Bush League Bocce

May 8, 2006 by alex

Sunday morning started out with me feeling too guilty not taking Sasha to Prospect Park despite my Kentuckian swerve I tied on the before. Karen was again hit hard with allergies so Sash and I ventured out on our own to Prospect Park. All in a ll it was a good trip where I learned that Sasha, all of a sudden, doesn’t quite know what to make of people sitting in the grass - twice she acted perplexed when she saw someone in the distance sitting in the grass. She would approach with caution with the occasional bark and then finally when she got close enough, wiggled up to them, tackled them and then tried to lick their faces - very strange.

We got back home and roused Karen out of bed so we could go to The Hill Diner for some pre-bocce tournament nourishment. Karen feasted on blueberry pancakes and I went with the croque madame (toast with ham and melted swiss, topped with two eggs any style - I went over medium) Both proved to be delicious, especially after I backed it up with a side of bacon - they have excellent bacon at THD - light and crispy.

We made it over to Floyd and upon ordering 2 bloody marys, we were told “I can’t serve you until 12…” “Um, of COURSE you can’t. Who drinks before 12?!” So we patiently waited until our bloody marys were set free as our team accumulated. Sara, Daya (on reprieve from a demanding rehearsal schedule) and Katie showed up first, followed by Matt decked out in jeans and a corduroy jacket (it was 70 degrees!). We waited and waited - our match was scheduled for 12 and as the clock passed 12:30 we realized that our opponents had pulled off the ultimate JV maneuver - not showing up for the Playoffs. How do you skip the playoffs? It’s a new season! No matter how bad you were, you have a chance to redeem yourself. Believe me, we were bad so we know.

Fresh off an opening round victory (by forfeit) we were ready to take on the day. We all finished our respective drinks, and headed outside to go walk around the neighborhood and *maybe* check see if The Gowanus Yacht Club was open. We made our way down Smith street and lost Daya and Matt on our way. Arriving at the GYC we were informed that they do not open until 2pm - how many times can our desire to have a drink be thwarted in one day?! We sheepishly decide that, rather than stand outside the bar for an hour until they would grace us with a beer and a sausage, we would get back to wandering when, low and behold, we wandered right into the yearly Carroll Gardens street fair! Hooray! We walked the length of the street fair, almost to the BQE and then wandered back. While I’d usually be all about sausages and funnel cake, I was saving myself. Saving myself for different sausages and some pickles.

2 o’clock struck and we found ourselves back at the GYC doorstep - ready to finally be served a beer. We snuck Sasha in with a super discreet table by the entrance (she was so tried from the park/bocce/walking/street fair that she was on her best behavior). We had a few beers and enjoyed some delicious food as well - I went with the black angus sausage (I guess its about as gourmet as a hot dog can be) and a jubilat swolksa (their specialty that I am very familiar with thanks to Schnack). I was obsessed with their pickles and we went through about 6-7 pickles in that sitting. By the time it was 4:30, we were spent and Karen, Sasha and I headed home where I proceeded to nap while watching the Yankee game (finished up a weekend sweep of the Rangers!). Later we grilled some burgers and watched 24 and the Sopranos. All in all, it was an excellent weekend.

Tune in next week to see how we do in the next round of the playoffs: Saturday, May 13th @ 12 vs. The Sweet Meats.

Tags: alex, bocce, books, brooklyn, karen, katie b., sara k., sasha

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