We left on a cold Thursday morning, across PA via route 80 and made our way, again, to the George Washington Bridge. There is a burnt orange look to the land. No traffic at the GW, though, so we breezed right through the Bronx and into New Rochelle.
Because of some mis-communications, we had no place to go when we got there, and weren't due at the funeral home until 7pm, so we hung out at Dudley's, a local bar that was frequented by John's father many years ago. Great fish sandwich and fried oysters! David eventually joined us there, and we got dressed in the bathroom.
I love the sky and lighting in this waterfront part of Westchester County.
Spent the night with sister-Susan in Greenwich CT - this is the morning view from her window. She is a most gracious hostess, giving us her own bed!
The funeral for Oompah was held at Blessed Sacrament Church in New Rochelle. This church is beginning to be very familiar to me. The same priest who said Aunt Mil's funeral Mass last December was there for Oompah. Nancy (Frank's daughter) gave a wonderful eulogy and my cousin Mary Lou came.
Then we buried Oompah in a cemetery in Port Chester, NY, where he lived most of his life. I think he was born there too.
After the burial, we made our way back to New Rochelle to a most wonderful Italian restaurant - Posto's, where we had lunch with everybody. This is the eggplant (ah, but that I could make eggplant like this!) But I sat next to Aunt Mary, and in addition to telling me great stories about her childhood when all the sisters shared the same bedroom and sang and sang and sang (the "Nap Sisters"), she told me how Grandma made the eggplant. I may have to try again with eggplant.
We will definitely go back to this restaurant.
The rest of this story is about how John and I, who should know better, got lost trying to drive into lower Manhattan. The problem is the GPS system. We should just go the way that we know instead of listening to it. As it happened, we went over the Throgs Neck Bridge into Queens - as if we were going out to Long Island - worked our way back down into Brooklyn to take a tunnel into Manhattan. Thought that we were on our way until we somehow to a turn that took us across the Brooklyn Bridge so that we are back in Brooklyn. Had to come back across the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan. And then found ourselves faced with Friday afternoon city traffic as we made our way to the World Trade Center Site, now called the 911 Memorial. That story will come in the next post.
John had me take this photo of the sign for Matthew...
