The village…

We were planning on traveling to my biological mom’s house on Sunday morning, then Marty had the idea to leave from the farmers market in Troy and go into the city for dinner and breakfast, then drive to her place.

It was meant to be since he quickly found a hotel room in Newark, NJ, directly across from the train station; our Hilton Honors points come to the rescue again! The ride from Troy to Newark was under two and a half hours. We were there before 5 pm.

We hopped on the Path Train and took it to the World Trade Center stop. This was the same train ride I took daily when I worked downtown. As we got closer to the WTC, I became emotional about 9/11, thinking about the poor people on their way to work or at work on the most horrible day in American history.

We noticed see-through walkways on the floors when we got off the Path. The glass showed the original foundation and columns from the Twin Towers. I had to pull it together; I wasn’t expecting to see that or the other memorial items and reminders so we never forget what happened that day or those who lost their lives.

Next, we got on the 1 subway line and got off at Christopher Street. I found a 100% gluten-free restaurant I had never heard of before and made a reservation for 8 pm. I looked up gluten-free spots in Greenwich Village the two times I was there earlier this year, but this was the first time Wild popped up.

Wild was not only gluten-free, but the owners wanted it to be a safe place for GF people to dine at. They made everything from scratch and used local and organic products. It was an Italian place, like most Greenwich Village food spots, where the staff spoke with heavy Italian accents. The place was legit and small.

We didn’t mind being crammed into the small, noisy, busy restaurant filled with excitement and great energy. We were the oldest diners in the restaurant by 25 years, but that didn’t bother us in the least bit.

It was primarily young gluten-free women out to dinner with their girlfriends. There were men there too, but the ratio of women to men tipped the scales.

The food was incredible! We had the most delicious fried calamari we ever had, even before we had to go gluten-free. We have found gluten-free fried calamari at other restaurants, but this one went above and beyond. The squid was so tender, with a crispy exterior and excellent flavor. Their marinara sauce was delicious!

Marty’s dinner of house-made rigatoni with a lamb ragu was tiny Abruzzo meatballs like I made last week. Weird. I had house-made butternut squash ravioli in a tomato cream sauce. It was so good; I ate it so fast I didn’t get a photo of it.

The only bummer was when we asked our dashing young Italian waiter about dessert, he had to break the bad news to us; everything was sold out. Waaahhhhhh! Damn!

We headed back to our hotel, went to bed, and woke up, which felt like only an hour later; it was longer, but we were living in the New York minute and got back on the Path to go out to breakfast at the best gluten-free bagel shop in the country called Modern Bread and Bagel.

We ate at Modern Bread and Bagel in the city back in March up on the upper west side. This was a new location in Chelsea. We got off the subway on 14th Street, and the bagel place was across the street! Brilliant!

Modern Bread and Bagel is 100% gluten-free and kosher. We ordered our breakfasts and sat at a cute table for two. We sipped our coffees and ate our bagels like regular New Yorkers. It felt wonderful to feel like ordinary people and order whatever we wanted without worry in my favorite part of the city.

We grabbed two black and white cookies and two chocolate chip rugelach and headed back to Newark. We got on the road at 11:00 am and headed to see my mom, an hour and a half away.

What a fun and spontaneous side trip. Marty and I learned during covid that we couldn’t keep waiting and making excuses for not doing the things we love to do. Yes, we were tired, and our legs felt like rubber after standing at the farmers market all day and then keeping up the fast pace of walking in the train stations and streets.

We both slept on the Path train in the morning on our way to Chelsea. I used to sleep on the Path every day, so this brought back some beautiful memories for me. We realized how easy traveling to the city is, and it doesn’t have to be a once-a-year thing; hell, I’ve been there three times this year!

We got home from my mom’s today, Tuesday afternoon. We had a lovely and fun visit with her. After we unloaded Skye, I made my mini pumpkin and pecan pie tarts for Thanksgiving.

Tomorrow I’ll do the rest of my Thanksgiving prep before I go to belly dance classes. Luckily, we weren’t flooded with orders like usual while we were away; it makes sense since almost every wholesale customer got their deliveries last week.

I love prepping and cooking Thanksgiving dinner. I am not doing anything fancy this year, just the basics. I will make my turkey as I saw on Youtube last week; I can’t wait to try it! I’ll let you know how it goes.

Travel safely, sharpen your knives before prepping, and don’t stress. The more things you do ahead will take a lot of stress away on Thanksgiving Day, I promise!