We had another lovely dinner last night, at an incredibly bustling restaurant. (Mom joked that it must have been the only restaurant in New York.) Paige, a young attorney working with a federal judge, joined us. She's the daughter of some of Andy's close friends that I've known for many years, though don't think I've ever met her or her twin sister. 

I enjoyed my baked red snapper "with artichoke hash" (a new one for me, but definitely delicious) so again felt no guilt when dessert arrived: a mammoth slice of cake with a sparkler for Mom, and accompanied by staff singing HBTY. We did get a laugh out of their particular version; in the third stanza where the name is inserted, they used 'total stranger'. 

Mom and I both slept in this morning, so declined Andy's invite to join them for breakfast. We'll take leisurely showers and then pack up before our next adventure at Penn Station. Last night Andy looked at the instructions Barbara had sent, and opined that she'd made everything sound harder than it is. (Since I was feeling a little intimidated by them that was good to hear.) And if it does turn out to be somewhat complicated and convoluted, we can always call it PETALUMA: the NY chapter.

Still no rain at present, though there's a 20% chance for precip tomorrow. While it will be cooler today, at least it was pleasant yesterday when we were doing our walking to/from the theater.

* * * * *

Thought I had posted the above entry this morning, but obviously not.  Andy & Sandy drove us to Penn Station (we did take a few 'detours', almost ending up in the Lincoln Tunnel) and our next adventure began. There was no elevator down from the street level so we had to take the escalator. Somewhat of a juggling act because Mom needed my help, so I dropped the suitcase at the bottom (where a woman offered to watch it for me) while I rode back up and helped Mom onto and then off (while a teenager helpfully brought down the walker.)  We were able to take an elevator to the lower level (for the LIRR) and bought tickets at a kiosk - but then had a problem figuring out what track to head for. It turned out to be close by, and a train was due in just a few minutes, so we joined the crowd surging through the entry way... where we soon encountered a flight of stairs. I left Mom at the top and started down to (again) leave the suitcase and go back for her, but a young man saw what was happening and carried it down for me. In the meantime a woman was helping Mom down the stairs. 

We had a pleasant ride out to Great Neck (two little boys, 4 and almost 7, were on their way with their family to the Mets game and sat across from us until we got to the stadium station) and easily found an elevator to exit the station. Then it was only a short block's walk to the hotel. While they didn't have our room ready yet we were able to leave the suitcase. 

Suzanne's daughter Barbara picked us up and brought us to Suzanne's apartment in Queens, which is lovely - and has a stunning view of the NYC skyline. We had lunch, gabbed away the afternoon and then had dinner together (with chocolate angel-food cake for dessert) before Barbara brought us back to the hotel around bedtime. 

Mom and Suzanne have been friends since childhood, but Suzanne's serious health concerns have kept her from traveling in recent years. She and Mom had a wonderful day together, and the plan is to make this same trip again next year!

We got our Amtrak tickets printed here at the hotel without any problem; after all the trouble we had making the e-ticket reservation on the computer this afternoon, and then the wi-fi being out in the whole complex so I could not access my e-mail to see if the tickets had been sent, that was nice! We then came to our room, which is lovely (and roomier than the previous one) and our luggage had preceded us.

It's past bedtime - more tomorrow!