A Little Bit of Italy

Our flight out of Hopkins was delayed a bit this afternoon, held up, in part, by Air Force One ferrying President Obama in to or out of JFK around the time we were set to leave Cleveland. We nonetheless managed to make up the twenty minutes we sat on the tarmac and the earlier twenty minute departure delay, arriving in New York City ten minutes early!

Our accomodations at the Hilton Garden Inn at the airport's edge are quite satisfactory but VERY isolated from anything and everything available in the surrounding area.

Not wanting to just sit in our room all evening, we ventured out (at $15.00 each way by hired livery service -- not even taxis available 'round here!) to a local Italian restaurant in nearby Howard Beach.

La Nora turned out to epitomize Sicilian Mafia Italian ambiance -- and the food was really quite good. Since we arrived rather early for dinner, we walked around the neighborhood, Heidi feeling quite outside her element.

But as we settled in for a leisurely dinner under the watchful eye of the head waiter (whose recitation of the evening's specials emerged directly from THE GODFATHER), we relaxed a bit and got into the mood of the place. We decided to treat the whole experience as if it were a replay of a dinner date before Junior Prom in high school!

It worked! We even lingered over a scrumptious desert, amaretto-drenched, small macaroon-like cookies decorating a custard-filled and layered white cake served on a plate drizzled with raspberry puree and real whipped cream, served with cups of decaf coffee.

Tomorrow morning we hope to add some more adventures to our brief layover in the Big Apple with a quick run into the city after an early breakfast ...