Califoregon Living

Our last full day. I got up early and walked east to explore the Tribeca neighborhood. I was excited to discover Tom Collichio’s restaurant ”Wichcraft‘. I am a big TopChef fan, and Tom is a staple judge. I ordered the avocado toast with egg and it was delicious. Had to text my friend Heidi these photos to gloat.

David and Ryan wanted to stay in, so Alex and I went out exploring.

First stop, boba tea at Coco‘s.

We did a bunch of walking. Walked through the historic Stone Street, one of New York’s oldest streets.  

We walked to the incredible Fraunces Tavern Museum. The downstairs is a fully functioning restaurant and pub. It’s beautiful. Upstairs is the museum, including the actual room where George Washington bid farewell to his officers after the war and headed home to Mount Vernon. The museum also contained many historic items, including one of George Washington’s fake teeth. We were not allowed to take photos of the actual room, but could of the other rooms.

Restaurant and pub photos…my adventure eater enjoyed raw oysters and foie gras.
  

Walking back, we discovered some cool sculptures and cute shops…
    

Early morning day 7. Train back to PHL, then flight out and home the same day. Hugs.

Day 5 was spent recuperating after a very full evening before. We slept in, then walked throughout the financial district again.  New York pizza for lunch is always a must..

This is a really neat mall that is near the (9/11 memorial), the Westfield World Trade Center. We all walked through it and explored the incredible Italian market/restaurant extravaganza, Eataly
  

Walking across the Brooklyn bridge…

This was the last night to see family. They all flew out the next day. I took some photos of our last dinner together, but I can’t find them. I also can’t fins the family photos of our walk after. Here’s a couple of the city and of the boys though…
      

This is a cool photo of Ryan’s fidget spinner in action. It lights up and can play music too!

Wedding Day! The wedding wasn’t until late late afternoon, so we slept in and walked around the financial district.

Cute story. We were all dressed up for the wedding and waiting for our Uber driver to pick us up in front of the hotel. This little girl, with her mom and dad, come walking by us. The little girl stops, turns to me, spreads out her arms toward me, and says “HUG”. It was a simple command; not a request or question. I kneeled down and gave her a big hug. They thought she thought I was a Disney princess.  LOL! I did not think to get a shot of us together, until it was too late. So here she is down the road…

Pre-wedding photos. The wedding took place at the art gallery, Smack Mellon. It is located across a cobblestone street from a park that is located between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges. Here are a sampling of our family shots.

The wedding and reception were held in the same space. They had about 75 guests attend. There was a cocktail hour after the wedding, then a full multi course dinner, then dancing. Everything was beautiful and intimate, formal yet casual. A good time was had by all.

The cocktail hour included shots of aguardiente; paying homage to Sara’s Colombian roots. Everyone had their own shell cup that hung around their neck, a common tradition. You have to take the whole shot and can’t sip it.

The moms of the bride and groom…

The boys having fun with Charlie’s mom’s hat…

Sara has a rubber stamp of an artichoke that she stamps on all of her correspondence, gift cards, and wrapping paper. She has done this for years. So it was very fitting to have an artichoke as the centerpiece for her bouquet. So lovely!!

Number 9 is Sara and Charlie’s cat. Sara has had him for 17 years. He is a treasured member of the family and his image was on some hand held paper fans, custom m&ms in the wedding colors, and his own viewing station where guests could watch him sleep on his bed. It was cute.

We danced the night away to some of the best dance music we have ever heard at a wedding. So.much.fun. Turns out the DJ is a personal friend of Charlie’s from England. It was a late night and great memories were made.

Yay, we got to see family!! This was a magnificent day. The weather, the experience, the family, the friends, the food, the memories, all of it.

We met in Brooklyn at the Buttermilk Channel for brunch. I.LOVE.THIS.RESTAURANT! We were here a few years ago for dinner; this time for brunch. The food, service, decor,size, location, all terrific.

Since we had such a large party, we had to wait a while, and then were seated at different tables. It was all good though. We got to meet Charlie’s family from England and some of his friends that flew over as well. All stellar people. We also got to see our own family. Fabio and Esperanza from Seattle.  Margaret and Randy from Sandpoint. Paul and Shannon from Oakland.

This was pretty special to see. While we were waiting in front of the restaurant, there was a church across the street and down the road half a block. It was Memorial Day weekend, and as the service was getting out, a trumpet started playing ‘Taps’ outside. These sailors walking across the street immediately stopped and held the salute through the whole song. As soon as it ended, they lowered their arms, and went on their way.

(Almost) the whole gang inside the restaurant…
    

LOL! This is funny. Uncle Paul told the boys he saw a baby oppossum outside the restaurant. We all went to check it out.  Ummmmm, that’s not an opossum….. 🙂  

After brunch, we went to Charlie and Sara’s apartment. It overlooks the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. We then walked over and spent the afternoon in the garden. I took so many flower photos. So many things were in full bloom. It was gorgeous!

This is the lobby of their apartment and the view from their bedroom of the botanic garden..

An afternoon in a garden with some of my favorite peeps. Perfect day.

After a brief rest back at the apartment, we went to a neat place, Donna. Sara and Charlie had set up a full taco bar and margaritas (or white sangria, I don’t recall). We had a whole section set aside for us. It was a fun, casual night. We got to meet some of Sara and Charlie’s friends here. Very special