Luncheon & Arthur Ashe Kids Day

My 2nd day in the Big City was awesome. We first had a luncheon held in the President’s Suite in Ashe Stadium. This place is a big deal. The President of the USTA watches the US Open from here, many famous people and tennis legends sit in this area during the 2 weeks. To get into the Suite you walked in through 2 wicked heavy wooden doors and you’re amazed at what you see. Clean white carpet, gold rimmed mirrors, 3 bartenders behind a wooden bar rimmed with gold panels and a huge glass wall looking out onto the stadium that sits close to 30 thousand people. The furniture was sort of Cape style, white sofas with light blue and gray pillows, so it was a very inviting place. We ended up heading upstairs to a dining room they had set up with white table cloths, white plates, and sterling silver utensils. It was really fancy. The waiters asked us if we would like still or sparkling water which never got empty in our glasses. It was nice to be treated like that. But anyway we got a speech from the USTA President and ITA President. We met with both of them and even David Dinkins the former mayor of NY showed up. As we ate lunch Patrick McEnroe also came in and gave us a nice speech. And after a small awards ceremony we headed downstairs to watch Arthur Ashe Kids Day. We were about 20 yards away from the stage and the court so I was excited about that. The hosts were 2 people from the Disney Channel who I didn’t know and the girl had way too high of heels on and too tight shorts. Like excuse me this is a kid’s show here! But the performers were the Jonas Brothers, Demi Lovato, Shontelle, the Bryan Brothers, and All-Star Weekend. They all were good, didn’t care for the Jonas Brothers too much, but it was entertaining. On the court I saw Andy Roddick, Melanie Oudin, Novak Djokovic, Lindsey Vonn (US Skier), Kim Clijsters, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer. So a great group of players showed up and put on a good show. And after the show ended we ended up watching a few of the last qualifying matches but they weren’t that good so we left and took the subway back to the hotel. After getting back to the room I was told by my dad that I needed to go and see Grand Central Station because it is too famous to miss so Nat and I headed downstairs and walked about 100 feet to the entrance. And he was right, it was great to see. It is huge! The chandeliers and the ceiling were amazing. The ceiling was painted blue with all the stars, and they outlined in the Zodiac signs. It was beautiful.