Let the Festivities Continue

Arriving home from the birthday festivities in Jersey City that had followed our long days driving east, we were ready to nestle in for the weekend, but life had other plans.

On Saturday night, we heard music outdoors.  At first thinking it might be a neighbor --- which never happens for us but happens almost every afternoon for our neighbors when I'm in town --- we eventually realized it was live blues from somewhere more distant.  Julie looked online and found that the Haverford Music Festival had been rock 'n' rolling through the day just a few blocks away, though obviously at lower volume settings.

Featured headliner Joe Louis Walker apparently had permission to turn his amps up to stadium rock volume.  Fortunately, he is very talented, so talented that I found myself putting on my shoes and jacket to walk over and check it out.

Inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2013, JLW's performance on rhythm and blues songs along with the band's versatility and music choices brought to mind Tommy Castro & the Painkillers, who put on an amazing show in Big Sky this summer.

The performance was so strong that I stayed through the final encore call, though by the end of a two hour concert, any singer's voice might get a bit ragged, even if he wasn't born in 1949 like Joe Louis Walker was.

The next morning, we walked to church, and we were back in our Haverford Township groove.

Gina often reaches out to keep us engaged in life rather than cocooning at home.

She suggested a pop-up beach party on the lawn by their condo for the next Friday evening.  I brought my guitar, much as I used to do when I was 21 years old and would go to bonfire beach parties in Huntington Beach put together by my old friend and fellow Neil Young-inspired folkie Sam Cracchiolo.

Gina selected appropriately named snacks for the beach theme: Pepperidge Farm Gold Fish crackers, Ocean Spray Juice Pouches, Swedish Fish candies and seaweed crackers.  Plus, she purchased a festive pirate shark balloon just to make us smile.

While in Jersey City the prior weekend, Amy had said she would like to join us for our second annual Labor Day Party in Ardmore, but she decided it would be too hard to take the long train rides with her broken ankle.  Her disappointment was doubled because she said she was finally ready to finalize remaining wedding plans (the wedding that was delayed due to her untimely roller derby accident).

Sweet, accommodating Gina said she would take the train to Jersey City on Saturday to make that wedding planning day possible.  Gina justified Amtrak tickets by working both ways while in transit and skipping a pricey hotel stay by going only for the day.

Gina's decision to make the trek motivated Julie and I to un-nestle from our home and drive to Jersey City for the day ourselves.  We arrived an hour before Gina, meeting Amy at Dream Vista Cafe, a charming eatery with a large outdoor deck where we found Amy working at her laptop.  She had copies of spread sheets to discuss various wedding items to be addressed, which we discussed.

We had only eaten bananas that morning, so I arrived hungry and ordered a sausage and cheese omelet.  It was light, fluffy and delicious, and the buttered baguette toast was the perfect crunchy accompaniment.

When Gina texted that her train was approaching, we walked back to Amy's condo to meet Gina and gather up Lukas to go to lunch.  Unfortunately, both elevators in Amy's building were on the fritz, so Amy wisely decided against hobbling up and down nine flights of stairs to change clothes and drop off her laptop.

I was about to walk to the car to store her laptop and some wedding votive candles that Julie had brought along as samples when I realized I could just scale the stairs to drop them where they belong.  By the time I made it to Amy's floor, I was ready for a short break, so I rested while watching the conclusion of a Bundesliga soccer game with Lukas before walking back down.

Light Horse Tavern could not have been a better choice for me.  The Revolutionary War era decor, complete with Betsy Ross American Flag hanging outside its door, suited me perfectly.  Their terrific brunch menu included a Fried Egg Reuben (yes, exactly how it sounds) that tempted me despite the fact that I had just finished a large breakfast.  The prices are quite reasonable, especially so close to expensive Manhattan Island.

I hope we can return another time for brunch so I can order that brunch Reuben, but on this day, I just had a Guinness, which was poured perfectly and tasted delicious on a warm, sunny day.  Everyone enjoyed their meals. Lukas ordered that Fried Egg Reuben and gave it thumbs up.

I came away from this and our prior weekend visit to Jersey City thinking anyone would be crazy to live in New York City when this fantastic historic downtown area is just a short metro train or ferry ride away.  I wouldn't drive to or around NYC if I could avoid it.  Jay's experience the prior week during rush hour confirmed that.  As you may surmise, he said between traffic and one way streets, it was frustrating and ate up valuable time.

After lunch, we got around to checking an important item off Amy's wedding to-do list: buy wedding rings.

She and Lukas had already picked the store, Love Locked, so it was just a matter of making the final choices from top contenders and finishes. They will go with simple gold bands with brushed finish that are created by a magic jeweler at an apothecary shop, or at least that's how it seemed to me.

From there, we dropped off Lukas to run a different errand while the rest of us drove off to thrift stores in the suburbs to find vintage off-white dishware and clear glasses, which they wanted for their reception, keeping with the feel of the ceremony in restored Shaker ruins in upstate New York.

Lukas ordered two huge, savory pizzas from Tony Boloney's --- one pepperoni and one vegan --- for us to eat at Amy's, after which we headed home while there was still a half hour of daylight to make it out of the city.

Even then, our celebrations that weekend were far from done.

Julie and I went to church the next morning and were doing our regular routines, reaching the point where Julie had her afternoon coffee while I played my guitar on the deck, when Gina called to say they were in the area doing back-to-school supplies shopping.

They came by for an impromptu happy hour, making final plans for our second annual Labor Day Party the next day.  

Julie cooked a delicious pork roast and put out bowls of fresh vegetables to build our own salads (always a favorite with our family), while I added extra ham to Bush's Original Baked Beans and put them in the oven along with the roast.

I was going to barbecue fresh ocean scallops, like we had the prior year, but the ones at the butcher's counter had been previously frozen and were priced at $27.99 per pound --- presumably in support of Ukraine? --- so I skipped those and splurged for Breyer's Carb Smart Mint Fudge Cookie ice cream instead. 

Gina, Laszlo and Emma arrived with a spinach and pepper quiche that Emma had created.  It still needed some extra cooking time, so we put it in the oven while we started eating the rest of the meal.

After our well-balanced, tasty mid-day dinner, including the quiche course, we rested, and Emma used the time to give her dad a hand-drawn smiley face tattoo.  

We also took a walk around a nearby posh neighborhood, returning for a rousing game of Tripoley, from which Emma emerged as a come-from-behind victor by measurement of chip stacks after Julie and I had already lost all our marbles...I mean chips.

The leftovers stayed with us, and I enjoyed that quiche for lunch the next day.

How blessed we are to live such a wonderful life and have such a wonderful family?  Thank you God!