Yesterday was a beautiful fall day in the lower Hudson valley. Late in the afternoon I suggest to the wife (NY Blondie) that we go to The City (translation - Manhattan Island). We drove down the Palisades Parkway and enjoy the Foliage ( leaves changing colors).
We crossed the George Washington Bridge and I remarked that traffic was very light, probably a result people staying home to discuss the upcoming presidential election. Any way we drove down the west side of Manhattan past the Intrepid Air and Sea museum toward our final destination, dinner in Chinatown.
We got a parking spot just north of Canal St. and walked eastward through throngs of tourists buying counterfeit handbags and Rolex watches. Weaving like an NFL running back we reached our dinner spot one of the last rice shops remaining in NY. The historic Wo Hop at 17 Mott St. We had a fabulous dinner of dishes only found in Chinatown. Full but not stuffed (with leftovers in a bag for our son who promised to walk the dog) we headed north to Little Italy for Cappuccino and desert.
Crossing Canal St at Mulberry we headed to La Bella Ferrara (not to be confused with Ferraras the tourist trap). Getting a sidewalk table we order our Cappuccino and Italian Pastry and mused about restaurants like Luna's (we had dinner there on our 2nd date a long time ago) were closed and gone. Then the topic of moving to the Villages came up and we talked about how much we were going to miss the spur of the moment trips to The City. We sat and talked and people watched till the wee hours (9PM). Walked back to our car for the journey north to Rockland County (45 minutes).
We have been doing this trip for over 35 years, the names of the restaurants have changed. The sights and sounds of NYC have varied but the companion and conversation has always been excellent.
Anyway that's how we spent our Saturday night, what did you do?
MZ
