GET OUT THERE AND VOTE

Most cities in the United States have what’s called early voting, which means you can vote before the normal election day, which is usually the first Tuesday in November.

This year, its Tuesday, November 3rd and this election is very important.

The United States will either have a new president or the same one.

October 24 was New York’s turn for the start of early voting and like me, many people took advantage of it and waited in line, sometimes more than 2 hours to exercise their right to vote.

As I had absentee ballots for myself, aunt and cousin, I was able to drop my ballots into a dropbox inside the voting place, although it would have been nice if I and a couple of other people who stood in line for almost 3 hours had been given this need to know information earlier.

Luckily I had one of those stadium chairs to sit on while i waited my turn, and discussed politics in the United States with other voters waiting in line also.

Finally, i got to put the ballots in the dropbox.

This was all worth it.

My grandparents who were born and raised in Waxhaw County, North Carolina and Lancaster, South Carolina, couldn’t even vote.

Even though the lines were long, I didn’t mind doing it.

Too many people died trying to vote, it’s the least the Sports Diva can do.

HEALTHY DRINKING AT MR. WISH

While doing a 30 Plus Teams Tour staycation of Kew Gardens , I wanted something to drink, but not an adult beverage and not a coffee from either Dunkin Donuts or Seven Eleven coffee.

While doing some exploring around the area near the Kew Gardens Long Island Railroad Station was, I noticed a place called , ‘Mr. Wish’.

It claimed that it had ‘healthy bubble drinks and fruit teas.’

I looked at the pictures on the store window and on the menu, and I saw a drink that I hadn’t had since I lived in Los Angeles .

It was Pearl Milk Tea.

For $3.75 plus taxes, I figured why not get a medium one?

I had time to kill before my train back to Locust Manor came.

The Pearl Milk Tea was delicious , and made just the way I like my bubble tea.

No sugar needed, and big bubble pieces that are big but not that big that they won’t fit through your straw .

It just so happens that Mr. Wish’s teas and fruit juices are the number one brand in Taiwan and besides having stores in Taiwan and the United States , they also have locations in China , Vietnam , plus 150 other locations.

It’s easy to see why.

The store that I went to is located at 80 – 62 Lefferts Boulevard , Kew Gardens .

Mr. Wish claims that they have ‘authentic Fruit and Bubble Teas.’

They do.

If you can’t get to New York City or the borough of Queens, see if there is a Mr. Wish in your city.

You won’t be disappointed and the prices are very reasonable .

JOURNEY TO THE END OF LONG ISLAND , MONTAUK

My 30 Plus Teams Tour staycation took me to a place that I hadn’t been to in years .

59 of them to be exact.

People on Long Island call this village, ‘the end of Long Island’, because technically , it is.

You can take a ferry across the river and you’re in the state of Connecticut .

You discover , as I did, if you’re listening to your radio and expect to hear stations from New York , no such luck.

Try stations from the Nutmeg State, Connecticut .

The village is Montauk and if you look on a map of Long Island , you’ll discover that it’s on the very tip of Long Island .

If you go by Long Island Railroad as I did, be ready for a long ride.

3 hours to be exact, with two transfers to get there going.

My first transfer was at Jamaica – JFK , the next transfer was in the village of Babylon .

Coming back though, I just had one transfer at the last stop, Jamaica – JFK .

If you go in the summer , especially on a weekend or a holiday, expect to see a really crowded train.

When I was little, I went fishing with relatives out to Montauk .

Nothing has changed, Montauk is still known for fishing.

Don’t be surprised to see young and old bringing their fishing equipment on this train.

Technically , the village of Montauk is part of those ritzy Long Island villages known as The Hamptons .

The Hamptons are made up of the villages, West Hampton , North Hampton , Hampton Bays, South Hampton , Bridgehampton and East Hampton .

Montauk is part of East Hampton .

Like many parts of Long Island , Montauk is known for its beaches.

Many of the beaches on Montauk are now private, but you can take pictures.

Montauk’s most famous landmark is the Montauk Lighthouse , but because it’s not close to the Montauk station and I didn’t have that much time to explore, I didn’t get to see it up close and personal.

Every picture you see of Montauk, you’re going to see the lighthouse .

It’s that much of an icon here at the end of Long Island .

To say that I was tired from this 30 Plus Teams Tour of Montauk would be an understatement .

I was and I walked so much in the wrong type of shoes that I got blisters on the back of both of my feet.

But call me crazy, I would do it again .

No, not get blisters on my feet , go out to Montauk .

If I had one problem with the station at Montauk it would be get some benches on the platform.

Other than that, I enjoyed my journey to the village known as the end of Long Island .

A DAY IN SPRINGFIELD PARK

I didn’t  have  to  take  Nassau County public transportation for this 30 Plus  Teams  Tour .

I  let my feet do some of  the  walking.

I did take a bus but just for 20 blocks and walked the rest of the way, all 5 blocks.

I could have walked the whole way, but I  was saving my walking for the park.

Springfield  Park on Springfield  Boulevard  is located at the end of the city  of Springfield  Gardens  and the beginning  of the  city of  Rosedale .

After you leave Rosedale ,  you’re  out of New York  City  and on Long Island .

Surprisingly ,  I was in this same park four years ago  to the day.

I didn’t  remember  this but leave it to Facebook  Memories  to remind me.

It was a beautiful  day, but as we are a week or so away from most of us not having any power  thanks to the hurricane, trees were down all over the park.

Queens  is the borough  of New York  City  that has the most trees, and they are NO MATCH for a storm with 75 plus mph winds  let alone rain.

It was hot but a really beautiful  day  and I’m forgetting  that I’m  not really traveling  like I used to.

Sort of .

SPENDING TIME IN FREEPORT, LONG ISLAND

If I have to run any kind of errands , they’re usually done in the cities of Springfield Gardens /Locust Manor, where I live or either in the cities of Lynbrook or Valley Stream on Long Island .

I decided to do some errands in another city on Long Island , the incorporated city of Freeport .

I’ve been to Freeport before, sort of .

Transferring to another Nassau County bus at Freeport Transit Center doesn’t count, though.

Neither does waiting at the Freeport Long Island Railroad Station .

Like everywhere else, social distancing is the norm in Freeport .

This means, have those masks, and stand six feet away no matter if you’re in the line for groceries , medicine or money at the bank.

I’m sorry that I didn’t spend a little more time here in Freeport , but I will.

It was such a nice day, but a hurricane which ended up knocking out my power for almost 4 days, was on the way .

Tell me what else can happen in New York City in 2020?

A DAY AT THE BEACH

It was a really hot and humid day on July 27th, so the Sports Diva decided to do her 30 Plus Teams Tour in a place that I hadn’t been to since I was a little girl .

I went to Jones Beach in the town of Wantagh , Long Island .

As usual, I traveled by public transportation .

I took the N88 express bus from Freeport to Wantagh .

It was another Nassau County bus, and it went non stop.

It only took 20 or so minutes to get to the beach.

Once again, since there really isn’t any traveling on an airplane (for the Sports Diva at least for awhile.), I have to make due with trips to Long Island .

When the virus from hell first came on the scene, I was very upset that I had to forget about my usual 30 Plus Teams Tour of Las Vegas and other places.

Now that we’re almost at the end of July, I look at the virus just a little bit differently.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s still that ex boyfriend that didn’t get the memo that you’ve broken up, or those annoying relatives that just won’t get the hint that they have over stayed their welcome.

Now it’s just , ‘Rona’ and as much as we don’t want to , we have to deal with it because it’s gonna be here with us for awhile .

When the bus dropped me off, I realized that there are three areas of Jones Beach

The East Boathouse , which is mostly for adults only, the West

Boathouse, which is where I was and the the Central Mall which is the biggest area .

With that in mind, it didn’t matter that the Atlantic Ocean was very salty, I dipped my toes into the bright blue water.

I had to keep reminding myself that I wasn’t near the Pacific Ocean and I wasn’t at one of those pool parties that I love to go to whenever I’m in Las Vegas .

There were families at Jones Beach , doing the same thing that I was trying to do, escape the heat and take a dip in the very salty Atlantic Ocean .

At almost 100 degrees, and humidity almost as high, the fact that the water was salty didn’t really matter.

I was ready for my day at the beach and it won’t be the last day this summer that my 30 Plus Teams Tour is going to be at some beach in New York City or Long Island .

TAKING THE TEST PART ONE

Today ,  July  21st ,  the Sports  Diva  did  another  30  Plus  Teams  Tour  of  New  York  City .

It just wasn’t  the  place  that  I  wanted  to  go  though .

I  finally  made  up  my  mind  and  took  my happy  self  to  one  of  the  many  clinics here in Queens  that give  you  Covid  19  test .

That’s  right ,  I  didn’t  stutter ,  I  spent  most  of  my  own  30  Plus  Teams  Tour  of  New  York  City  not in New York  City  or Long Island ,  but at a place called  CityMD ,  which  are  found  throughout  the  five boroughs .

One of  the  tests was the blood  tests  for antibodies ,  the other was the  infamous  swabs  test that go  up your nose .

Sorry  to  be  so  graphic ,  but it’s  better than the  swabs  going up your you know  where.

I  had heard  people say  that  the test is very uncomfortable .

I was expecting  the worse .

Hate  to  disappoint  some  of  you  who  have  or haven’t  taken  the  test  yet, it’s  somewhat  uncomfortable ,  but going  to  the dentist  or GYN  is much more  uncomfortable ,  just  putting  that out there.

Even though me and and some of  my  fellow  New  Yorkers  had  to  wait  in  line  in 90 degrees  temperatures because there were 10 people  waiting  inside the clinic ,   it wasn’t  that long to be seen by a doctor  for the test.

(Social  distancing  at  its  finest  here  in  New  York  City ,  folks.)

After putting  in some info into the paperless computer and scanning my Medicare  card ,  I was ready to  be  seen .

(Medicare is for 65 and older here  in  the  United  States . )

I’d  be  lying  if  I  said  that I was there for an hour.

I wasn’t .

30 minutes is more like it.

Did I   mention  that  the tests were free?

It will take 7-14 days to get my results  because the lab that the clinic uses is so backed up .

Taking the test was easy.

Waiting on my results ,  now that’s  the hard part.

A DAY AT JFK AIRPORT

As usual , because of the Corona virus , my 30 Plus Teams Tour isn’t made by flying out of state, but by taking a New York City bus, Nassau County bus or the Long Island Railroad somewhere.

Saturday , July 18th was no exception .

I had a choice, either go to Belmont Park Racetrack in the village of Elmont, Long Island or right in my own backyard to JFK Airport, a 20 minute bus ride away.

Since I haven’t been to JFK in oh forever , why not go and take pictures?

Unfortunately , due to the quarantine , I couldn’t see as much as I wanted to see.

Much of JFK was closed off especially if you weren’t either an essential worker or a ticketed passenger .

However, I did get to go next door to JFK and walk inside the TWA Hotel , which used to be the old TWA terminal.

More about that hotel in a later post.

Right now, enjoy some pictures from another 30 Plus Teams Tour Day trip in the New York City area.

A Walk Down Rockaway Avenue

Once again, my 30 Plus Teams Tour has brought me to the place known as The Incorporated Village of Valley Stream.

My ride, better known as the Nassau County Bus, brought me to one of, if not the main street of the village, and that’s Rockaway Avenue.

On this street, which takes you all the way down to Sunrise Highway, where the Long Island Railroad stops, one will find shops, office buildings, restaurants, and lots of houses of worship.

The restaurants had outdoor seating as we’re still on Phase 3 of opening New York.

Like their neighbors in the five boroughs, masks are a requirement here on Long Island.

Even though I miss traveling to another state for my 30 Plus Teams Tour, I’m enjoying my bus rides and train rides to the cities that are close by me.

It was a nice day as I walked down Rockaway Avenue and in other sections of Valley Stream.

It didn’t even bother me that one of the streets that I walked down was South Corona.

How much do you wanna bet they want to change that name when the virus from hell is over?

CORONAVIRUS WHO? I’M GOING ON A DAY TRIP

We here in New York City just entered Phase Two of what politicians in the United States like to call, ‘Flattening The Curve’ when it comes to the virus from hell.

While other states like Florida, Texas and Arizona , among others couldn’t wait for people to throw away their masks and party like you just don’t care, here in New York City , our Governor and mayor basically said, ‘Don’t even think about partying yet. Corona is still here and he hasn’t left yet.’

As a result, New Yorkers like the Sports Diva have to be creative with their 30 Plus Teams Tours.

Hello Long Island Railroad .

I could take the good old New York City subway down to 34th but since the Long Island Railroad is basically in my backyard (no really, I can see the Long Island Railroad IN MY BACKYARD!), why not take that for a daytrip to Manhattan , also known as ‘The City’ to those of us who live in the Outer Boroughs (aka, Brooklyn, The Bronx, Staten Island and Queens.)

I wanted to see for myself just how the city looked since we were under an 8pm -5am curfew imposed by our Mayor because some folks don’t seem to understand the difference between peacefully protesting and looting, but that’s a post for another day .

(The curfew ended a week or so ago by the way. So New York is back to being the ‘city that never sleeps.’)

Today, June 26th was all about riding comfortably and peacefully on the train as it passed by the Queens neighborhoods of Rosedale, Laurelton , Forest Hills, South Jamaica, Kew Gardens, Woodside and my own neighborhood of Locust Manor as it made its way past the skyscrapers of Manhattan on the way to one of the biggest transportation hubs in the United States , Penn Station .

As I made my way upstairs to 34th Street and saw all the stores filled with people , masks on , going about their businesses as if to say, ‘we see you Corona, you’ve been here long enough. Go away allready.’

As I returned home, after a day of shopping, I felt the same way also.

Go away Corona, I’m going on a day trip.