When you plan a trip and purchase airline tickets and schedule time off from work several months in advance, you really have no inkling of what the weather is going to be like, aside from the season. It could rain the entire visit, and we would still be happy to visit our daughter & son-in-law, but in addition to the visit, I was eager to go into New York City. My previous visits had been limited to the confines of JFK International, La Guardia and Newark Liberty. Oh sure, you can see landmarks as you are flying in and out of airports, but to get the real feel of things, you have to be on the street walking amongst the people. Raining would make that suck.
I had no interest in driving into the city - trying to figure out where to park or worse, navigating through the sea of cabs, sightseeing buses, stretch limos and jaywalkers. So, we opted for the sensible way to enjoy different views of New Jersey and to avoid the aforementioned traffic issues in NYC; we took the train.
We drove to a NJ Transit station in Bordentown, a really neat little place worthy of a walking trip to visit the tree lined main street full of shops and well maintained older homes. If I had been blindfolded and dropped off in the center of this town, I'm pretty sure I would have never guessed I was in New Jersey, and that I blame on the stereotypes we see on TV. We were prepared for rain since the areas south of us were getting nailed with storms, and it looked like by afternoon, we would be getting wet.
The short trip from Bordentown to Trenton passes right through three or four contiguous state parks. From seeing recreational boats in the canals to swamp lands, the view is green and wide open. Aside from a few scenes in The Sopranos where people were taken out into the sticks to be disposed of, this is a different view than what I expected.
We switched trains in Trenton to make the roughly one hour ride into New York's Penn Station. From what little we could see of Trenton, it looks pretty nice - of course, we saw roughly one full block of the city, walking across the street from where one train dropped us off to go inside the station. Who knows, the place could be a dump just around the corner. 
We got onto a double decker train taking the lower seating section. As we would pass through each station, I was just above eye-level with the platform which gives a view of how close the train slides by just inches from the wall.
And during the ride, it was amazing how the view changed almost like the click of a light switch. Finally, I got to see some of the rundown, ugly wasted buildings I had expected more of. Yippie! But the scenery really did change, typical of any place where some sections of town are really beautiful, some places are just run down, and other places are fairly bland. It would be just the same if you drove from one side of the country to the other and never once got off the interstate. You only see just that small sliver on either side of the road, but never get a good feel for what lies just beyond. And that was why I wanted to actually get into the city to see New York first hand.
Pulling into Penn Station, the last half mile or so is fairly dirty and ugly. You come from a tunnel into the train yard and it just isn't pretty at all. My wife was pretty much ready to simply sit on the train and let it take her back to New Jersey without even getting off to see anything. 
Thankfully, inside the station is much nicer! And that is where I'll leave off. More later on Times Square, Central Park, Lady Liberty and such.
On Sunday morning we decided to eat at my daughter's favorite breakfast place, the Garden State Diner at Tilghmans Corner in Wrightstown, NJ. 
We were in for a treat, both in the food and the entertainment from a little boy seated at the table next to ours.
If your only exposure to the state of New Jersey is through the stereotypical portrayal of mullet-haired city boys saying "How you doin'", then you would most likely be listening for certain accents and sayings. In reality, I've been to northern Jersey and now here in Wrightstown, and have yet to find something or someone typical of what you'd think of as New Jersey based on the stuff you see on TV. We did get a "What would you'se like?" from our waitress, so that was enjoyable.
Aside from that, we may as well have been in flyover country.
The Diner seems pretty typical of older family style restaurants in appearance. I'm guessing this place looked the same a decade ago - or even a few decades ago. If it is good enough for the Rotarian's, I'll give it a try.
We showed up hungry, and it's a good thing; no such thing as small portions at the Diner. I ordered a plate of pancakes, eggs and sausage links. The pancakes were fluffy and huge. The sausage was an unexpected surprise. The links were not the type you find at Denny's or IHOP; these were large and really, really good. 
My wife got a waffle with strawberries which were fresh and tasty. She ordered a side of bacon expecting to get two pieces. Instead, she got a plate full which I was happy to assist her with.
My son-in-law ordered up a huge omelet with hash browns. You won't go hungry here.
As we all worked on our massive platters of food, a family settled in at the table next to ours. There was an older kid, possibly 18 or so, a mother and father, a little kid maybe 3 or 4 who made not a peep, a little girl who was also quiet and then there was Andrew.
I have on occasion felt like I was being set-up for one of these prank shows - you know, Candid Camera, Punk'd or Howie-do it - where people in a seemingly normal environment are suddenly exposed to something bizarre. The focus is less on the out of normal character but on the reactions to the people being tricked.
What drew all of our attention to Andrew, this kid who appeared to be 7 or 8, was a loud and clear, "What the Fuhhh?" I looked directly at the mother just waiting for the beating to commence, but nothing. It was as though he had said please or thank you, because she had no reaction at all. Everyone at our table sort of looked at one another with nervous smiles. Perhaps it was the 18 year-old who had thrown his voice.
A waiter was taking their order and had not even made his way around the table to get everyone's order when little Andrew pipes up with "Where is my apple juice?" The mother looks at him and tells him the waiter hasn't finished taking the order yet, to which Andrew responds, "This waiter is too slow." then immediately starts chanting "Hurry-up, hurry-up, hurry-up." Reaction from the parents? Not a thing. I fully expected the father to reach across the table and strangle the kid, but he never even moved. I suspect he was a deaf mute (not that there is anything wrong with that).
Oh, and speaking of the father. Andrew was coloring on one of the little kids meal worksheets they give out to keep little brats occupied when apparently, he somehow colored out of the lines. He looked directly at his father sitting across the table from him and yells, "Look what you did; it's all your fault!" He then crumpled the paper and threw it on the floor. The mother calmly got up and picked up the paper and tries to straighten it out. Andrew then grabs it from her hands, and rips the paper in shreds and yells, "You're not the boss of me, old lady." My wife instantly began reaching for her chankla out of motherly instinct. I immediately started looking for the Candid Camera. Andrew's mother quickly responded to the situation by saying, "I am not an old lady."
Just beautiful.
For fine food, huge portions and extremely enjoyable entertainment, The Diner in Wrightstown is a Tasty Treat. I can't wait to try it again, just to see who sits next to us.
My daughter lives less than an hour from the city of Philadelphia so it was a natural that we would take a drive in for something good to eat. Though she had not been there before, several friends suggested a place called Tony Luke's for the best cheese steak.
I checked out the Google to do a pre-inspection of the menu so I would feel like it was being rushed once there. Additionally, I found a few reviews of the place that helped things out.
As expected, parking was pretty interesting. TL is located right next to a highway overpass, so they have some parking under that bridge. We parked there, but some people felt more comfortable parking their cars in the middle of the street. I guess.
This place is more like a walk-up stand instead of a restaurant. You walk up and join the crowd milling about waiting their turn to order, or waiting to have their name called to pick up the order. The menu is posted across the front leading up to the single window where you give your order. 
The line wasn't that long at all, and total wait time from the time we got there, ordered and got our sandwiches was maybe 20 minutes. And luckily, we timed it to where we were able to get a table to sit at.
I was the only one in our group to go for one of the specialty sandwiches. I ordered the Uncle Mike which is described as sharp Provolone, sweet, hot peppers, red gravy, fried onions, spinach, and broccoli rabe. I don't even know what rabe is, but it was great on the sandwich. The bread was soft and delicious. And as you can imagine, it was messy. I didn't need just a bib; I could have used a raincoat. I ended up trading half of it to my son-in-law for half of his regular cheese steak. He ordered his with steak and grilled onions, not nearly the messy affair as the Uncle Mike. 
My wife and daughter shared a regular cheese steak with steak, cheese and nothing else. But they also got some curly fries loaded with cheese wiz. 
By the time we all finished, everyone was pretty much ready to walk it off. And a good thing. There was a family politely hovering over us ready to take our table the minute anyone showed the slightest sign of being ready to get up. If you don't want to feel rushed, get it to go.
Anyway, good stuff. But we are gonna have to try somewhere else just to make sure I get the cheese steak fill I need while we are close by.
Thursday, I had need to hit the downtown office and decided to take a few pictures of the water, green as it is, now flowing through the section of new river walk I've been following for a while. The location of my interest is at the McCullough Street Bridge near North St. Marys.
This is a little video of the water in action.
And to see all the pictures from start to finish, be sure to check out the set available on the Flickr Page.
My wife and I made the short trip... Okay, not so short trip to New Jersey to visit our daughter, son-in-law and grand-dogs, and we had to check out their very favorite place to eat, Yordana's in Wrightstown, just outside of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, or as the locals call the place, McDixHurst. I'll let you come up with your own pronunciation...
After a day of travel, we were somewhat famished and my daughter had just the cure. They keep this place on speed dial and call in for to-go orders all the time. And now we know why.
My wife, of course went for the Italian Calzone and it was huge and good. With a little help from me, she ate maybe half of it.
We ordered up a large pepperoni, sausage and mushroom pizza to share. It was outstanding.
My daughter's maid of honor was in town for the weekend and she ordered up an individual pepperoni. Okay, think medium sized pizza.
Finally, since I was in a mood to try it all, I ordered a plate of wings for the group of us. I ordered the medium, and they were mighty warm in a good pica way.
There was simply so much food, we ended up bringing almost half of it home in multiple boxes. Sounds like the making for a serious tasty snack later. We could use a Yordana's in San Antonio, because it is definitely a Tasty Treat.
We drove to a NJ Transit station in Bordentown, a really neat little place worthy of a walking trip to visit the tree lined main street full of shops and well maintained older homes. If I had been blindfolded and dropped off in the center of this town, I'm pretty sure I would have never guessed I was in New Jersey, and that I blame on the stereotypes we see on TV. We were prepared for rain since the areas south of us were getting nailed with storms, and it looked like by afternoon, we would be getting wet.
The short trip from Bordentown to Trenton passes right through three or four contiguous state parks. From seeing recreational boats in the canals to swamp lands, the view is green and wide open. Aside from a few scenes in The Sopranos where people were taken out into the sticks to be disposed of, this is a different view than what I expected.
We switched trains in Trenton to make the roughly one hour ride into New York's Penn Station. From what little we could see of Trenton, it looks pretty nice - of course, we saw roughly one full block of the city, walking across the street from where one train dropped us off to go inside the station. Who knows, the place could be a dump just around the corner. 
We got onto a double decker train taking the lower seating section. As we would pass through each station, I was just above eye-level with the platform which gives a view of how close the train slides by just inches from the wall.
And during the ride, it was amazing how the view changed almost like the click of a light switch. Finally, I got to see some of the rundown, ugly wasted buildings I had expected more of. Yippie! But the scenery really did change, typical of any place where some sections of town are really beautiful, some places are just run down, and other places are fairly bland. It would be just the same if you drove from one side of the country to the other and never once got off the interstate. You only see just that small sliver on either side of the road, but never get a good feel for what lies just beyond. And that was why I wanted to actually get into the city to see New York first hand.
Pulling into Penn Station, the last half mile or so is fairly dirty and ugly. You come from a tunnel into the train yard and it just isn't pretty at all. My wife was pretty much ready to simply sit on the train and let it take her back to New Jersey without even getting off to see anything. 
Thankfully, inside the station is much nicer! And that is where I'll leave off. More later on Times Square, Central Park, Lady Liberty and such.
