April 24, 2009: Last Day with the Ralstons

After going to bed at four this morning I was woken up at seven thirty and felt that it would be best if I just got to work.  So I did.  Right up and down to the basement and off to work.  Only two to three hours of sleep at most.

The morning was really, really busy and I ended up working solidly until around eleven or so.  And then I worked heavily, but was able to at least see people, until a little after noon.  Then it was time for lunch and as this is our final chance to see Art and Danielle before they leave for a month I just left for a while.

We decided that this would be a good time to finally try out Grandma’s, a restaurant in Yorktown Heights on Crompond that we have been seeing for a while that looks really good.  They say that they are famous for their pies.  We will see.

The menu at Grandma’s is really impressive.  It reminds me of all of the German, Dutch and Scandavian food that I often see when I am in Ohio.  Much like Cracker Barrel in many ways.  Breakfast all day.  Very “down home” with friendly folks meeting you at the door, lots of traditional family baked goods (not the fancy French or Italian pastries – just pies and cakes) and a menu made almost entirely of breakfast and comfort foods.  My family will love eating here when they come to visit.

Dominica and I both went for the “famous” quiche.  Art got a quesadilla and Danielle got a spicy chicken sandwich.  Everyone really liked their good.  The main course was great as was the bread and the salad.  We all tried to save room for dessert which is for what the restaurant is really well known.

We eat got a slice of pie for dessert no matter how full we were.  Probably no the best idea but boy was it every good.  Really impressive home-style baked goods.  Yummy.  We will definitely be coming back here.  Not the cheapest place to eat around Peekskill, though.

We said our goodbyes in the parking lot.  Then Art and Danielle got on the road to Painted Post while Dominica and I went back home so that I could get back to work for the rest of the evening.

I was quite busy for the rest of the day and ended up working quite late.  Another exhausting day.

We did not get a chance to go out for our daily walk today so at around ten thirty this evening, when Dominica was getting close to deciding to go to bed, I decided to head out for a walk on my own.  I went for a really long walk since this was my chance to really get some exercise.

I went down Maple Avenue until it turned into South Division Street to the heart of Peekskill which really is not a bad walk at all.  One and a half miles down to the downtown intersection.

I walked around downtown a little.  I discovered that there are two coffee shops within an easy walk of the house which is awesome.  There are also several restaurants of all types downtown that look really good.  Many more than I had expected to have found.

I then proceeded down South to Washington and over to Hudson.  On Hudson I walked down to the Peekskill Train Station and out to the park.  I sat on a picnic table and watched the trains rumble by along the Hudson River.  I was quite surprised to see a New Haven train pulling a passenger line north towards Poughkeepsie or Albany.  I thought that only Amtrak and MetroNorth ran this line.

On the opposite side of the river I saw a cargo train heading south into the city.  The view from Peekskill is mostly of Orange County with a little bit of northern Rockland County.  Watching the trains from the river front is really cool.

I was pleased to find that there was a lively crowd down on the river front near the train station.  The bar that is actually inside of the train station has a large outdoor seating area which was quite busy.  The Peekskill Brewery was very busy as well.

From the train station I walked straight up the hill on Hudson and down Maple to go back home.  I used Google Maps to map out the route so that I would have an idea of approximately how far I had walked.  It turned out to be 4.2 miles.  Not as far as I had thought but not too shabby considering how much of that walk – all of it – is on significant incline or decline.  Very good exercise and a good chance to listen to some IT Conversations on my iPod.

My walk lasted for almost two hours.  It was after midnight when I finally got into bed.

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