Week Three-Ish

Tuesday and Wednesday, 18th and 19th: Vicki worked so I made myself busy around the house.

Thursday, the 20th: Vicki worked for an hour or two and then jumped on Laura's costume for halloween.  Laura's going to be Dorothy and Vicki, being the perfectionist she is, wants the costume to be perfect.

On my way home last November, I was seated next to Dorean, of Hasbrouck Heights, NJ, who was heading to San Jose, with a plane change in Dallas.  We struck up a conversation, agreed to meet at The Crow's Nest the next time I'm in NJ, and became Facebook Friends.  We've been following each other's lives since then, and at the appointed hour, we met at The Crow's Nest.  It was as if no time had passed and that we'd known each other for a long time.  We had another three-hour conversation which was way too short.

This world is so small: she knows Vicki's realtor and friends of friends.  We're planning another outing before I head home.

Friday, the 21st:  Vicki's house is less than 100 yards from the bus stop to NYC.  It's SO much easier [and cheaper] to take the bus into the City.  At 9:20 a.m., we hopped on the 164, paid $1.90 [we're seniors] and sat in the very first seat.  Our bus driver was friendly so the time passed quickly.  The weather was predicted to be sunny but clouds were building.

Denice was meeting us at 10:20 as she was coming in from Toms River, NJ.  She lives in nearby Little Egg Harbor.  However, her bus was early and our bus was a tad late due to an early bus lane closure.  So, we met at 10:30 instead and caught the E Train down to Ground Zero.

That was another $2.25 so we're WAY under what parking and tolls would have cost us.  And the trip was fun.

When we got there, the 911 Memorial Day Of tickets for the morning were gone and the next Day Of tickets weren't going to be released until 6:30.  Reservations are booked months out so we took our chances.  Maybe next year.  In any case, we walked around the area, much of which is under construction.

The hairs on my head stood up when we got to Ten House, the ladder company across from The World Trade Center.  Very emotional.

I recommend taking the time to visit www.fdnytenhouse.com to get the stories.

Someone told Vicki that even though we couldn't go into the Memorial, we could walk on a bridge to get a view of it.

By this time, we're getting a bit hungry.  As I'd done a bit of research, and with the help of Susan's blog, we decided to go to Eataly.  So, we hopped into a cab and headed to 200 Fifth Avenue for the experience. We walked around for a while, taking in the experience.  Then, since our growling stomachs drowned out the music, we rode the elevator to Birreria on the rooftop.

They have a retractable roof and our table was sort of at the edge of the open area.  However, it was windy and our menus were blowing, so we asked the manager if they could close off another section.  It was chilly but not awful as there were heat lamps placed in various locations.  Our server, Kelli, was from Dallas, going to school at NYU, so we got extra special attention.

A lady on the first floor who worked in the produce area recommended the fried mushrooms as an appetizer.  Of course, we ordered them and oh were they good.  Fried shitaki mushrooms with sage.  When Kelli brought them to the table, Vicki thought they were chocolate chip cookies.  They were crispy on the outside with mushroomy yumminess on the inside.  Addictive!

Denice and I ordered the beer and apricot braised pork shoulder with kraut, and Vicki ordered a pork chop with fingerlings.  DELISH!  Everything here is fresh and homemade.  They even have their own brewery. Kelli offered us dessert but we'd spotted a gelato place on the first floor.  Yes, I had sugar AND grains since I ordered a small scoop of pistachio in a CONE.  Vicki had hazelnut and Denice had chocolate and raspberry.

I've GOT to come back to Eataly to try the other restaurants, bakeries, cheese store, etc. etc. etc.  This is a terrific destination.  Thanks, Susan!

We took our gelatos outside as it was crowded inside, and came across this lovely gent.

He said he'd sing us a song if we gave him some money.  We declined.  There was another entrepreneur who was banging on metal things.

He was really good and we watched him for a while.  The post office box had quite a pile of money in it.  This Dad and his son were watching as well . . .

. . . and when the boy took his contribution to the box, we thought he was going to dig in and bring some money back to his dad.  Cute!

We went back into Eataly after devouring our gelatos and I got a pound of adorable baby brussels sprouts, and Vicki got a half pound of multi-colored baby yams.  We'll have them with dinner on Saturday.

We need to walk off our lunch, so walk we did.

That's Vicki and Denice waiting to cross the street.

We found this  church . . .

. . . and went inside to say a prayer for Dina.  I couldn't resist taking a few photos at the back of the church.

We continued walking up 7th Avenue.  At one point, Denice decided to spin off from us as Vicki and I were ready to go home, and she wanted to go to Saks and Bloomingdale's, so we split.  Vicki and I kept walking and just enjoyed being outside in the brisk weather and taking in the sights.

As we got back to Port Authority, Vicki ran into an old high school classmate, Ron Cozza, who was meeting his wife in the City.  His wife is Denice's cousin - small world.

We got back to Vicki's house before 5:00 and she immediately started working on the costume which she finished at 2:10 A.M.  She's certainly a terrific grandmother and Laura's going to look so cute in the costume.

Right now, it's early Saturday, the 22nd, and Vicki's going to mail the costume and then work until 4:30.  I'll make myself busy, helping to prepare for The New York McKinlay Clan on Sunday.

Let me just say: if you go to NYC, check out Eataly! Greatness!

Ciao!