Thursday: was a travelling day. Chef Zack took me to the airport after all my normal airport transporting friends were unavailable. (Thanks again!) I had a direct flight to JFK. Mark gave me directions to get to his house from JFK. Three trains, plus the air train, were involved. I had an exciting moment when I got off the express to get on the local train. I got down to the local platform and there was no one there. In the middle of the afternoon. In Brooklyn. Creepy.
The rest of the day was hanging out with the family. Mark had to work super late so I hung out with Irmghard and tried to beat the heat. Did I mention the bulldog?
Friday: I woke up and found Prospect Park which is near where I was staying. I had quite a long walk around Grand Army Circle (totally the wrong way) before I got myself found. I was also super grateful for my GPS enabled phone, without which I would have been completely lost. (I get confused when the road is not in straight lines.)
Friday afternoon Irmghard and I went into Manhattan. I got a tour of Chelsea, where I don't think I'd been before. We also stopped and shopped for baby clothes, some of which I can't believe a baby would ever be small enough to fit, but I was assured they do come that tiny.
Saturday: Mark and I went to the farmer's market at Prospect Park. It was really fun to see all the local produce. By the ocean they get lots of good seafood too. (Mmmm, Scallops!)
In the afternoon we hit the beach. Vacations are complete once there is swimming in the ocean. I was so excited. Originally I thought it would be fun to go to Coney Island (until it occurred to us that amusement parks and pregnant women don't mix) so the beach was an unexpected but welcome treat.
Then we went into Crown Heights to this Pizza Place. (I'm one of the gentiles who realizes how not-right it is to be walking around Crown Heights on the sabbath in a bathing suit, but that's another story.) Mark showed me where he's taught before and a few of the cool shops. We also learned it's not passion fruit season. Then, we got pizza.
Sunday: Mark had to work again. I went for a run in the park and had a blast. There was a bike race using the road in the park so that was fun to see. The race was done by the time I was running up hill to get out of the park and go back home. That's when I saw that the bikes raced up the same hill and the hill is so long/steep they awarded king of the mountains points for the climb in the bike race. Yea, that's what I ran up. Guess I get to count that as a hill run!
Then Irmghard and I went to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden (my favorite stop of the trip) which was gorgeous but quite hot by lunch time.
In the afternoon we opted for the sanctuary of air conditioning at the Brooklyn Museum. Irmghard knew they had an Andy Warhol exhibit. I was thrilled to find that Irmghard walks through art museums at exactly my pace. (Usually I finish too fast.)
After all that walking (which is more every time we tell the story) we headed home. Irmghard convinced me that "Inglorious Bastards" would be a good (meaning light, funny) movie to watch. Ha. Ha. Ha. Sadly (or luckily?) all movies put me to sleep with in about ten minutes so I had a nice nap and woke up for the end, which was also when Mark came home.
Mark cooked an awesome Sunday dinner (so good I even forgot to call my parents at the regular time!). I refer you to my earlier comment about scallops. Then Mark wanted a hair cut. (Maybe that happened Saturday now that I think of it.) Oh well, here's Mark checking my work.
Monday: I went for a 'walk' around the park. After the previous day of running and walking and heat, there would be no up hill runs. Then Irmghard and I had tacos (you have to say it louder!) for lunch at a truly authentic restaurant. I had enchiladas actually and they were fantastic. Then I played "planes trains and automobiles" again to get back to Minneapolis. Luckily I didn't have to wait on the deserted platform this time but I did have to search for some time in one of the subway stations to find the platform for the S Shuttle.
JFK was a treat unto itself. I had to pee from about the time I found the S Shuttle (in Brooklyn), so I was thrilled to find no bathrooms in the airport until after I got through security. The delta lady gave me the blues about the size of my carry on (which does fit in the little bag-size-check box, thank you). Once through security, I found relief. Then the monitors told me to go to gate 29 to wait for my plane. By the time I arrived, they'd switched me back to gate 1. (Where I started, on the other side of the terminal.) I feel about gate 1 about the way I used to feel about Concourse C in Cincinnati (a place so dreadful they finally just stopped using it). Then the plane was delayed. Then it was delayed again once the passengers were on it.
I think the bad mojo must have been around New York, or JFK in particular, because once we took off I was fine. It was a nice flight and my ride from the airport was right on time.
Thanks again to Mark and Irmghard for having me (and for showing me how to use Skype!)
Instagram
No comments:
Post a Comment