NYC - August 7 and 8, 2014 - Diners Drive Ins and Dives and Washington DC

Thursday started with a hearty breakfast at the Landmark - if you missed a previous blog post, we get bacon, eggs, hash browns, toast and coffee for the price of a Starbucks latte. The group split up for the afternoon with Robyn, Kate and Scott going to Central Park for a bike ride and Jan and I wandering around SOHO.  Jan and I ended up at the International Culinary Institute on Broadway in SOHO which is a Hells Kitchen type establishment where the students cook, serve and host.  We had a 3 course lunch with wine pairings and it was fantastic.  Had our obligatory nap and then headed to the Redhead Pub in the East Village - this place was on Diners Drive ins and Dives. We had fried chicken, bacon peanut brittle, burgers and a salad.  Another great choice for a restaurant.  After dinner, we went to Momofuku (aka Milk) for their famous cereal milk ice cream and cake donut holes.  The line up was about 1/2 hour long.  Jan and I sat on the bench while the kids waited in line.  We were speaking with a local couple for quite a while when Kate not so subtlety told Jan that her shirt was almost all the way undone.  Jan then gasped so everybody in the line looked over.  The guy we were speaking with said, "I thought it was just a new style - we are in New York after all".  We walked back to the hotel about 20 blocks (it took us about 40 minutes).

We were up at 5:30 am on Friday so we could be at the tour bus by 6:15 am.  We took a day trip to Washington DC.  Before booking, we did not realize that it was about a 4 hour bus ride there and about 5 hours back because of rush hour.  Regardless, it was great.  We visited 5 States in one day - New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia as well as the District of Columbia.  We had a champions breakfast at a truckstop consisting of Popeyes chicken, Cinnabons, Auntie Anne's pretzels and Starbucks.  We arrived in DC shortly before noon and saw the Pentagon, Arlington Cemetery and Jefferson Memorial from the bus.  We then stopped and visited the Vietnam Memorial (there are 2 of them), the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Memorial, Mirror Lake and the Korean Memorial.  We then hopped  on the bus for ride to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue - the White House!  It is much smaller than you think and you can actually get pretty close to the front.  We visited the Wax Museum which has all of the Presidents and numerous celebrities.  We drove by Ford's Theatre where Lincoln was shot and then stopped at the Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian for a short visit.  It was very fascinating and we needed a much longer time there.  We had a quick bite at the museum - from McDonalds - the only restaurant at the Air and Space Museum.  We visited the Capitol building and then hopped on the bus for the 5 hour ride home.  Great but long day.  On our arrival in Times Square, we hopped into cabs and ended up in Little Italy for a late supper.  We love staying in SOHO (and away from Times Square).