July 4 2014 Day 7

This was travel day.  We left in Vera's convertible and you can see how much extra space we had!!

A quick flight to Detroit and then on to Bloomington and we were home in the later afternoon.

It is hard without Watson and we will forever remember him.

Bye from this July 2014 trip - a great trip and some wonderful memories.

Our Bedroom

 

Barb cleaning out the pool for Jeff

 

Lots of room!!

 

 

July 4 2014 – Day 6

What a beautiful day it was when we got up late at 8:00am.  We were the only ones up in the house until Jeff came down at 8:45am for a swim and then he got ready for work and left at 9:30am.

It is so beautiful sitting around their pool in the morning listening to the birds and just relaxing.  A little later Vera came out and joined us.  They wake up a lot later than we do and of course their life style is very different also.

We left at noon and headed for Jeff’s office which is on the top floor of a beautiful office complex, saw Jeff’s office and said hi to him – then it was on to lunch.

For lunch we went to their Country Club, the Pine Hollow Country Club.  The grounds and club house were once owned by one of the Vanderbilt’s and it was spectacular!  After lunch, we toured the grounds and saw the very large pool, the tennis courts and some of the golf course.

Then we drove around the East Norwich area looking at huge houses before heading back to Vera’s house and some afternoon time in and by the pool.

At 7:00pm, Jeff got home from work and we took off for Brooklyn to their favorite Pizza restaurant called L & B Spumoni Gardens.  The place was jammed when we got there at 8:00pm after driving by Coney Island and the Boardwalk but they had called ahead and we got right in.  The service and the pizza were wonderful. 
 

After dinner, Jeff drove us about an hour to the base of the Brooklyn Bridge to go to a famous ice cream shop.  The problem was that we got there at 10:05, 5 minutes after they closed!

So by then it was time to go back to their house and since we all had to get up early the next morning, we all went to our rooms.

Tomorrow is our last day on this trip as we leave for home in the morning and Vera will drive us to the airport to say goodbye for now.

This has been a wonderful trip, first to Philadelphia and then to Jeff and Vera’s for some relaxation, fun and laughter and we did it all.  Jeff and Vera are very special people and we enjoyed their company and friends very much.  Of course it is special to have a live-in maid – it was like living in a resort.  And then there was the opportunity to spend time with their friends, Barbara and David and also with Jeff’s mom.  All-in-all a very special trip that we will remember always.

We will see them next on our February 28th cruise from San Juan.

Night from New York – see you in Merna!!

Barb leaving our bedroom

Jeff's office is on the top floor - right building

 

Pine Hollow Country Club, East Norwich, NY

 

Dinner - and yes we are happy!!

 

 

 

July 4 2014 - Day 5

Well the goal was to relax, enjoy and laugh with Jeff and Vera and that certainly was our day.

Ed was the first one up in the house and sitting outside by the pool, drinking tea and reading the paper when Jeff got up and went for a morning swim.  Then Barb got up, followed by the rest of the house.

We sat by the side of the pool after Jeff left for work and just talked until it was time to go for a drive with Vera.  She took us down to the ocean side and we drove from one end of Long Island to the other, stopping in the middle to walk on the new boardwalk.

Before we left, Vera introduced us to their line-in housekeeper, who seemed quite nice.  She has worked for them for over 20 years.

You could still see houses being re-built after the hurricane but the island has been 95% restored so it looked good.  Vera said that after Jeff retires or slows down, they would like to buy a place on the ocean and sell their regular home on Long Island – what a nice place to retire to.  The beach is very wide and in some sections, if you don’t live in the community, you cannot go on the beach.  This obviously keeps it from being overcrowded.

Then we went to lunch at a place called Jordan’s which is a restaurant but more importantly, a fish market, specializing in lobster.  Wow – what a place.

Next we went to the market for fresh produce and then to a Kosher bakery for bread and sweets.

After helping Vera put everything, we sat by and in their pool for the rest of the afternoon.

Jeff got home at 7:00pm and then at 7:30pm, we were joined by Barb and David Schlachter, another couple that we had met on a cruise and then cruised with again a couple of times.  We will also be with them on a cruise in March in 2015.  Fun people - and David also plays very good blackjack with us.

The meal was a combination of regular and kosher meals so we learned a little about Jewish food and meals.

Dinner started at 7:30pm and we finally finished at 10:30pm!  I don’t know how many courses that we had, but they were all Jewish based and delicious.  The housekeeper was still working cleaning up when we finally all went up to bed at 11:00pm and she never stopped during the entire meal service.

What a wonderful day we had with some special friends.

The beach and boardwalk

On the boardwalk

Ordering lunch

A 10lb live lobster

 

By the pool

 

 

Getting ready for dinner

 

Dinner

 

 

 

 

July 4, 2014 – Day 4

Our last day in Philadelphia started early and we were off to see the largest Catholic Church in town, the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul.  It was between Masses so we were able to walk around the entire beautiful church.

Then we took a bus to the Eastern State Penitentiary which was the first true Penitentiary in the country.  It was a prison where you were sent to do penance.  In other words, you were kept in a cell alone without any human contact for 24 hours a day.  It stopped being used as a Federal prison in 1971.  It was an interesting tour.

Next we took a bus to the historical section of the city to the City Tavern.  This restaurant was re-created on the site of the original City Tavern.  We split a pork chop that probably was the best that I had ever had – very thick and very tender.

We walked around to see a couple of old churches that we had missed, but they were closed when we got there and by then it was time to go back to the hotel and pack to leave for New York.

Our train to New York left right on time and Jeff and Vera were in the lobby of Penn station when we arrived. We had wanted to visit them ever since they had first invited us so this is a very special trip.

We first took Jeff’s car to their new city apartment.  WOW – was it really something.  It is on the East side, looking over the East River on the 4^th floor of this lovely building.  They totally gutted the apartment when they bought it and it is fantastic.

We took their car to a restaurant that they frequent, right in the heart of the entertainment district called Tony's.  A family Italian restaurant since 1957 that was wonderful.  Jeff and Vera knew the managers and the ownership so it was great fun.  We had a huge meal, drank some wine and just laughed and enjoyed each other’s company.

We then drove out to their lovely home on Long Island, met Jeff’s mother and their dog whose name is Puppy, sat around for a little bit and then everyone said good night.

We are looking forward to living their life with them over the next couple of days before heading home.

Night from New York and the home of Jeff and Vera – our two very gracious hosts.

the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul

 

Eastern State Prison

Inside a cell block

Jeff and Vera's apartment

A seafood platter being served family style

What's for dessert?

 

July 4, 2014 – Day 3

We woke up to a beautiful day – 68 and the sun was out and no clouds.  The first day it was terribly hot, yesterday was cold and raining and today looks perfect.

We started the day with breakfast at the Reading Terminal Market followed by a tour of the Market which was fun.  This market has been in place for 114 years and it is huge.   Our tour guide had written several books about cooking so she was very informative about the foods at the market.

Then we quickly hopped a bus to get to our next tour called Real Philadelphia Tour.  This tour was all about seeing Philadelphia from outside the historical sites.  We just happened to have the same guide as we did yesterday and that was nice as she spoke loudly and walked at a good pace.  Even though we walked 6.68 miles, it was a fun tour and it took 4 ½ hours.

One of the neat things that we went to was the home of one of the first major surgeons, De. Philip Physick, who is called the father of American Surgery.  His house was open and in it they had a lot of the instruments that he designed in the early 1800’s.

For lunch, we stopped in the 9^th street Italian Market and the people in the tour were on their own to find a place for lunch.  We ate in a place called Paisano and had a Paisano sandwich which was beef brisket, mayo with horseradish sauce, sharp provolone, pepperincino roasted tomatoes and a cooked egg all served on a wonderful Italian roll.  Then it was time to go back on the tour and we sure walked off the food!

Then we took a bus across the river to the Battleship New Jersey for a tour of that huge ship from a different generation.  It was fun but very exhausting going in and out all of the stairways and hallways. 

After the ship tour we took the ferry back over to the Philadelphia and walked to the ship Moshula for dinner. 

The ship is a 4 star restaurant on a 4-masked sailing ship.  What a great dinner we had.  Barb had a crab cake along with lobster mac and cheese as a veggie.  Ed had a huge shrimp cocktail and then a 9oz filet that was extremely good.  After dinner, we went to the top deck to watch the fireworks – what fun and a lot less walking then yesterday!  The fireworks were much better than last night.  New Jersey fireworks beat out Phillys!!

After the fireworks, we took a cab back to the hotel.  We were amazed in that the cab driver told us to take $5 off the total bill because he took a wrong turn.  We knew it, but couldn’t say anything because we weren’t sure, but he surprised us that he admitted it and gave us the discount.  That type of thing makes a person really believe in people and general honesty.

 Today we walked a total of 10.8 miles and yes, Barb's back hurts and  Ed's knees do also

Night from Philadelphia – tomorrow New York.

 

According to FORDORS one of the top 20 dessert stands in the US

The Italian Market - 6 blocks long on both sides

 

Lunch

Our ship for dinner

Our shrimp cocktail

Barb's crab cake

 

Ed's 9oz filet

 

 

 

 

 

Fireworks

Here are the fireworks from July 4th. 

They may take a moment to load - enjoy!!!

Tonight or tomorrow, I will post the fireworks from tonight, July 5th.

 

Here is the July 5th fireworks from New Jersey - they were better!!

 

July 4 - 2014 - Day 2

It is July 4^th and we first went to the Visitors Bureau to get tickets to go to the Dolly Todd Madison and Bishop Whites homes.  Our tour was for 1:30pm.

We walked around the area of the historical city that was devoted to homes and had fun looking in all of the windows.  When it was time to go to the 10:30am Tour of the Independence Mall, we found ourselves being sent around a couple of large blocks to get to where we needed to go.  The reason was Vice President Biden was going to speak at the July 4^th opening and all of the major streets were blocked off for his arrival.

We finally met out tour group at a new location and spent the next 2 ½ hours on a walking tour of the Independence Mall area seeing lots of historical sites and hearing about the history of Philadelphia.

After the tour, we went to the Dolly Todd Madison and Bishop White’s homes which were very interesting in that one was a middle class home (Madison’s) and the other was middle – upper class home – the Bishop Whites.  It was interesting seeing the difference in the two homes.  After that we went to the Betsy Ross home for a tour.

Next we went to the original Quaker meeting hall where they still hold their meetings.  We spent time with one of their members learning about the Quakers and I we were very impressed.

Next we took the bus to the two most famous Philly Cheesesteak places, Geno’s and Pats.  They are located in south Philly and are on opposite corners.  To see which was the best, we bought a sandwich at each and split them.  We both liked the one from Geno’s but decided that we had tasted enough Philly Cheesesteaks for our life!!

By this time, it was 5:00pm so we took the bus back to the hotel to change for the evening.

We took the bus part way to the fireworks and then walked the rest of the way, about 2 miles.  As we were entering the grounds, we found a food stand that was named Festival Foods!!  They had huge lines, but they didn't know how to move them. 

We found a perfect spot in a baseball field, watched people, listened to the music and waited for the fireworks to start at 10:30pm and they finally started at 11:00pm.  We both agreed that these fireworks were the worst of the cities we have visited – but it was still fun.  Then a long walk back to the hotel and time for bed as it is already tomorrow which is our anniversary.

Night from Philadelphia and we hope that everyone had a happy fourth.

Barb just looking!

 

Pat's Cheesesteak

Geno's Cheesesteak

 

The Quaker meeting hall

                                                               Festival Foods

July 4, 2014

Watson is always watching over us!

We had a very sad start to a much anticipated trip when yesterday a tragedy hit our home with the lost of our beloved dog, Watson.  Watson was 9 years old and unexpectedly, he died in the morning.  Barb heard him cry out at about 6am and by 7am he had passed away.  He will be very much missed as he was a major part of our lives.

For our July 4th trip in 2014, we are going to be in Philadelphia from July 3 until July 6 when we will take the train to New York and meet out friends, Jeff and Vera.  For years they have offered to host us and we finally are close enough to go see them.

We left the house at 4:45am for a 6:00am flight to Atlanta where we changed planes to Philadelphia.  The plane was right on time and we walked off the plane right into a taxi as we only had a carry-on each. 

The Marriott checked us in early and we un-packed quickly and headed by local bus for our first stop, the Independence Visitors Center where we picked up our tickets for the 2:00pm tour of Independence Hall.

After the tour, we walked over to the U.S. Mint and it was interesting; however, they were not producing any coins but did have some good displays.

Then it was back to the Marriott by bus where we then walked a block to the giant Reading Terminal Market – a giant enclosed market selling anything and everything food.  We had some samples and then a great pastry. 

Then it was over to the Marriott and dinner in the Concierge Lounge. We had planned to go out to eat, but here was no reason to do so when we could eat for free.  After that we headed back to the Visitors Center, only  6 blocks away, to see a couple of short movies about centered on Independence.  The movies were over, so we took the bus back to the Marriott, rested for a little and then back up to the Concierge Lounge for evening snacks.

The neat thing is the public transportation system is free for seniors – what a great savings.  The hotel is right on the main bus and subway line so getting around is going to be easy.

Since we have been up since 4:00am, we are going to bed early – but it has been a nice day. 

Night Watson – you are missed.

                                                                            Leaving

                                                         Part of Independence Hall

In the Market

 

 

WOW - powered sugar stuffed with strawberries!!

 

Dinner in the Concierge Lounge