New York, the Finale

Saturday morning, we had an unexpected wake up from within the hotel. At 4:15, the fire alarm started going off. We both got up (Kris did a little sleep talking first) Kris checked out the hallways and I called the front desk and it ended up being nothing. It is hard to get back to sleep with that kind of noise though.

We then got up around 6:30 so we could get ready and check out. We headed to Penn Station and caught the trained to our very good friend Jason's house in New Jersey. I enjoyed the train. It was easy to get to, easy to use, and relaxing to ride on. (At this point, we have now traveled by every possible means. We had flown, ridden taxis, the subway, ricksaw, ferry, walked and train.) It took about an hour to get there.

Jason picked us up and I had to stop at a Dunkin' Donuts right away. I had not had one yet and when you are out east, you just have to stop there. The thing that stuck out the most while we were en route to his house was that, in New Jersey, to go left, you must turn right. Almost every interection has a cloverleaf.

Then we went to his house. He has a great place. We received a great tour and then just hung out. It was nice to just sit, relax and catch up. He took us to a local diner to experience some uniquely New Jersey food for lunch.

Jason's living room and the Outside of his house

I was tired and not feeling the best, so we went back to Jason's to hang out. That night for dinner, we went to The Prime Rib steakhouse (http://www.theprimerib.com/index.shtm) in Philadelphia. I wish I had been feeling better because it was such a nice place. I would like to have enjoyed it more. I had been looking forward to the conversation and environment.

The next morning we had a relaxing morning at Jason's. Then we went into South Philly for some CheeseSteaks. We went to Pat's King os Steaks. It was a cool experience. They have a particular way to order. They have directions posted and if you get it wrong you need to go to the back of the line. I was nervous because my stomach had been a little upset but it sat really well. (It turns out I just needed to eat more. We had been so busy and I had been so faciniated, I was not eating enough) You cannot miss it if you are in the area.

Pat's King of Steaks, South Philly

It was then time to head home. It was good to see the girls. They seemed to have missed us. Grace did not let go of either of us for quite a while. And Caroline gave us a run down all the goings on.