Residence Inn happy hour for my dinner.
Who remembers Secretariat? Probably everyone. He was ridden by jockey Ron Turcotte who was later disabled in a riding accident. He’s still around.
Weather: A front was due through but it came in the early AM with some showers, but it was sunny by 9:00 AM. HUGE crowd at the track.
Gambling: OK
Dinner: Last pizza of the trip – Margherita – very nice
Mike Shea (the brother of my late great friend Alice) and his wife Rosemary were in town for the weekend. This week is Mike’s 70th birthday. So his entire family showed up for a surprise celebration: sister Kathy, brother Paul with wife Mary, brother Fred, son Stephen with his oldest son (8 y.o.), Fred’s son Ricky, and maybe one or two I missed. It was great seeing them all again. Many Alice stories were told and retold. Stephen, by the way, is chairman of the Mathematics Department at St Anselm’s College and has written highly regarded books about basketball analytics.
Click photos to enlarge
It is now Sunday morning. Weather looks perfect.
It was raining when I got up, but it stopped about noon. We sat is our usual spot and it didn’t rain again all afternoon, so we stayed dry. Did I mention my friend Bob from Arlington was here? I managed to about break even. For dinner we went to Pennell’s and both had the veal with peppers special.
Here’s an old picture from the Albany Times Union of my dear friend Alice and me at the track many years back in the rain. We were news worthy! (Click to enlarge)
Dark day at the track. Still lots of showers in the area. Bob and I went to the new Bow-Tie Cinema in Saratoga Springs and saw the new Jason Bourne movie with Matt Damon. It was not as good as the older ones, but it held your interest. For lunch we had an ice cream at Ben & Jerry’s. Dinner at the Wishing Well was excellent. They have great steaks, and the corn on the cob was delicious.
Ah, sunny day and no humidity. This is how Saratoga is supposed to be. Broke even again, and I remain a few $$ ahead. Bob headed back to Boston after the eighth race. He may or may not return on Sunday for my last two days at the track. Alone for dinner, I ate in. Left over pizza and left over ziti.
It’s 8:00 AM now and the weather is perfect. The forecast is good through Tuesday when I leave save for the possibility of showers Saturday morning. Hope the meteorologist are right for a change. Lots of people coming starting today and going into the weekend: Michael from NY, Jeff from Chicago, Jeff and Gilian from CT, Mut from the Red Sox, Mike and Rosemary, Anthony and Rose, Carole, Ron and Pam, Ed the Pharmacist. The Elks from Marshfield are in town. So a few guys from the Shamrock in South Boston. Busy days, quiet nights. Tonight Patty and her daughter Misty are taking me to dinner. I’ll have to leave the track after the eighth race.
Later!
Sunday: Rained all day. Sat in the Festival Tent in the back yard where my four friends from Baltimore had a table for six and graciously invited us to use the last two seats. Kept us dry. Had three winners but they were all short prices, so I just managed to break even. Beats losing.
Monday: It’s 6:00 AM and pouring. Rain supposed to end mid-day, but we’ll probably sit in the tent again. Monday is usually a low attendance day, but today is a giveaway – a Saratoga duffel bag sponsored by Foxwoods Casino in CT. So there will be a big crowd of people to get the giveaway who will all go home after they get it. There will be no grass racing again. Rain in Saratoga sucks.
Our pizza last night was good. There are leftovers. Pizza for breakfast?