Yesterday, we took the Tripper Bus up to New York for a day. The idea was to get here around noon, walk all over the city, stay over for a night, walk around a bunch more, shop for the perfect outfit for my upcoming high school reunion, then head back to DC Saturday night.
But hey! The best laid plans and all that!
We learned last night that the city was pretty much shutting down on Saturday, because Irene was on her way with plans to arrive and wreak total havoc on Manhattan Island. The storm is due to arrive on Sunday, but by early afternoon, all public transportation shut down.
So we decided to stay over for an extra couple of days and sort of hunker down.
I called blog buddy Mitch Hall after I read the great advice he gave in his second to last post - do your hunting and gathering, NOW! Our hotel has a cute little fridge, and we figured out that the local restaurants might shut down, so it was time to take Mitch's advice.
Luckily, the hotel is a couple of blocks from my favorite New York City landmark, Zabars. So off we went.
It was mobbed. New Yorkers, when facing a natural disaster, have a great approach to emergency preparedness. And today, we were New Yorkers.
By the time we left, looking like real New Yorkers with our Zabar's shopping bag, we were ready, with smoked fish, herbed salami, very serious Greek goat cheese, a major score from the Olive Bar, a fancy cork screw, a really cute sharp knife, some fruit, and on the way home, I scored a couple of really nice bottles of wine from a little "wine and spirits" store one of the Zabar's staffer's suggested.
So we are hunkered. I'm convinced that when the storm finally hits, it will not be as bad as they say. But that's all right. We're in New York, and we're eating like kings. Especially the Zabar's smoked fish and olives. Oh! My!! God!!!
My only regret is that all of the stores closed before I could shop for the perfect outfit for my upcoming high school reunion.
And Mitch! Let's get together for dinner tomorrow night!
