We had no plans, other than a dinner tonight, and as we are winding down we weren’t in a huge hurry to get out and about. We did, however wake up very early. I was up at 4:00, and Dan was a bit later than that. We definitely haven’t adjusted to the time change.

After continuing my streak on Wordle, playing Connections, playing Sudoku, and reading a bit of news (but not too much: it can so easily ruin one’s day right now), I got up and made myself an exciting Nespresso cup of coffee. (Yes, we not only have coffee and tea up on the 27th floor, but we have Nespresso in our room.) Sadly they only offer that not-milk creamer stuff so I’ll get my cappuccino a bit later.

I did receive an email that appeared to be from the DMV that said this:

California Department of Motor Vehicles

Dear Customer,

Our records indicate that your vehicle registration payment is currently overdue. Immediate action is required to avoid late fees or registration suspension.

Please review your registration status and submit payment as soon as possible using the secure link below.

Yeah, right.

But of course I had to check to be sure I hadn’t somehow forgotten to make a payment because a few years back I actually had forgotten and while we were on a trip in Death Valley I had to quickly pay, including the late fee. And no, I did not click on the link. I just signed in to my account and, sure enough, nothing is yet due. (I have a list of when things will be due on an Apple Note, so I could have just checked that!) These scammers are just getting more and more scary, if you ask me.

But enough of that! Next up was getting some sort of breakfast rolls or pastries from a nearby spot, and then taking those up to the 27th floor to enjoy our coffees (yes, second cups) and the view. Look … health food!

We sat upstairs for a bit and a bite, and then went back down to figure out what we were doing. We agreed doing the High Line would be fun, so off to the train we went.

Once we reached our stop we then had a short walk to the High Line. The day was quite lovely. I brought my umbrella just in case, but so far it looked like it wouldn’t be necessary.

The last time we did the walk it was winter. This time flowers were blooming and the trees had leafed out. It really was beautiful. It was also crowded with people — it’s a very popular spot for tourists: I don’t know if locals use it all that much. I managed to use my Fuji camera a good amount since I had my macro lens on. We’ll see what turns out when I get home because I don’t bother looking at things on my iPad.

When we reached the end we went down to the street level and we figured it was time for the lunch search. It wasn’t quite noon, but we know how long it will take us so it was a sure bet we wouldn’t eat until after 12:00.

First we walked to past a number of places very close to the Whitney. I’ve decided the closer to a museum, the higher the prices and not necessarily the better the food. So nope.

While we walked around Dan pointed out a man saying, “My camera is packed so you can take it!” Well, that man noticed I was taking his photo and posed and then said, “Do you know who I am?” Of course we didn’t. He said to google “Mayor of Meat Packing District” and, sure enough, there he was! His name is Roberto Monticello and when I read an article about him later I was extremely sorry we didn’t stay to chat longer. He sounds like quite the man. In any case, he was delightful, witty, and we were so glad to have seen him, and I was relieved that he not only wasn’t annoyed that I took the first photo, but let me take more!

Then it was Chelsea Market. It was totally overrun with tourists and so noisy. We knew it wasn’t the option to choose.

Years ago, when we had visited the Whitney, we ended up lunching at Tavern on Jane, so we walked over there and had a nice lunch. I would tell you I ate too much, but I always say that so I won’t tell you I ate too much this time. Aren’t you glad I’m not telling you that?

Once finished, we decided to go back to the hotel. As I stood outside waiting for Dan, I saw this woman. Earlier someone was interviewing her. I haven’t a clue who she is, but maybe someone else does.

Dan has a bit of a cold and a rest would do him good, and that also allowed me to start this blog entry. We got on the L, got off too soon, and had to figure out what in the world we were doing, but we did manage. As Dan said, it wouldn’t be a trip to New York without making a train mistake at some point. Our exit is Grand Central/42nd street and then it’s an easy walk to our hotel.

After the rest and blogging it was time to head down to meet up with Brandon and Jameson, so off we went. After one mishap with our trains we did manage to get to down to Union Square (but really should have gotten to Bleeker St.).

Eventually, after a less than one mile walk, saw Brandon and Jameson at a place called Figaro where we enjoyed one another’s company and had drinks. Then it was on to Ear Inn where we had snacks and some had drinks while other of us had the non-alcoholic sorts (I can only handle so much, after all!). At Ear Inn Timothy and Margaret arrived, and only shortly after Meghan came as well.

And, finally, we went to Houseman’s for dinner, where we completed our family with Lia. We all made our orders, including some bites before the mains. Everything was so very tasty. I had mentioned to our server that we were celebrating two birthdays, so candles were on some brownies and we serenaded them.

We shared a car to our hotel and their home with Brandon and Lia. It was a longer ride than expected because the driver started to take us to west 45th rather than east and we had to then get through the Times Square area, but we eventually made it back. We are both pretty exhausted, but we are up later and I’m hopeful that that will mean we sleep better tonight. We’ll see!

For now, goodnight. Tomorrow if our final full day here. I’m not sure I want to get back to reality!