August 21-23                               Jersey City, New Jersey

We rented a car to travel to Long Island for a visit with our long-time friend, Jean Leone and her daughter, Jackie.  We planned the trip on Sunday to have less traffic.  Unfortunately, the building boom in New York with considerable infrastructure modification has contributed to congestion on the streets and highways which results in long delays.  Our twenty-five mile journey took only a little less than two hours.

Jean’s beautiful new home was a showplace!  She had “downsized” from a 15,000 square feet home to one of approximately 8,000 square foot.  Jean surprised us with her amazing skills in blending familiar furnishings with new to create a lovely, elegant home.  Everything is cared for meticulously by Denecio and his wife, who have lived with the family for many years.  Denecio is a self-taught horticulturist and the three acres surrounding the home resemble a botanical garden with an abundance of shrubs, trees, and plants.  Everything was planned and planted by Denecio.

Lunch was catered by Jericho Terrace, David’s former client and now owned by Jean.  It was a typical lavish Italian feast with fresh mozzarella, prosciutto, chicken, fruits, cheeses, and ciabatta.  From Jean’s wine cellar, we had an excellent Amarone wine and finished with a 30 year Port.  It was a great treat but we enjoyed most the wonderful time together around the table with Jean, Jackie, and Eddie, Jackie’s long-time companion and one of our favorite people.

The drive home was in the dark and rain.  David was a careful, considerate driver who patiently traversed the crowded Long Island Expressway, the congested Williamsburg Bridge from Brooklyn, busy Lower Manhattan, and then waited for half an hour to enter the Holland Tunnel to New Jersey. It was a long trip but with our GPS and constant surveillance, we made the trip without incident.  

With the car for another day, we were able to re-provision for the remainder of our journey and see more of Jersey City.  The downtown area has been fortunate to attract upscale condo and apartment buildings but much of the city is still old, cluttered, crowded, and difficult.  It is challenging to live there.