Catching Up

I’m way behind. We’re already in New York. We all went to see the Broadway show Wicked last night. More on that later. After working on the fourth of July and getting through the whole network mess at work, I flew out to Philadelphia by myself Thursday morning. Blue Eyes, Lisa and the Little Guy drove up. Don’t ask why but I wasn’t about to spend over 14 hours in a car. Not this little gray duck.

Anyway, I landed Thursday morning and promptly jumped on a train that took me all the way to Lansdale (my hometown). Ron picked me up and we tried to see as many family members as possible while I waited for Blue Eyes to arrive. We visited Titi Patria, Tio Tito, who happened to be at her house playing dominoes and Tom came by too. We saw Titi Ema and Tio Manuel who were visiting Carlos. We visited Tia Pupe and Carmita and I got a chance to spend some time with Tio Gilberto. I was on visitation overload but it was great to see everyone. I had dinner with Ron and Roxane then he dropped me off at Jim’s house (my brother in law) to wait for the wife. We arrived at the same time. Have I mentioned she has a lead foot? Later on that night I picked up my boy and his fiancé from the airport and the fam unit was complete.

Friday we drove to Valley Forge and spent the day there. Many fond memories there. in our teens, Blue Eyes and I would go there and drive around looking for a good place to park where we would discuss the issues of the day ;-).

Saturday we spent the day at Bill’s house swimming and eating and eating some more. Ruben and his family were there along with Blue Eyes’ sister and her daughter from Chicago. It was a Teichman fest.

Sunday we drove into Philly and did the historic Liberty Bell, Independence thing along with a Duck Tour. Quite the adventure. Later on we hit Pat’s Steak in South Philly. Rocky says Yo.

Monday Jim took us out on his boat. He took us to a lake near Pottstown. Had a great time. Sunny and hot. I’m getting so dark Ron and I are lookin like brothers. Tuesday Adam and Sarah had to fly back home so it was off the airport again.

Our original plan was to take public transportation into NYC. It was the cheapest and most hassle free option. Since we planned on only staying overnight that option had to be discarded due to the length of time it took to get there and the time we had to leave to come home. We would’ve arrived in the city too late to really make it worth the time. So we rented a minivan and drove the two hours. Me and six women in a van. I had my iPod. Life was good. It was Laurie and Lisa, Barb and her daughter and Mary and her daughter.
We arrived around 12,had lunch and walked through Central Park. The weather was close to perfect. We returned to the hotel to get ready, had dinner (Alaskan Crab) and we were off to the Gershwin theater. The play was great. Hat tip to the three stooges (Kim, Cindy and Leslie) for the recommendation. Everyone loved it. We then walked Times Square till midnight then crashed at the hotel.

Thursday most the girls spent the day at Canal Street shopping while Blue Eyes, Lisa and I walked Central Park (perfect weather) and visited the The American Museum of Natural History . Great time. We then had dinner and headed home. We arrived at 8:30.Two hours. Perfect.

I know this has read more like a schedule but it's late and I'm tired. More thoughts on the trip tomorrow.