New York City Picture set #2

Here's the second batch of NYC pictures with captions so you know what you are looking at

New York City Picture set #1

OK - the pictures were posted out of order.  This is the first set of pictures when we arrived in New York.  They are all taken the same day; on Sunday, April 17.  AND for the first time they are labeled so you know what you're actually looking at.  Enjoy.  Here's the link:
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=glevpalmer&target=ALBUM&id=5598379117726861249&authkey=Gv1sRgCJLe68mMwqPjSA&feat=email

Dairy Restaurant

This morning started with breakfast at a dairy kosher restaurant down from our apartment called B&H.  Here's the discription from  New York Magazine:

With its primary-colored 1950s plastic sign proclaiming “Better Health,” B&H diner is a relic from a time when the East Village was more working class Ukrainian than privileged university undergrads. The shoebox-sized kosher dairy restaurant is one of many that once peppered Manhattan. Today, more than 60 years since it opened (and despite its lapsed kosher certification), a largely Hispanic staff continue to turn out Yiddish comfort-staples: crisp latkes, knishes the size of pillbox hats, and plump pierogis your bubby might serve. Bowls of vegetarian borscht and lima bean and two of the half-dozen daily soups add spots of color. A rotating cast fills the dozen stools and the six small tables that hug the opposite wall. Weekend nights and brunch hours draw scruffy, pre or post bar-hopping sorts hunched over eggs and home fries, challah French toast, blintzes, or matzoh brei. Midweek is more Hopperesque, the profiles of solo diners washed in the sallow glow of the diner’s hanging milk-colored lights. No matter when you step up to the counter, a double stack of sweet-soft challah, schmeared with butter and served on a small Dixie plate, accompanies every order. The motto “Better Health” could be taken ironically if not for the juice bar—which provides wheatgrass shots and fresh juices to a steady stream of to-go customers—and that zingy borscht, light on the sour cream, thank you.





Jews (who are kosher) are not supposed to serve milk and meat together. Hence the dairy service/restaurant/meal. A Jewish dairy restaurant wouldn't serve any meat products so that it's kosher. For some reason, according to Jewish law, fish (with scales, etc, no shellfish) can be served with dairy, so you will find tuna, salmon, pickled herring, mackeral, etc. in a dairy restaurant.

The original Yiddish is "milchika" or "milchadika" for dairy and "fleishika" or "fleishadika" for meat. Fish can be served with dairy but (for the traditional, at least) not with meat.

The direct translation of "milchadika" is "dairy", so it became "dairy restaurant".

Happy Passover

We had a great sedar.  Hope all of you are well.  Now heading downtown from Columbia University. 

New York, New York

Yes, we're here.  Arrived yesterday around noon and full day ahead of schedule.  Spent the afternoon at the "Upper West End Street Fair" which was great.  Went to a super Thai Food dinner and then out to a place that makes alcolholic milkshakes with Rose's room mate and ger mom

Mt Rushmore at night

Can you believe that we were the only ones when the lights went on - we had our own private light show.  The park gets two million visitors per year but obviously now in April.

How can you have a population on 1?

This town had a post office, a city park, an antique store, and a bar - so can it really only have one resident?

In Danville, PA - two hours from NYC

OK - we could have made it to NYC this, our 7th day on the road but decided to stop at 11pm.  It was raining and foggy and we took an extra amount of time going to this Pizza place off the freeway an hour or so back.  So now we have approx 140 miles to Manhattan - about an hour more in PA and then an hour driving through a part of New Jersey before driving across the George Washington Bridge - the terminus of Interstate 80.

Our original goal was leaving the 10th and arriving the 18th so we're on target or a day ahead of schedule.

Total gas fill-ups including the one leaving Sacramento = 13.  The most expensive was the $3.99 in Sacramento. The low was $3.42 in Wyoming with an overall average of about $3.75.  Funny that seeing $3.42 we felt we were getting free gas (but of course it does look much better than the over $4 per gallon in CA).  Our average mpg was around 18 which is great for such a large van.

I promise that we'll get back into stories about our travels to date and not gas prices but thought that some of you might be interested in how that all worked out.

Links to pictures from first three days of travels

Here's links to our pictures from Sacramento to the night at Mt Rushmore. 
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=glevpalmer&target=ALBUM&id=5595804566926511969&authkey=Gv1sRgCLXM8p3O-K_OUA&feat=email

Near Chicago

Tonight we're just of short of Chicago.  Heading to Cleveland to see cousins tomorrow night and Saturday morning.

We're starting our blog a bit late into our journey

We're after midnight on Day 4 in Mitchell, SD.  Just set this blog up, it's our first time.  Much to write and post as we move forward and we'll try to catch you all up on our journey to date.  Best wishes, Susan and Gary