Eating the Big Apple

Friends Jeanette and Dennis told us about the Croton-on-Hudson rv park that was a mile from the train station that takes you right into Grand Central Station. It was a perfect place to park although we did not spend any time there, other than to sleep. We got up early and made our way into NYC. I have several cousins that live there and had not seen any of them in a very long time. With very short notice, we were going to meet my 2nd cousin Pam, who I had not seen in 30 years, for dinner. But first we needed to hit Katz's Deli, a quintessential Jewish deli featured in the movie "When Harry Met Sally" - where I had "what she was having!" We only had time for one deli stop and most of the reviews I read agreed that this was the best. We got off the train and made our way to the subway to go to the "lower east side" - where my "people" settled. We figured the subway couldn't be that different from taking BART and we could figure it out and we did! We split a corned beef sandwich and, while eating, the owner came over to chat - super nice! At this point we had dealt with a few New Yorkers in person and both of us commented about how friendly and helpful everyone was - once they were off the road, that is!  

After lunch we made our way to the "upper west side" to go to Zabars...one subway hitch here as we got on an "express" train and flew by our stop by quite a bit! I have been wanting to go to Zabar's for about 10 years, when I was last in NY, and ran out of time.

Zabar's is the BOMB!! Bill was blown away, so much good stuff and all in one place! Cheeses and breads and deli meats and fabulous desserts, we had fun putting together some treats to take to his friends, Van & Peggy in Massachusetts, our next stop.

By this time we were due for some libations and found the cutest little restaurant bar, Nice Matin, on the corner of 79th & Amsterdam. My phone was running out of juice since we were using it so much for navigation and pics so I asked if anyone there had an iPhone charger - and helpful again, they found one for me. We sat there for several hours watching the world go by, entertained by a very friendly bartender, having some interesting drinks and a few delicious appetizers. We HAD to stay all afternoon just to charge my phone ;). 

We were meeting my cousin Pam a few blocks away and she had no idea what we looked like so I texted her this pic of us while we were waiting for her!

We finally found each other and it's a good thing I sent the pic because we would never have recognized each other on the street. We all jumped back on the subway and headed to Chinatown & Little Italy, her two fav NY neighborhoods. Pam has lived in NY since the last time I had seen her when we both lived in Los Angeles, this was "her" town and it was fun to see the city through her eyes. We spent a lot of time catching up on our lives and our families and after more food and treats we bid a fond farewell taking the subway back to Grand Central Station and getting to the train just as it was about to pull out...exhausted and satiated we found our way home.