And It Doesn’t Get Better Than This

We lean over the window sill.  Jerry strains to see down to the street so we got a little step stool for her to stand on so she can see well.   We watch our unknown neighbors passing by on the sidewalks below going about their day.  Some of our best conversations happen here.

We were talking about our friends and what those friendships mean to us.  We are fortunate to have many very good friends.  Problem is….they are mostly in Texas and Oklahoma.  This summer we had company!  Some of our friends came to visit and we got a chance to show off our new town.  We loved it.

Tip and our friend Sal

Say Hi to Sal

Meeting friends in South Hampton

Sal is from New York.  He grew up on Long Island and comes home to visit often.  He texted, said he was in town and invited us to Long Island to meet up with him and his wife, Theresa.  We jumped on the LIRR and headed east.  Sal showed us the island.  From Ronkonkoma to the Hamptons, up to Montauk and back to Port Jefferson.  A different New York, and with Carvel’s ice cream!

4th of July

Joyce on our sailing excursion

Capturing the moment

Joyce came early in the summer and spent the 4^th of July with us.  We walked this whole city into the wee hours of night and sailed on the Pioneer clipper out to Lady Liberty.  We celebrated our nation’s birthday on the FDR Drive.  Literally sitting in the traffic lanes of the highway running alongside the East River watching the most elaborate fireworks display we had ever seen.  I’m afraid future firework shows will be…..”Meh”!

A late dinner with friends

Lunch at Cheers in Boston. The Travel Troupe

War Paint with my girls

Tip and Dave on the Green Monster – Fenway Park

The Travelling Troupe, David, Steve Ann and Karen, arrived in September. These are our travelling buddies!  We have been all over the country with them.  Although we spent most of our time in Boston, we caught Amateur Night at the Apollo, War Paint and Macy’s wooden escalator!  We got to show off our new town to them, too.  We loved it.

Vicki – Hudson Bay

Mary – on the Hudson Bay

Lunch with friends. Mary and Vicki

It was really fun when Mary and Vicki arrived.  They haven’t been to New York City before but that didn’t stop them from jumping in with both feet and going for it!  Over 7 days, they scratched off almost every item on their “to see” list, saw virtually all the major tourists sites, watched the Naked Cowboy in Times Square and mastered the MTA system.  We showed off our new town to them.  We loved it.  And they did, too!

Each of these weeks were special for us.  Not only did we have days and nights full of exploration, fun and laughter, we also had our friends.  And it doesn’t get any better than that.  We hope we have more times with friends in the days that come because we have a new town to show off and we love it!