Going home...

On Friday the adorable husband slept in while I did some writing, then we did some yoga (see Monday's post), and afterwards headed down to Gramercy Tavern at 42 East 20th Street, near one of my favourite places to stay back in my single days, The Gramercy Park Hotel - albeit I understand, and from the web site it looks true, that it has been remodelled and ‘modernized’, which is a shame as its charm was in its old world décor.

I was so impressed with the floral decorations at Gramercy Travern that I asked for the name of the designer - Roberta Ben David(who is so fabulous "she's not taking new clients"). I love fresh flowers but it is so difficult to decorate a space like that without overdoing it or understating it. Our waiter, Dennis, was a charmer and entertained as well as serving us. He and the adorable husband hit it off as is shown by the fact that well into his second (perfect) martini, as I was wrapped in the cosy warmth of my second glass of 18-year-old MacAllan whiskey he said, “I bought her two glasses of the most expensive whiskey you have and I already got lucky this morning.”
Dennis, without missing a beat said, “That’s true love.”

The food was marvellous. I had the sea bass with a sauce of walnuts and something that was so good it made my toes tingle, or was that the whiskey? The adorable husband had the special - some kind of soup and the roast beef sandwich. We had the "Pumpkin Whoopie Pies" for dessert, and it was so very yummy!

After a long, relaxing, and delicious lunch we made our way over to The Strand. Wow. What fun. It would take days to give this place its proper due but I managed to find a couple of Science Fiction novels I wanted and a Stephen King book that I’ve been meaning to get to, along with some of the canvas bags that Q told us are all the rage (a dated phrase for sure) now in New York City. “Oh yes, some people leave their Kelly bag at home and use the Strand’s canvas bag to show they are ‘cool’.” So now I’m set even though I’ve never understood the rules for ‘cool’. I want a couple of days to dive into their Military History section that Q had already scoped out for me.

Back at the hotel we did some more yoga then the adorable husband had a nap while I packed. He hates to pack. Saturday morning J went down for café while I got ready to go back to Texas. By eight thirty we were in the taxi headed for La Guardia and much to our surprise the same four ministers (see 14 February) that accompanied us from Houston to NYC were returning on the same flight in the same seats! Fred, the minister seated by me, and I continued our conversation recalling memories of Britain – everything from old television shows (I’m more conversant in BBC than American television) like Are You Being Served? to Dame Judi Dench’s old show that ran for ages – As Time Goes By; to our mutual enjoyment of Science Fiction – he actually knew who E.E. ‘Doc’ Smith was and knew of The Lensman Series; and I know who Dr. Who was, and is at present.

Landing in Houston we needed the a/c on the ride home – ug. We both apparently had the post-vacation let down, as I, after unpacking, couldn’t keep my eyes open and the adorable husband slept in Sunday morning before going out for cafe' as it is no longer served downstairs.

It was a grand week and I will be happy to go again next year. Meanwhile back at home, the refrigerator has died. It was ill before we left and I was looking for Consumer Reports advice on what to buy; now speed is imperative.

Larry King is interviewing HIs Holiness the Dalai Lama tonight.

Ciao