Episode 75: July – September 2016
Highlights of the quarter:
- Visitors galore!
- July 4th in
Michigan;
- Weekend in Newport,
Rhode Island;
- Australia adventures;
- Neal visits Stillwater;
- Vacation in St Lucia;
- More Manhattan
adventures.
We’re now well-settled into New York life. Exploring all of the different neighborhoods
on our bikes has proven to be one of our favorite summer weekend
activities. Some of the highlights of
our adventures this quarter were a night out at the U.S. Open tennis (watching
Serena Williams lose); a visit to the City of New York History Museum; an up-close
and personal magic show at the historic Waldorf Astoria; a food tour of the Lower
East Side; catching a movie at dusk at Bryant Park; a visit to the Statue of
Liberty; and our first sailing adventure along the Hudson River.
We’ve been blessed with loads of visitors – we caught up for dinner
with Freedom, Jason and Isabella, who were visiting from Atlanta; had lunch
with Cecilia, Steve and the boys from Switzerland; saw Karen and Morgan
Fennesey-Ketola from Michigan; Jenni Dunn from Australia stayed with us for a
few days; and Jen, Anna and Alyssa Bowman came over from Texas and stayed with
us for a week. With Jen and the girls,
we got to be tourists in our own town, walking over the Brooklyn Bridge and
seeing the Broadway production of Aladdin. During another visitor’s stay – our friend,
Stephanie, who visited from Baltimore – we watched the play, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night,
and discovered some new restaurants. Neal’s
mom also came to hang out for a few days – she and Neal first visited family in
San Diego and then flew cross-country for a few days in New York. While Neal’s mom was here we caught up with
Neal’s cousins, ate at some great places (our favorite on the repeat list was
the Lower East Side Indian eatery, Babu Ji) and saw the Cirque du Soleil show Paramour.
We were lucky enough to see some great music concerts this quarter as
well. In July, we visited Neal’s uncle
and aunt in New Jersey and had a fantastic home-cooked lunch before heading to
Met Life Stadium to see Coldplay. Later
in the quarter, thanks to Neal’s tenacity, we were lucky enough to get tickets
to see Adele at Madison Square Garden.
Work trips took me to Mexico, Argentina, China and Singapore, and I
took the opportunity while on the other side of the world to drop into
Australia for a quick visit. I was able
to spend some great quality time with my mom, and also had the opportunity to
celebrate Nicole and Craig’s engagement with them and all our friends. Neal’s work travels took him to multiple
states (in many instances multiple states in one day), but he was also able to
spend a few days visiting his mom and grandparents in Oklahoma.
We spent the July 4th weekend in Michigan. It was a perfect summer weekend on the lake
with friends. It was also a great chance
to escape the heat of New York for a weekend.
We did that again in the quarter when we took a relaxing road trip to
Newport, Rhode Island. That was our
final adventure in my car, as shortly after that, we finally gave in to urban
living and sold the car. It will be
rental cars from here on!
Finally, the quarter saw us take some time out for us on the beautiful
island of St. Lucia. The all-inclusive
resort we stayed at made us not feel bad at all for doing nothing much more
than lay on the beach, read, eat and swim in the gorgeous waters of the Caribbean. We did manage to see a little more on our
small hike up a small hill to Fort Rodney and from the helicopter ride over the
island that took us back to the airport.
It was the perfect summer getaway.
We hope you had an enjoyable summer as well. Until the next time, take care!
