This was definitely an Epic Weekend I'll never forget. Despite the rain on Saturday yet again (7th weekend in a row with rain I heard,) I still was able to see friends and have fun memories and laughs along the way. I went to my first New York Giants game at Metlife Stadium this weekend, after having so much fun going to their games with my friends last year. Last year The Giants went 3-1 in their home games I attended! I wish I brought my Patriots that kind of great fortune. I finally caved and bought a ticket to their Sunday 1pm game against The Washington Commanders. Yes, there was strategy in picking going to this game, knowing it was definitely going to remain a 1pm starting kickoff and not a threat at all getting moved to a primetime late night for me game. In the National Football League, they want to put their top performing teams in high profile primetime games to get the biggest ratings possible. The teams that don't have good seasons tend to have their next season be many Sunday afternoon 1pm starts, except for the primetime games that they're required to be in hitting the minimum. Two seasons ago the Giants had a rough year, which resulted in most of their home games being conveniently scheduled for Sunday 1pm kickoffs. Between that, and having so much fun with my friends tailgating and going to the games, one thing led to another and I just kept going back for more basically. I also get a huge kick out of how often while tailgating, I'll get booed and hissed at for being a diehard Patriots fan, but then quickly will discover a connection with a new friend who has New England, specifically South Shore New England ties. It happened yet again to me.
We'll start the Weekend In Pictures off with Thursday night, where Minerals Sports Club was having their annual Member Mixer Social Halloween Party. They did a great job decorating Kite's, and some folks were having fun with their costumes. I went to the gym right before the party to try and join my bestie Sally's Body Pump class again. I hit the treadmill first to get warmed up a little bit before her class. That was a mistake.
As I started running, out of nowhere my allergies chronic nasal post drip problem arose. First time it's been a problem in a little while for me. I was coughing a bit from that and had to bail on Sally's Body Pump class. I promised her I will return someday hopefully soon! I was saddened from not being able to make it for her class. It was the right decision though. Sometimes with my post nasal drip issue it can become a problem very quickly without any warning, and I didn't want to risk that happening in the middle of a class. I ended up at Kite's a little earlier than expected for the Mixer. I ended up running into besties Brad and Steve, we even met some new friends too. Overall success!
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Friday after work I was able to meet up with some besties at Industry in Sparta. We had a great time with besties Shawn, Stacey and Maria. Industry can be such a fun place for meeting up with friends for Happy Hour. I enjoyed a Smoke And Embers drink, which is very similar to an Old Fashioned, but this drink they set on fire. Yes, they set fire to it giving off a smokey flavor. If you order that there, you always get plenty of attention from nearby people who are impressed, intrigued and possibly slightly intimidated seeing a drink getting lit on fire. We had a bit of an early night, but still a good one for sure. These next couple of months are going to be really busy for us, so I've been trying to pick my spots and make my adventures slightly less Epic and action packed whenever possible. Fall is definitely our busy season here in Northwest New Jersey, that's for sure!
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Saturday I just felt like going to Lake Mohawk on a whim. The weather was mediocre at best, yet another rainy Saturday, and I wanted to go somewhere that might not be packed. I am usually pretty good at going to beautiful places around these parts when the weather isn't great, as opposed to when it's gorgeous out and you can't get parking anywhere near preferred.
I went to Krogh's for my first time in awhile right near Lake Mohawk. I tried their IPA in a sample, it just didn't agree with me at all. I told their bartender for whatever reason their IPA's never agree with me, even though their other craft beers I enjoy. I had delicious buffalo chicken tenders. Success! I ended up having an early night in watching Saturday night college football on television. Nice quiet night in knowing I had an early morning Sunday for football Sunday.
Sunday morning my alarm went off at 6:05am, I was at Crystal Springs meeting up with besties Margie and Artie getting ready to make our trip down to East Rutherford, New Jersey's MetLife Stadium. My first game all year here we go.
Wow. This was one of the windiest tailgates I have ever seen. Blustery winds doesn't even begin to describe what we had yesterday. At one point one friend from our massive tailgate party came over with a drill. He drilled our big tent into the parking lot pavement! I was stunned and said "okay, how do we get this out of the parking lot?" They laughed and said "the same way we just put it in." Fair enough.
That wind was intense. Before we drilled in the tent I kept standing on it, holding it down to prevent our shelter from becoming a projectile. I joked with work wife bestie Shawn at work this morning saying "it was like I was at a work event, trying to keep our tent held down." LOL. Comedy gold.
I was very happy that Saquon Barkley for The Giants got a Touchdown. I'm at least in both of my fantasy football games, so we'll take that. It was fun again seeing Saturday Night Live alumni Tracey Morgan in his club seats near me. Everyone cheered when they saw him and started chanting "Tracey Morgan, clap clap clap clap clap!" I think he was almost embarrassed by the attention, I only saw him once briefly the whole rest of our game.
Successful day! I opened a beer for someone with my Patriots bottle opener. Once my new friend hissed at me, he then introduced me to another friend, who has family living in Walpole, Massachusetts. Not far from my family at all! Once you were in the stadium it wasn't half as windy as during tailgating thank goodness. My Giants fan friends are all busting on me saying that I need to keep going to more Giants games. They were 3-1 last year, this year 1-0, and even my Patriots won their game in an upset against The Buffalo Bills. I even apparently brought my Pats good luck by not being able to watch them. Go figure lol.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my Epic Weekend In Pictures. Time to start planning next weekend. Guest celebrity judging a Halloween Contest at Crystal Springs, and enjoying the grand opening of ShopRite. Here we go!