I had such an amazing time in NY that I forgot the PURPOSE of the trip was to leave my baby girl there!!!
*sniff* 
We left Thursday after work and made it up to South Carolina the first night. Amazing "Blonde Katie" made us a mother/daughter soundtrack for this trip I call the "Joy is in the Journey Roadtrip 2008." All I have to say is Katie has AMAZING taste in music!!!!!
The first place we tried to stop overnight, (south of Savannah) we were strongly encouraged by the gas station ppl to keep on keeping on for a bit more. It seems there've been a bunch of thefts/violence against travelers in those parts and our car was packed full o' back-to-school goodies ripe for the pickin... Steph brought a bunch of her instruments... guitar, drum, tamborine,etc. they were covered, but they were kinda sorta peeking out from under a blanket in the back... and the car topper on top made the car look like an over stuffed pinata!
Greatful for good intentioned advice from strangers, we pushed on to South Carolina.
Friday we got to my brother's in Virginia and met my beautiful neice Claire. She's sooo sweet!!! My brother and sister-in-law have done SUCH a great job in teaching her so far! She's just 16 months old. When she goes to touch something she shouldn't or climb someplace she shouldn't all they have to do us say "uh!" and she looks right at them, they shake their head "no" and she pouts the cutest little pout... tears well in her eyes, and... she obeys!
Saturday after breakfast we played w/Claire for a while and my brother hunted down some "learn Japanese" CD's he had promised my dad. One was a CD where one can learn Japanese to music! I asked for a duplicate so Steph and I could learn as we drove! So soon it was time to say good bye to the beautiful little family, and hit the road again.
We gassed up and once we were on the highway we bravely put on the musical japanese learning CD... HYSETRICAL times and... good learning!
Traffic from Maryland to NJ was a nightmare. ugh. But the company was amazing... and we had fun anyway... in 4 hours of 0-10 mph traveling.
Arrived @ Mom and Dad's Saturday night. Called when we were half an hour away... mom planned manicotti it was ready to pop in and dinner was fresh and hot when we arrived. (Mom's a genius. She always knows what to serve for what circumstance!) We were pooped... happy to tuck in early after visiting and talking about the time we spent w/beautiful Claire, Izumi and John.
Sunday went to Catholic mass and saw mom sing in choir. Steph took me to her favorite park... "Avalon." On the way we drove along some of the gorgeous streets that I used to peddle to the beach with Skippy... back in the day! Mom planned a family BBQ where we all had a nice visit.
Monday by dad's treat, Mom, Steph and I went out to the Hamptons for a yummy lunch. Steph's mind's eye saw the Hamptons as a place we should all be wearing large brimmed hats. So she asked Mom "Grandma" if we could each pick one of her big hats to wear that day. We had fun deciding which hat best matched our outfits... and were on our way. A lot of people head out that way to "star gaze" during the summer. I had tremendous fun pulling the wide brim just over my face as people passed... so they would wonder which star they had just passed!!! Lol!
 
Tuesday I went with Bill's sister "Cat" and her kids to "Splish Splash" I've never been there, it was built after we moved to FL. I expected it to be very similar to Wet and Wild or Watermania... the kinds of parks we have down here... fun, but primarily concrete and pools. I was sooooo pleasantly surprised!!!! Big shady trees were everywhere. Plenty of sunny spots if you wanted it but shade abounded if you prefered to stay covered. Skippy had called when I was out. I called her back. Turns out her job was requiring travel (to Vegas) and we wouldn't be able to see each other. Joe poked his head up to the screen making the "bop-oop" noise that makes him famous. When he heard Skippy was going to Vegas, "Hussy!" was his reply. (just like old times... some things never change! LOL!)
That night... Steph Joe and I went to Bella Luna. Pasta night. Yum. We were full after 3 bites! We were all so tired that night it was funny. At mom and dad's we each took turns resting our eyes while another spoke10 pm felt like 2am. We called it a night. Joe slept at his parent's (across the street) 'cause he was too tired to drive home. Lol.
(The weather everywhere we went, every single minute of the whole trip... was PERFECT!!! ... wish I could say the same for here in Brevard County! Fay really gave home a good soaking!!! As I type... boomers threaten, and Bruno's curled up by the kitchen table!)
Wednesday Steph and I were guests at my brother's beach house. Beautiful. (I got a sunburn... ouch!) I got to meet his special someone. Delightful! Joe managed to swap hours with a co-worker and made it out to the beach house... intending to catch a 10 pm ferry back. last ferry ran at 7. So Joe raced and changed everything, gave up his normal night off for 1.5 hours at the house on at the beach. Poor guy. Some kids were selling sea shells they had painted. "the little ones are 10 cents... the big ones 50 cents." Steph picked one that was so beautiful, she told them she wanted to pay a dollar for it. Made their night, and hers. Steph texted her friends... who suggested that Steph take a picture of the cute kids. So... we walked the boardwalk alllllll the way back to this port, and Steph got her picture... then we walked the boardwalks allllll the way back to my brother's house... just in time for one of his friends to say... "I think we should walk back to the port to see the sunrise."
I had just sat down... and said "ugh!" kinda loudly. Jim's friends laughed and said "why don't you tell us how you REALLY feel about it Mary!" lol!!! I explained that the walk is not a far walk. (really, it's not.) but... that walking on the boardwalk is tricky because it's really just wide enough for 2 people to walk, it's uneven in parts, and I'm adjusting to bifocals (which leaves the walking zone a complete blur) it's kind of frustrating to walk. I explained I LOVE sunsets and was happy to go. Sunset was beautiful... some ppl thought it was kind of a dud. not much color. I kept saying... "just wait!" after the sun hit the water... the colors splashed and spread through the sky so beautifully!!!. yay! worth the walk for sure!!!
Thursday Steph and I ferried back to Long Island and chased down our "official" birth certificates... because the wording on our originals (standard state of ny form during the years of our birth... complete with raised state seal) is confusing to the minds of the people at cruise ship terminals.
The Town that I was born is not computer savy yet... they actually had to go into this (dungeon looking) room and pull out the DUSTY 1963 book. They photo copied the page where my entry was made... and put a town seal on it. I don't know how the town seal will be more acceptable than the state seal... but we'll see.
We ran around long Island getting school supplies for noodles, and some gifts for some of the local neices and nephews, and I got to see Steph's Beautiful campus... with big beautiful windows... to see all 4 seasons in! yay! I met some of her amazing teaching staff.... and one of her friends who will be an RA this year. I passed a man whose face I knew... he taught at my high school... and was married to one of my english teachers. Small world.
Thursday night I treated my parents to dinner. It was nice... could have been nicer.
The family drama queen was the constant stream of family drama the entire visit. She seriously has me rethinking our planned visit for December. Mid week I called Billy to say that perhaps our planned 2 week visit should be a 1 week visit... and by the end of this week I was wondering if we should even plan to go up at all this winter. 
Thursday after dinner Steph and I took a train into NYC to visit my brother who had left the beach that morning to close on another Manhattan property. We had a yummy breakfast on the roof of his new building, Bianca Jager's "Jade".
Later Jim escorted Steph and me to China Town. I had always wanted to haggle there with a street vendor. And I did. LOL. My brother said I was ruthless, 'cause I didn't budge on my price. I told him my "secret" was ahead of time I determined what I'd be comfortable spending for the item... and ultimately really didn't care if I got the item. LOL! It didn't bother me at all to walk away. (and I started to walk away 3 times... before he eventually agreed to my price.) We headed back to Jim's apartment and took a cab to Penn Station.
On the train it occured to me that noodlie, my side-by-side companion for the last full week... would not be catching the plane with me that night. I looked at my sweet little all grown up baby girl
and my eyes welled up... and my heart overflowed. We texted love notes back and forth on the incredibly packed, and remarkably quiet train ride. From the back of the very quiet train a bit of yelling erupted. It was silly stressed people... strangers, yelling. A conductor intervened. I texted to Steph... "NY" she texted back... "Oh yeah, totally, Good times!"
Back on Long Island we visited with mom and dad a bit more before I flew in last night.
I gave my baby girl extra big hugs 'cause it'll be December before I see her again.
| 
the Blanket Fairy!
