Krauss Haus: September 14, 2008

Ok, this is a long one.....grab your glass of wine or cup of coffee and read on............ =)

I finally got my wish -- sort of. A few months ago I told Sven that whenever we sell the house we were going out to dinner. He said "ok". I said "in New York!" =) I meant Manhattan and got Long Island. Close enough, I suppose. =) We were quite excited for our short weekend getaway. It had been EIGHT YEARS since we had been back to New York and the academy. A lot has changed in those 8 years!! We were thrilled to be able to DRIVE to New York and get the opportunity to show Nikolas our infamous academy that he's already heard so many stories about. I guess I should say we WERE thrilled until the tolls began. Holy smokes! We lost track of how many toll booths we went through and what the fees were, but we calculated we spent about $30 each way just in tolls. Not cheap......but can a NY experience ever be?! =)

I was so excited that Sven agreed to drive through Manhattan on our way out to the Island. The photo on the left is waiting at the toll booth to enter the Lincoln Tunnel that goes under the Hudson River and connects Jersey to Manhattan. I must tell you at this point in the story that I am somewhat obsessed/fascinated with NYC. I couldn't believe my little, ol' Honda Pilot was driving through the streets of this amazing city. A tad bit different than rollerblading down them with Arvo....but every bit as exciting. =)

We drove on 34th Street ("Miracle on 34th Street" anyone?) and right past the Empire State Building. Nikolas was astounded by the noise and honking. As much as I hate loud noises, I found it thoroughly invigorating.

Given that we were up at 0500 that morning to do the drive, 11' sounded completely reasonable for our lunch stop.....GINO'S in Great Neck! WooHoo! Sven and I were so happy to see it is still around (less happy to find that Puccinella's up the street....where we were planning to have dinner.....wasn't). Sven and I licked every drop of grease off of our fingers from our fine New York pizza while Nikolas "didn't like it". What kid who LOVES pizza doesn't like New York pizza???! Man, kids these days....... =) By the way, Sven is not sitting alone on the picture in the left....Nikolas is hiding under the table next to him. Now you're piecing the puzzle together.....0500 wake-up call, 4 hour car ride, noisy city and "bad" pizza....yeah, he wasn't much in the mood for smiling. However, Nikolas was feeling better after the drive to the academy after lunch. In the photo in the right he's posing in his room (ours was next door adjoined by a bathroom) of Cleveland Hall. Yes, that's right-- we stayed AT the academy. Not to mention the much more affordable lodging, who could resist taking such a walk down memory lane? Speaking of lane, all you alumni -- I can tell you that despite the passage of time you STILL get the knot in your stomach as you turn from Kings Point Rd. onto Steamboat Road and see the gate. Can you feel it now with just my description? I sure can. =) And speaking of gate, can anyone tell us WHERE the MOD went?! The guard actually argued with Sven that it ever existed at the front gate. I know we're getting older and our memories aren't quite what they used to be, but we surely haven't forgotten the hours we spent at the MOD shack answering the phone!

After checking into our rooms and getting freshened up, we hit zero deck headed for the Ship's Store....or should I say NEX. Really. They took out the bowling alley and expanded the Ship's Store into a glorified NEX. We purchased all of our cheesy, KP memorabilia and headed off to the Mariner football game against the Coast Guard Bears.

Is anyone else hearing music in their head?? You've got to admit those marching songs are catchy little tunes.....

This is the point in the post that Sven should take over the story.....I don't really do, nor understand, football. We did witness a tremendous Mariner touchdown though. =) At the coin toss, we were trying to figure out how Sue has not aged one bit since 1992. How is that humanly possible? She looks exactly like she did when WE were plebes. Amazing. Nikolas was restless and so we didn't watch the whole game, but we do know that KP beat Coast Guard. Good job, guys!

Kings Point cheerleaders...................

Coast Guard cheerleaders......

what's up with that?! =)

After we left the game, our campus roaming began. We had run into CDR Mund (now Deputy Commandant, I think) and he gave us the go ahead to walk through the barracks. Straight to "5th Co" we went....Barry Hall. With the remodeling they've done, I couldn't find my old room! They changed the room numbers and I was confused about which room had been mine. So, we did the nerdy thing and took a photo in front of one the ones that MAY have been it. =) It was weird to walk through Jones Hall. Back in our day it was closed and on the brink of deterioration. Now, a walk through Truxton Arcade and you'd never guess the shape it had been in back in our day. Oh, and did I forget to mention AC?! These plebes don't know how oppressive indoc can really be! Don't even get me started on the new regs for the girls' haircuts.......

This wasn't there before!

Chapel.......

Be it as it may, I didn't spend a lot of time in the chapel during my time at KP. One distinct memory I do have however, is of the funeral service held in 1995 for our classmate Brian Roche who died while out at sea. We found a bench in his memory in front of the chapel (although I don't think that was its original location). We also found "new" (to us anyway) stairs leading down to the waterfront. There, too, was a plaque honoring Brian.

That was enough sightseeing for one afternoon. We headed back into Great Neck for a scrumptious Italian dinner (sadly, not Pucinella's). We strolled over to the train station and watched as the plebes headed out for their first weekend away (last weekend was Parents' weekend). Talk about the memories coming back! Sven and I laughed when we realized that we had met this same weekend 16 years ago (and you'd laugh if you knew the story, too!). =)

Ok, so I know this is already an extremely long post, but bear with me....I'm finding it quite therapeutic. =) Now we're on to Sunday.....don't worry.... we're halfway there.....

More touring...........

Sven's territory....engineering land......

My territory..... beautiful sunrises and the wind in your face, aka deckie land....

Nikolas loved the fountain. I think we should have stressed "will not lie, cheat or STEAL" because he kept trying to scoop coins out of it when we weren't looking!

It's bizarre to see your son scooting around on the grinder.......our memories there weren't NEAR as pleasant!! And the smells wafting through the air from Delano to our room in Cleveland Hall....well, maybe not all that much has changed. UGH!

Our time at KP had finally come to an end (aren't you glad we didn't spend a week there....imagine how many pictures I would have taken then.....). We had one last stop to make on our way out of town.....Amy's! Amy is the mother of the children I used to babysit for all those years ago. Her children were my son's age when I babysat them. Let THAT soak in a minute-- geesh! Now Justin and Mariel are a senior and sophomore at college, respectively. Unbelievable. We had a nice time catching up with Amy over lunch at Scobee's Diner.

Ok, everyone, I hope you enjoyed our walk down memory lane with us. I would say it was "fun" but I think the strongest emotion we had was "weird". It was weird to be back and mostly it was weird to acknowledge that KP truly lives on. What is a memory for us is the experience the midshipman are currently making for themselves now. So as we end this vacation weekend, enjoy our departing photos from New York.

Ok, too soon to say "enjoy" because these photos were taken on the way home on the Bayview Ave. bridge. It's a 9-11 memorial tribute. Ironically we were there only a few days after the 8th anniversary of the attack