Yesterday our drive to New York took us right by Cherry Hill. We decided to do a quick look-see. Cherry Hill hasn’t changed much. We stopped at the Ellisburg McD’s for a toilet break and ate our left over pizza in the parking lot. *Somebody’s* old favorite Ponzio’s is still there and still pulling them in for lunch. The old house is still there and not changed since the last time we saw it.

The drive was uneventful until we crossed the Verrazano Bridge. The GPS did not agree with the road signs and we made the wrong choice. We ended up driving through the heart of Brooklyn. It added an hour to our drive, but the weather was nice and we had the time. It was my first time in Brooklyn. I found it quite interesting. The people, the stores, the houses, and even the high rises look and feel exactly as I imagined. I only saw one derelict house and one unused retail space. That’s a healthy neighborhood. The most surprising thing is that I didn’t fee rush and anxiety in the traffic. Most everybody was laid back and taking it as it comes. (This applies only to the side streets. The expressways were terrible.)

This morning we went to Mike’s deli for breakfast. It was a short drive, 3 miles from the hotel. We found the right place for sure. We saw several works from the port authority and the airport stop to get breakfast. The correct way to do this is to double park without turning your flashers on, have all the guys get out of the truck and buy their breakfast, and make sure there’s plenty of sugar in the coffee. (We refrained from the local practices.)

We visited the Queens Botanical Garden in Flushing, staying on the side roads. It was a beautiful morning and a very nice park. We paid for parking and put the ticket in the window, but got a $45 parking violation anyway. Hopefully the online appeal process works. There’s a photo gallery below, if you’e on the web site. (Photo galleries are not in the Email.)

We’re off to the airport in a little while.