Katie drove us to the NJ transit system. I had downloaded the app the night before and like the planner she is, Katie added the tickets I would need for going to the city and back to the West Orange (or South Orange as that is where the train is) next week. We promised we would check in regularly and off we went.
It was a little chilly that morning. Glad I had on leggings (now… not so much) and the coat of many colors. Jim and I were trying for the 9:07 train into the city. it was a little late, but no worries, the train arrived and so did we.
We arrived in NY and walked a couple of blocks where we dropped our bags. A deli really. Hari’s Deli as a matter of fact. He keeps the luggage on the stairs behind the counter. If you are in NY and you have luggage, because you are just doing a day trip, Luggage Hero is the way to go. Hari’s Deli is on 36th in the Garment District and playing the poor innocent, I don’t know what I’m doing 🤣, handed my phone to Hari and he started (and stopped when we came back) the reservation. My mommy has taught me well.
It was a little chilly, did I mention that already? I needed another cuppa and wouldn’t you know it, Jim had pinned or scoped out a little coffee shop right near the deli. The cookies looked amazing, but alas, we did not buy any.
I decided we needed to go to the M&M store. So we did. We paid a fortune, found the bathroom, and left. Look at all that orange… no I didn’t buy any of it!
Since we were so close to Central Park, we walked there. What an absolutely gorgeous day it was in NYC. So many people out and about: Kids on field trips blowing bubbles in the park, lots of hawkers selling wares or trying to get you to ride in the horse and carriages. We knew we were going to be spending a lot of time sitting down, so walk we did… and then, we walked some more. I made sure we found the Balto statue in the park, I did not ride the carousel.
Walking back from the park, saw the Chrysler Building, Louis Vuitton, and St. Pats. Not in that order.. Jim and I were headed towards the Morgan Museum and Library, which we found, but we found Mad Dog and Beans with NYC best guacamole and margaritas and decided that 12,500+ steps deserved food and beverage and maybe we should eat and head over to the JFK.
Did I mention lunch? Jim ordered the flautas with a side of beans (black beans they were) and rice. I had little chimichangas that came with the best quac in NYC and I don’t know if it was the best in NYC, but it was really good and fresh. We wanted to make sure the margaritas were the best, so we sampled them twice, just so we could have an accurate taste! They were really good.
With lunch over we walked back to Hari’s, got our luggage, and headed to the train station to catch the LIRR towards Jamaica and JFK. I had been texting with my friends on the bus, and they were well on their way. We figured we would meet them at the airport, but the best laid plans, and I did say something about the early bird.
Jim wanted us to try and check our luggage in early, and the lovely lady at the desk told us we couldn’t check our luggage in for an hour, unless of course we wanted to hop on the earlier flight to Rome, which was currently boarding. OOPS! Well Jim had to get rid of the ice in his water bottle, I had to text the group and lo, and behold, we boarded the plane on final call (I think they were holding the plane for us!-Not really, the plane left early!)
Our flight arrived early…630 or so. We might could have hopped in a taxi to see a sight or 2, but no one wanted to chance being late back to the airport, even though we didn’t have to get bags or anything as they are checked straight through to Florence.
#HowFortunateWeAre #RetiredAndLovingIt #MakeOurOwnSunshine