Travel Blog – 2011 Week 8: Miami at NY Giants

Travel Blog – 2011 Week 8: Miami at NY Giants

By Andy Lopusnak, AndysPictures.com

October 28-31, 2011

I headed to the Big Apple for the second time this NFL season, this time for the Dolphins-Giants game. My wife, Bethany, came with me. It's the first time we both have been to NYC together since the summer of 2006. Last week was her birthday, so instead of a present she wanted to come to NYC to visit a friend, shop and go to some restaurants. 


SNOWSTORM
For the first time since 1952, it snowed in October in New York City. Saturday morning, a freak storm hit the northeast and dumped about three inches of snow in NYC.

Because of the weather, I didn't any photos with my SLR on Saturday. I have wet-weather gear, but opted to use my phone and a point-and-shoot camera because of the downpour.

MORNING IN MANHATTAN

Sunday morning, I got going an hour early to drive to the Brooklyn Bridge to get sunrise shots of the city. I got a few pre-dawn shots like the header of this blog and the shot below, but got there a bit too late to get any other great pre-dawn photos.

Sadly, the bridge is undergoing construction (as you can see above with the white coverings and in the photo below with the metal barricades). I was hoping to get a couple shots on the bridge with the skyline in the background, but it looks like I will have to wait until at the earliest 2013.

I did find a shot that I want to get at dusk or dawn in the future that has the Manhattan Bridge and the Empire State Building in it. Below is the shot I took, but the lighting isn't perfect because I found it after the sun had come up and needed to be there about an hour earlier or maybe two-three hours later to get a better shot.

THE GAME: Giants 20, Dolphins 17

Miami lost another fourth-quarter lead and remained winless on the season as Giants QB Eli Manning led a late rally to beat the Dolphins 20-17. Manning threw for 349 yards with two scores, including the eventual game winner with less than six minutes left. 

I snapped this shot of Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw during pre-game and love his expression. 

FLUTIE FLAKES

Saturday morning at the McDonald's near the hotel, I saw former Heisman Trophy winner and CFL Hall of Famer Doug Flutie stop in for a brief second to grab a napkin decked out in a Boston College sweatshirt. I assume he was getting in a morning jog before heading over to the ABC studios for his college gig as an analyst.Here's a photo of him I snapped in 2004 when he was with the San Diego Chargers.

I'm a big Flutie fan and wish the Pro Football Hall of Fame didn't only consider the NFL for its enshrinement. Flutie played pro football for over two decades and succeeded in three different leagues. He tossed for over 58,000 yards, ran for nearly 5,000 more with nearly 400 passing scores and over 80 on the ground. 


NO VIDEO OR TIME LAPSE THIS TIME
I already have multiple time lapses of MetLife Stadium, so I opted not to get another one. As for video, I did get some of the snow with my point-and-shoot and some SLR footage of Brooklyn, but will save those for another video I'll create in the future.

BEST SHOTS FROM WEEK EIGHT

Here's my favorite shots from this past weekend's trip to NYC...