Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York - March 2024

Our next leg on the road trip was a week and a half in CT, MA and one more night on the way back South in NY.

Connecticut

After spending a few days in TX for Keith's dad's birthday, we flew back into LGA and picked up our car at the hotel where we had left it.  We then drove to New Milford, CT where we stayed one night at the cute B&B, Homestead Inn, that Carmen had arranged for us.  We had a nice room with a king bed on the second floor.  After getting settled in, we walked around town and grabbed a hot chocolate at a cute cafe, River and Rail Cafe.  

Homestead Inn

That evening, we met Carmen and Lew for dinner in New Milford at La Piccolina - a cute Italian restaurant just a few blocks from the Inn.  We walked over and had a nice dinner starting with a pear salad and then ending with a pork tenderloin with roasted potatoes and broccolini.  

Dinner with Carmen and Lewis at La Piccolina

The next morning, we had breakfast at the Inn - a quiche with English muffins which was tasty.  We then packed up and drove to MA.

Massachusetts

We stayed for three nights at Fannie's house (Fuqua alum) - who lives in Newton about 15 min outside of Boston.  She has a three story house (the downstairs is rented out) - we stayed in one of the guest bedrooms on the second floor.  We arrived mid-day and after unloading, we had a salad that she made for us.  We then went to the nearby Planet Fitness to work out and that evening, we went out to dinner to Korean Garden where we shared several yummy dishes.  For dessert, we picked up some mochi donuts at Mochinut and brought them back to the house.  

On Saturday, we worked out again in the morning and then went downtown to the JFK Library and Museum where we spent a couple of hours.  The library was pretty good but not as informative as we would have liked.  We had a little time to kill before dinner so we grabbed a hot chocolate at Tatte, one of Shawna's new favorite cafes (they are also in DC) and then we met Brian (former LivCor colleague of Keith's) at Bar Mezzana for dinner.  We shared a crudo, a couple of pasta and the branzino - all very good.

Dinner with Brian at Bar Mezzana

On Sunday, after our workout, we went downtown again to walk around Harvard for a few minutes.  It was quite cold so we got another hot chocolate, this time at what was supposed to be Boston's best at JP Licks - turns out it was just OK.  We were supposed to go to a museum that Fannie had recommended (Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum) but it was sold out so we instead went to the Museum of Fine Arts.  The place was huge so we just went to part of it, seeing the art from Egypt and Greece.  After this, we picked up Will, the son of Jim and Liz (more Fuqua alumns) who was attending college at Northeastern and brought him back to Fannie's where she made us a yummy meal of dumplings and Thai curry.  We also had brownies with ice cream for dessert.  Keith then drove him back while Shawna chatted with Fannie a bit more before heading to bed.

Time with Fannie

The next morning, we had coffee and breakfast with Fannie and then drove to CT.

Connecticut

We stayed near Bloomfield (where Shawna used to work for Cigna) for three nights at the Courtyard Marriott - across the street from the Marriott Shawna used to go to all the time for work.  While here, we caught up with the following former colleagues of Shawna's:

• Union Street Tavern - Had lunch with Cheryl (was on Shawna's team) and her husband Mike.  We split a salad and tacos.  Got to hear all about her retirement plans as she only had about a month left at Cigna. 

Lunch with Cheryl and Mike at Union Street Tavern

• Meadow Restaurant - Met Eric (was one of Shawna's former bosses) for dinner. We shared a hibachi and a Thai basil chicken - tasty. 

Dinner with Eric at Meadow Restaurant

• @ The Barn - Met Jean (was a peer of Shawna's) who is also retired for lunch. We shared the brussel sprout salad and a cheese board.

Lunch with Jean at @ The Barn

• Metrobis - Had diner with Jen and Cindy (was on Shawna's team) for dinner.  It was a three course menu - all of the food was really good. The restaurant is really nice as well.

Dinner with Cindy and Jen at Metrobis

• @ The Barn - Had lunch with Jackie (was one of Shawna's former bosses) who is also retired for lunch. We shared the brussel sprout salad and the mussels. 

Lunch with Jackie at @ The Barn

• Marriott - Met Heather (was Shawna's boss) here for a drink. Stacie also joined us towards the end since we were giving her a ride to dinner.

Drinks with Heather and Stacie at the Marriott

• Treva - Had dinner with Eva and Stacie (were peers of Shawna's). Food was great.  We shared a bunch of dishes for the table.

Dinner with Eva and Stacie at Treva

We drove by the Cigna building so Keith could see where Shawna used to work when she was in town. 

 

Cigna building where Shawna used to work

We also squeezed in one touristy/cultural event by touring the Mark Twain House who lived in the house when he wrote most of his major books.  The house was very interesting in decor and architecture.  

Mark Twain House

New York

We drove to NYC for one night to see Billy Joel at MSG.  We stayed at Mark and Alicia's apartment again.  We arrived mid-afternoon and relaxed a bit before joining them with an early dinner - we ordered in from a yummy Turkish place sharing a salad, lamb patties and dumplings - all very good.  We then went to the concert which was amazing.  Turns out it was his 100th show from this residency so they filmed it to air on CBS a few weeks later.  And to top it off he had two surprise guests - Jerry Seinfeld who came out and said some nice words and then Sting who sang two songs with Billy.  

Sting and Billy Joel

The next morning we had to get up early to drive to NC - took us a little over 12 hours!!