vacation: Day 0 and Day 1
Jul. 28th, 2007 11:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
daidoji_giseiI flew to New Jersey on Friday to visit my best friend Karin and her husband Ami. I got no sleep the night before because with one thing and another going on this week I didn't have time to pack or clean beforehand and my flight was so early in the morning I decided I might as well give up and stay awake. Also, I can't read on a plane (I have the same problem with cars) so I could always take a few naps en route.
My flights went pretty smoothly, though there was some turbulence as we came into Newark. Karin was waiting for me as I came off the plane and we collected my suitcases after a brief hunt for one of them, which for some reason was piled next to the luggage carousel and not on it. On our way out to her car something in our conversation reminded me of the time Karin was taking me to the airport after a visit and she had forgotten to grab her purse, so she had no way to pay for the parking fees and I had run low on cash and didn't have enough to cover it myself. We finally had figured out a plan were I could pay it with my credit card at one of the parking kiosks inside of the airport and then she could take the receipt and run out to her car before the grace period expired. I reminded her of this and we then laughed really hard because that was the same trip where I had somehow managed to put her car into neutral when we were going down the parkway at 60 mph--and I wasn't driving. Strange, but true.
Karin lives some distance from Newark and neither of us had had lunch so by the time we got to her house we were both pretty hungry. We dropped off my suitcases and went to eat at a local diner which is only open during the summer because it has no walls. It has a circus theme and is shaped somewhat like a tent and the menu lists things like "Big Top Burgers". I had the crab cake and liked it a lot. Then we went grocery shopping because while Karin had decided that we should have dinner at home that night she hadn't decided on a menu yet. After eying the fish case for awhile we settled on the halibut, to be served with grilled asparagus and a salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, smoked paprika, cumin and Moroccan olive oil. It was all delicious.
Afterwards we watched a Japanese movie called "Kamekaze Girls", which was very, very good. It was about two Japanese girls--one who embraces the Lolita style and wishes she had been born in the Rococo era and other a swaggering biker-chick--who meet and become friends. Karin and Ami had raved to me about it before and it was just as good as they said it was. I'm pretty sure we'll be making remarks about the Rococo era all week.
Today we got a late start, because I slept until 10:30 am. For me 'sleeping late' usually means sleeping till 7 am, so this was really late. After I finally wandered out of my room Karin served us a delightful brunch of oatmeal with dried fruit and walnuts, with a side of seafood sausage. Did I mention that Karin and Ami share my interest in good food? And are great cooks? {Happily we also all like nature hikes and garden tours, because walking is good exercise.)
Afterwards we had to decide what to do with the afternoon. I proposed that we go shopping, because I had decided that I wanted to paint my fingernails. When you work in food service, nail polish is a no-no and I wanted to take full advantage of my vacation. Karin thought that this was a good idea and suggested that we also stop by the local kitchen-goods store so I could buy a flour sifter. She knew that I needed a flour sifter because I had previously explained to them about Gencon and Mint Madness Chocolate Cake. I ended up with three colors of nail polish (pale blue, pale pink, and burgundy), a study five-cup flour sifter, a citrus reamer, and a bottle of lemon oil.
Evening was largely given over to food: we had reservations for a multi-course dinner hosted by a kitchen supply store and bakery in Red Bank. It had, among other things, an appetizer made of salami made by chef himself, a salad of heirloom tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and black olive vinaigrette; stuffed scallop with watermelon-jicima relish, roasted chicken thigh with slices of fresh plum, and chocolate sponge cake with strawberries. Afterwards we went home and Ami made us some coffee diablo and we watched some old Rocky and Bullwinkle episodes. All in all it was a very soothing day.
Tomorrow if the weather is nice we want to go to Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. This is one of our favorite places to go to when I'm visiting because I've always been a plant-lover and after they got their house Karin and Ami started getting really interested in flower gardens. The weather forcast is calling for rain, but if it's only going to be scattered thundershowers we will probably chance it.
My flights went pretty smoothly, though there was some turbulence as we came into Newark. Karin was waiting for me as I came off the plane and we collected my suitcases after a brief hunt for one of them, which for some reason was piled next to the luggage carousel and not on it. On our way out to her car something in our conversation reminded me of the time Karin was taking me to the airport after a visit and she had forgotten to grab her purse, so she had no way to pay for the parking fees and I had run low on cash and didn't have enough to cover it myself. We finally had figured out a plan were I could pay it with my credit card at one of the parking kiosks inside of the airport and then she could take the receipt and run out to her car before the grace period expired. I reminded her of this and we then laughed really hard because that was the same trip where I had somehow managed to put her car into neutral when we were going down the parkway at 60 mph--and I wasn't driving. Strange, but true.
Karin lives some distance from Newark and neither of us had had lunch so by the time we got to her house we were both pretty hungry. We dropped off my suitcases and went to eat at a local diner which is only open during the summer because it has no walls. It has a circus theme and is shaped somewhat like a tent and the menu lists things like "Big Top Burgers". I had the crab cake and liked it a lot. Then we went grocery shopping because while Karin had decided that we should have dinner at home that night she hadn't decided on a menu yet. After eying the fish case for awhile we settled on the halibut, to be served with grilled asparagus and a salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, smoked paprika, cumin and Moroccan olive oil. It was all delicious.
Afterwards we watched a Japanese movie called "Kamekaze Girls", which was very, very good. It was about two Japanese girls--one who embraces the Lolita style and wishes she had been born in the Rococo era and other a swaggering biker-chick--who meet and become friends. Karin and Ami had raved to me about it before and it was just as good as they said it was. I'm pretty sure we'll be making remarks about the Rococo era all week.
Today we got a late start, because I slept until 10:30 am. For me 'sleeping late' usually means sleeping till 7 am, so this was really late. After I finally wandered out of my room Karin served us a delightful brunch of oatmeal with dried fruit and walnuts, with a side of seafood sausage. Did I mention that Karin and Ami share my interest in good food? And are great cooks? {Happily we also all like nature hikes and garden tours, because walking is good exercise.)
Afterwards we had to decide what to do with the afternoon. I proposed that we go shopping, because I had decided that I wanted to paint my fingernails. When you work in food service, nail polish is a no-no and I wanted to take full advantage of my vacation. Karin thought that this was a good idea and suggested that we also stop by the local kitchen-goods store so I could buy a flour sifter. She knew that I needed a flour sifter because I had previously explained to them about Gencon and Mint Madness Chocolate Cake. I ended up with three colors of nail polish (pale blue, pale pink, and burgundy), a study five-cup flour sifter, a citrus reamer, and a bottle of lemon oil.
Evening was largely given over to food: we had reservations for a multi-course dinner hosted by a kitchen supply store and bakery in Red Bank. It had, among other things, an appetizer made of salami made by chef himself, a salad of heirloom tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and black olive vinaigrette; stuffed scallop with watermelon-jicima relish, roasted chicken thigh with slices of fresh plum, and chocolate sponge cake with strawberries. Afterwards we went home and Ami made us some coffee diablo and we watched some old Rocky and Bullwinkle episodes. All in all it was a very soothing day.
Tomorrow if the weather is nice we want to go to Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. This is one of our favorite places to go to when I'm visiting because I've always been a plant-lover and after they got their house Karin and Ami started getting really interested in flower gardens. The weather forcast is calling for rain, but if it's only going to be scattered thundershowers we will probably chance it.
