Day 31 - Return to New York

July 7 - Kay spent the morning washing clothes, but just after noon we left the Hampton Inn in Braintree to start return trip, ultimately to Baton Rouge. First stop, New York City. I was supposed to have a doctor's appointment there, but the doctor's office manager called to cancel, saying that he couldn't do anything more for me than my doctor at MD Anderson could do, and that his surgical schedule required them to cancel non-critical appointments. The good news is that I didn't have to be in Manhattan for a 7 p.m. appointment and therefore we could enjoy a nice evening with our granddaughters.

After Kallie drove her short stint in Connecticut (we could only manage a parking garage for her during our short trip through Rhode Island) Kay took the wheel. She planned to turn it back to me before we reached the city, but bypassed the last service station and ended up driving all the way to Brooklyn (with Sac's expert help and my direction).

I took over for parking. We unloaded a few necessary items in front of the apartment before I started searching the neighborhood. My task was complicated by the fact that street cleaning was scheduled for 8:30 a.m. the next day for one side of the street. If I found a space on that side, I'd have to move the car again in the morning. I looked for a "Wednesday (street cleaning)" space so the car could stay put. Fortunately, I found a spot just two blocks from the apartment.

We ate dinner at a Spanish/Mexican restaurant just two blocks away. At my peril (and against suggestions) I chose Mexican over Spanish. My margarita was great, but the fajita meat was tough. I finished early, so Annabelle and I took a walk in front of the restaurant, which made the whole meal worthwhile.

On Tuesday morning we ate brunch at Tom's Restaurant, a Brooklyn neighborhood institute. Almost three miles away--too far for a walk, but Sac handled the trip easily. Tom's makes great breakfasts and provides personal service and little extras - orange sections and chocolate chip cookies. The place has been so respected in its community that rioters protected and bypassed it during the riots following Martin Luther King's assassination in 1968.

On to Pennsylvania and Citizens Bank Park!

Day Fourteen - Almost Crossing the Delaware

June 20 - After a cheesesteak lunch from Mike's Pizza in West Chester, we drove to my friend June's house in Bucks County, PA.

Our sightseeing expedition took us to Washington Crossing, PA where George Washington led his troops on a daring Christmas crossing of the Delaware River to attack the Hessian soldiers stationed at Trenton, NJ. I read a good bit about this campaign in John McCullough's fascinating book, 1776. We went to the top of Bowman's Tower to see the surrounding countryside, which has only recently been subjected to significant development.

We had three choices for dinner - five minutes from the house, 15 minutes (with trivia) and 30+ minutes in luxurious New Hope. I voted for trivia and the crew went along. Food at Calloway's was pretty good - trivia was not the attraction as only four players (three from our table) participated. I won the first two games and finished in Calloway's top ten for June. Kallie and Erin won the third game (about pop culture). Kallie gloated relentlessly.

Back at the house we tried unsuccessfully to photograph fireflies, which can't live in Louisiana due to the air pollution, or so Kay says. We then played Bananagrams, an anagramming/crossword game. My Scrabble skills made me tough to beat. June decided the game was "too intense" so we went outside to make s'mores. Kallie had fun playing with fire.

Today (Saturday) we're in Brooklyn at Jay (Kay's son) and Beth's house. We're getting ready to go to the Mermaid Parade on Coney Island. Beth made costumes for daughters Lilybeth and Annabelle.