Adventures in New Haven

Hello, Blog, this is David.  While Kathy was cookie baking this last weekend, I continued on in the rental car from Philly up to New Haven to visit Katie and her doggie Maggie and to see their new digs. It was a long drive through rush hour traffic and, while I was smart enough to avoid the George Washington Bridge on Friday evening rush hour, I didn't realize how bad rush hour would be throughout the region around New York City.  What should have been a 3.5 hour drive became FIVE and a half hours!

But I arrived in one piece.  Katie came out on her porch to greet me, but by the time I arrived it was dark, so we didn't try to do a tour of the neighborhood.  We did take Maggie for a walk and picked up pizza, which we ate accompanied by the last half bottle of Katie's wine.  She showed me her apartment which, for reasons of privacy and because it's not finished yet and she probably wants to wait to show off a finished product, I won't post many photos.  But I can't resist showing this one of Maggie modeling part of the living-dining area:

This photo shows how light and airy Katie's home is.  The living area floors are hardwood that has been refinished and is really quite nice.  The dining area opens to the kitchen, so the whole living-dining-kitchen area gives the open feeling of a loft-type apartment.

Saturday was loaded with errands and walks and things.  After a scrumptious scromelette breakfast, we took Maggie for a walk to the dog park nearby.  Here's Maggie showing off her ball-fetching skills:

Katie's neighborhood is very homey and academic-type housing.  The houses are older and it appeared most of them have been converted to apartment rentals.

We embarked on a major Target shopping spree, which so tired us out that we had to replenish our energy at a local brewpub called "Bar."  Their beers were good but not inspiring, except for their "Vixen Wass Spiced Ale," which was tasty.

Back we went to Katie's place, but first stopped off at a store called "Wine Thief" to stock Katie's wine and beer shelves and to pick up a six-pack of some Smuttynose Porter for Kathy.

Then commenced the major project of the weekend:  an attempt by Katie and David to construct an Ikea dresser while under the influence of some BIG BEER.  The project went more or less according to plan.  Nothing got broken.  No major do-overs.  We did put some minor scratches on the front of the dresser, but nothing that a little scratch polish wouldn't cure.  When we were done, Katie had a whole new place to store clothing.

We topped the night off with a couple of other little chores and went to bed tired and happy.

UP at 6:30 so I could hit the road by 7:30.  Katie and Maggie wished me a fond farewell, and I was already feeling that I was going to miss her until we see her again at the Pollyanna Party and Christmas in Philly.