Ben and Kathy took a little road trip for Thanksgiving. We started off visiting old friends Tim and Beth in Upper Montclair. They cooked us a lovely trout dinner after we took a walk in the local park with Ginger, their elderly pooch. Ben had fun trying to tame their basement cat, Sadie (polite for Satan). Next day we went into Manhattan with Beth, visited Tim at Goldcrest Post, his workplace, and had Thai for lunch. After lunch we walked back to Port Authority with Beth, starting out along the High Line Park and continuing along the Hudson waterfront. We left Beth at Port Authority and checked into our hotel, the Candlewood Suites, highly recommended for price and cleanliness. In the late afternoon we walked down to Penn Station to meet Al & Carole's train and help them get their luggage back to the hotel. That evening we scouted around for dinner within walking distance and happened upon a great restaurant across the street from the hotel (thanks to Google Maps!). This is Mercato in Hell's Kitchen. Best italian food we've had since our Italian visit of 2009.
The next day we had a pleasant breakfast at the Hot & Crusty, staffed by folks who were clearly enjoying their work. Then we headed uptown to Fifth Ave take a look at the holiday displays in the stores.We also stopped in at St. Patrick's Cathedral, very impressive. After a quick lunch by the Rockefeller Center skating rink, we went to Radio City Music Hall for their Christmas Spectacular show. It really was quite good, although kitchy in many places, as expected. They had some very nice special effects and the Rockettes dances in perfect synchrony. We then hiked over to Times Square, had a drink at the R bar overlooking the hustle and bustle, then went to dinner at a little French place called Le Rivage. Also very good, though not as special, in my opinion, as Mercato.
Wednesday we had breakfast at the Tick Tock Diner near Penn Station and dropped Al & Carole there to catch the train to Albany. We headed off to Philadelphia to see Ross.
Ross's house is just across the river from the Philadelphia Art Museum and has some nice views of the city. One of his roommates had just acquired a new young cat, Steve, who looks remarkably like our cat Artie. We took a walk Wednesday afternoon, then on Thursday we cooked up the holiday meal, playing games between basting sessions, and also catching the Patriots' game on TV. In the vening we watched Hot Fuzz, which was quite amusing.
Friday we had lunch with good friend Renée and her cousin at Square on Square Chinese restaurant, then dropped Ross off and headed back to Bedford and our kitties.
We had a really wonderful time, though the scary thing is that we're beginning to like Manhattan...