the new york trip

My visit to New York has gone surprisingly well, even though I had a lot of misgivings on the way up. The weather has been cold, and sometimes overcast, but I haven’t been troubled by rain. My visit to Kelly’s went well and though it was short (about three hours), I had a fun visit, and Lucia was glad to see me and play. Liz and Theo were there and it was nice to catch up with them. I left before nine, just as I promised and that made it easier for Kelly and Alfredo to put Lucia to bed (though she wanted me to stay longer). The drive up from Catonsville was pretty easy and I even got a chance to play nine holes of golf (shooting a 48) and a nap before I ended up at Ferry where I headed into the city around three and walked up to the WTC memorial, then had a mainly vegetarian dinner at Blue Smoke (with just a little pulled pork). I walked a bit after that and then went to watch the Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies, which was pretty good, even better than the first one. I took the ferry over and ended up eating a little too much but overall a good day. My second day was also very good, with a bike ride at Willowbrook Park and then back to the hotel for a nap and then off to the ferry, and a walk through Times Square and then up Fifth, to Rockefeller Center and up to Central Park and a quick walk through the zoo area before heading to Nepresso to drink a fine cup of coffee and taste a delicious chocolate tarte. I also wrote both versions of my story, and I hope my friend likes them. Then it was more walking and back to the ferry and then driving to the Liberty Tavern on Forest for dinner and the Duke game (Duke beat Connecticut, but not by much). My third day has also gone well, with a bike ride at Willowbrook, a brief rest at the hotel and then off to visit my parents’ grave. I’m glad I went to visit though I can’t say it had much of an effect on my. Then on to the ferry and a walk up to the South Street Seaport and a fabulous late lunch at Suteishi on Peck Slip of grilled eggplant, crab stuffed mushrooms and a spicy tuna roll, all heavenly. I then took the subway up to 68th street and had a 40 minute walk through Central Park that was very nice, then a walk over to Bouchon Bakery for a Linzer Tart and some coffee. On Saturday I did 40 minutes on the stationary bike, did some yoga, then got ready to head to Gabes. The bus ride to the ferry was depressing since it goes through some pretty poor neighborhoods, but I made the noon boat and got to 77th street in Brooklyn by 1:20 so I had time to eat. Gabes’ new rental house is first rate and I had my own room which was very nice. It is two stories with Arlene living in a basement apartment so there is plenty of space. I went for walks, played with Julian a lot, talked with Francesca and Gabes and enjoyed myself quite a bit. The next day I did more walks and treated them to brunch, then had a nice time at their party, and played 15 games of Chutes and Ladders with Julian, who enjoyed each game. I got up early and since no one was stirring I headed off, anxious to get going particularly since there was a chance of freezing rain. I got back by 10:00 and was driving right away. The sky had breaks of blue so I stopped to play golf at Blue Mountain (there were too other golfers) and I had fun and shot a 48 even with a 9 on the second par 5. I kept driving and past Harrisburg the rain began and I was worried about even getting to Hagerstown, but I made it to Winchester so tomorrow should be much easier, although freezing rain in morning could slow me down. I rode the motel’s stationary bike and used their weight machine, then I did my yoga in the room before I went to the Texas Steakhouse for salmon and crab cake and veggies.