[Written on November 13, 2007]
I was up early, 5 AM, and couldn’t really sleep thereafter. Norm and Vicky had some early errands to run and so I was up to see them off and say goodbye. I’d said goodbye to them the night before, and I would say goodbye to them one more time, as they returned sooner than expected.
I was up at about 7:30 AM and headed for the train station at 8:15, after saying goodbye to Jen (Jason had already left). They are coming down to D.C. on Friday so I will see them soon.
I had to wait for 3 crowded #4 trains before I could squeeze on, but I got to Penn Station by 9 AM, and upgraded my Acela ticket to first class, once again. The train ride home was quick and quiet and I headed straight into the office when I got in.
Jason left before 5 AM this morning to head to a NASCAR-thing that one of his client’s was sponsoring. Still, Jen and I were up pretty early and headed out for a walk in the park. We stopped to watch a few innings of a little league game, and then meandered through the park until we reached the Boathouse Restaurant, where we stopped for brunch. As usual, the Boathouse brunch was delicious. I had the steak and eggs, and it was the first time I can recall ever ordering steak and eggs off of a menu.
We continued through the park, finally relaxing on a bench for a while. Jen had called Jon and Hollie to see if they were around and they called us back while we were sitting, and we headed over to their place to visit. I got to meet William for the first time, who is a very cute, extremely well-behaved baby. And I got to see their place now that their kitchen remodeling was complete. We spent a few hours there and then headed back across to the park toward home.
We decided to stop at Mustang, and sat outside next to a large street fair on Second Ave. We had some drinks, and went through plenty of appetizers and desserts, spending a couple of hours sitting, talking, people watching. It was a lot of fun.
Jason got home later in the evening and we headed to a local Italian place for dinner and by that time, I was pretty beat. We watched some TV after we got back to their place, but it wasn’t long before we were getting ready for bed.
When I got to Jen and Jason’s the apartment was already filled with the smell of cooking. Jen was making dinner and it was worth the wait (we watched the Yankees game while we waited. When dinner was served, it was delicious. he11o_sunshine will have to describe exactly what she did, but she made a pork dish of some kind with an outstanding sauce, and a spicy broccoli side, both of which had me digging for seconds.
For dessert, we took the train to Union Square and headed into Max Brenner‘s. If you’ve never been there before, and you love chocolate, then you must make a pilgrimage. Almost everything on the menu is chocolate (Jason even had a chocolate beer!) and delicious!
The evening air was almost Hawaiian in it’s quality and we decided to see if we could walk from Union Square back to Jen and Jason’s place on 85th, and only stopped because Jason has to get up very early in the morning and needed to go to bed.
I was able to use one of my free upgrade to upgrade to Acela First Class. I’ve ridden Acela First Class once before, last year and it’s actually pretty nice. Those who’ve ridden the Acela train know that the entire train is business class, and very nice. The advantage of First Class is (a) a free meal and (b) free alcohol. The seats are a little nicer and there are single seats in parts of the first class car which have a little more room. The ride is just under 3 hours and I plan on watching episodes of The Office, and perhaps doing a little reading.
The First Class lounge is nice because you can board the train first, there are comfortable places to sit, free, wireless Internet, and of course, free soft drinks and snacks. It’s also well-air conditioned, which is nice considering it’s close to 90 here today.
I was up at 8 AM this morning, and headed to IHOP for breakfast. While there, I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do this weekend. I had fun at happy hour last night, but had no plans this weekend. I wasn’t in the writing mood, and didn’t feel like going to see a movie. I put off any decisions until I got my haircut. When I got home, I called he110_sunshine and jkashlock and asked what they were doing. Not much today. So I decided to head up to the City.
I’m on the 2 PM Acela, so I have about an hour before I have to catch a taxi to Union Station. I’ve got a few things to take care of here and then I’m on my way. It’s warm here and in New York, and I’m packing light, since I won’t be gone for very long. But it should be fun. I called vickyandnorm to see what they were up to and to see if they might want to meander down into the City tomorrow and hang out for a while. They graciously agreed to talk about it and see if they could make it. Hopefully they can. I haven’t seen them since their second wedding back in April and likely won’t get to see them again until late July at the earliest.
I was up at about 8:30 AM and feeling pretty good. I slept well in the hotel room and the skies were bright and clear. I pulled open the shades and Jen and Jason were awake shortly thereafter. We met AJ and Denisse at the hotel restaurant, Olives, for breakfast and the breakfast was quite good. The only mishap–and the only mishap of the entire weekend–was that Denisse lost her cellphone at breakfast. More than likely she left it under a napkin that was cleared away.
We headed up to Jen and Jason’s place and then to the park via 2nd Avenue. We stopped at Coldstone for shakes, but I was the only one who managed to get a shake because they ran out of milk. Several blocks later, however, we came to a Maggie Moos and everyone else got shakes there. We cut over to the park on 72nd and ended up by the Boathouse and then Bethesda statue. We were there for a while, and then wandered past the elms, heading for the south end of the park and then back toward the subway, where we finally split up, AJ and Denisse to head back to the hotel and then to the bus for the ride home, and Jen, Jason and I back to their place.
Back and Jen and Jason’s I was feeling pretty sick and so I took some medicine and rested for about an hour and a half before heading off to the airport. I checked in and was at the gate about an hour before the flight, and boarded quickly once called. The flight departed a little late, but got into Dulles just after 9 PM. I was feeling terrible at this point. I retrieved my luggage, bought some Advil to take, and headed home. Once home, I sent a message to work saying that I was taking a sick day. Then I took some NyQuil and headed off to bed.
It was a fun weekend and I’m glad I made it through most of it feeling pretty well.