I left Saugus yesterday, later than I had intended, with more “stuff” than I intended, which shifted, so now that needs to be resettled.  I ate too light a breakfast, and my meds caused a reaction, so during the drive I visited multiple rest stops.  In Connecticut, I discovered how tight the rest stop was by scraping the fender of my van  trying to get between a gas pump and parked cars.
Getting out of the Northeast is not among life’s pleasures; driving in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey is congested and confusing. The cat wailed for a bit, but finally settled down.  The dogs were fine.

Once I finally got to the hotel, things improved.  I asked why my room was more expensive than prices on the Internet, and the clerk generously dropped the price by $40 each night–wow! The pet-friendly room is lovely. I am staying in North Bergen, NJ, where traffic and train horn sounds are a constant, until I take out my hearing aids.  Aaah…blissful silence. We settled in for the night.  Oreo was slightly unnerved and crawled under the sheets.  When I went to bed, she crawled over and wrapped a paw around my ankle.  I knew she’d be fine.  The dogs were well-behaved. I am so proud of my furkids!

This morning my hotel shuttled me to a Short Bus, which took me to the Port Authority, where I was able to catch a cab.  When I got out, there was Rosemary, on the corner, waiting for me. We hadn’t seen each other since just after my transplant, about seven years ago. Seeing her was wonderful! We went to brunch at a funky little restaurant, Cowgirls Hall of Fame, where I enjoyed fluffy cheese grits, catfish and buttermilk biscuits–heaven.

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There were cowgirls everywhere—even in the bathrooms.
Walking through Washington Square and through the Village, then to the Bobst Library, I don’t think we drew breath, we had so much to talk about. I took a few minutes to check out my blog while we were at Bobst.
From there, Rosemary brought me to the Stonewall Bar, the site of a piece of gay history.

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In fact, I had marched in NYC in 1994 in a 25th commemorative parade since the Stonewall riots, when gay and lesbian, transgendered and queer folk rioted against the police, who routinely raided the gay club. It was a seminal event in moving toward gay rights. (More on this in a separate post later, for those interested.) Neither of us had ever been to Stonewall, so we enjoyed a drink, and kept on talking. (Anyone who knows Rosemary and/or me knows that neither of us are ever at a loss for words.)

As we left, nothing would do but for me to clown with the serious looking lesbian statues in the park in front of the bar.

all too soon, Rosemary and I had to part ways, Rosemary to prepare for an Oscars party (she is an archival film researcher), and me to get back to the hotel and my furkids. Another first: I got to ride on NYC public transit. That was fun.

So as my second day comes to a close, I am, in the words of Simon & Garfunkel, ”dappled and drowsy and ready for sleep.”