Light late lunch

Sometimes, we get busy and don't get around to eating lunch at a reasonable hour.   So, when it was about 3pm, eating a full meal would mess up our "clock" for the rest of the day.   I decided we should just have a plate that would just be enough to carry us over to a reasonable dinner time.

Cucumbers, heirloom cherry tomatoes, blue cheese crumbles and some guacamole.  And green tea in our favorite mugs from the boy's trip to Philmont Scout Ranch!

Airplane hauled to Siler City

One of our long-time customers inherited his dad's plane.  It's a Meyers 145 - which is a 50 year old plane that is in excellent condition. 

It stayed at our airport several years ago when his dad was was in town for a lengthy visit.

But his dad lived in Arizona, and the plane was disassembled for some repair.  It was trucked all the way to the airport this weekend.

Kinda cool - they are just getting ready to hoist it off the trailer.  Will be fun to see it put back together!  Cool old plane!

Trip to Charleston, boat shopping again!

Go over to the Sailing Blog for a little trip summary.

The NJ Wedding!!!

Finally the wedding day arrived! 

I caught the groom and groomsmen in the hotel lobby before they headed to the wedding venue.
Handsome!!

We arrived at the Grand Marque a little early for some photos.  Carolyn and Tommy looking spiffy!

Same can be said for Sharon and Buddy!!

And, our family looks pretty sharp too!!  Sorry Miranda couldn't make it to the wedding - this would have been a great family photo if she were in it!

I snapped a few photos of the wedding party as the professional photographer was busy setting up the official portraits.

And before you knew it, the wedding was underway.  Lovely ceremony.

And on to the reception!!!  Wow, they know how to throw a party!!

Every food imaginable was available.

Obviously, everyone was having a grand time - while the wedding party was busy taking more photos - I understand they were served some treats, but they didn't get to enjoy the big party we did!

Fun sampling all the goodies - and waitstaff roved with more items on trays for us to sample.  Amazing!

Debbie and Kevin getting to relax.

Callie visited with us for a little while.

Robert and Richard seated for the "sit-down meal".  I don't think they appreciated their mom snapping too many photos....

The "McCraw Side" table.  A good looking bunch!

 The "Grandkid" table.....

And the lovely cake!!

The newlyweds at their special table.  Hope they got to enjoy their meal!

I'll include a couple of videos from the dance floor.

Kyle and ToniAnn

Debbie and Kyle

The "longest married couples" were invited up to the dance floor.  We were certainly not the longest, but we were in the top tier!!

And here is the video of Christopher's toast to ToniAnn and Kyle - sortof hard to hear, but it is touching.

Kyle showing off his new ring to his dad!

The minister must be giving "marital advice" to Kyle.

Had to show the wonderful meal we were served.

Happy, relaxed Debbie.

More dancing!

And the serving of the wedding cake to each other.  Tastefully done!

And the last photo I took was of the new bride and new father-in-law.  Lovely!

Wonderful, wonderful wedding!

We all gathered for breakfast at the hotel before heading our separate ways.  Much love to ToniAnn and Kyle for sharing their special day!

Uneventful flight back to RDU....we were amazed at all the green trees and lawn after almost a week of just seeing city streets! 

The NJ Wedding - rehearsal dinner

Mid-day we met up with Robert in Penn Station to ride the NJ Transit train to Newark.  I will admit that it was hectic trying to figure out exactly where to go....if there is ever a "next time", we will be more coordinated!

Tickets bought - we settled on the train for the 40 minute ride.

Not much scenery!

On to the hotel where most of the wedding guests were staying.  It's a very nice setup - we gathered in the lobby area to wait for the shuttle over to Harold's New York Deli  for the rehearsal dinner.  Kyle and Robert discussing something meaningful, I'm sure.

Carolyn, Tommy and Sharon visiting.

Finally got over to the deli - Kyle telling us all how the restaurant "works".

It was really cool - you went to the "World's Largest Pickle Bar" to get all your condiments.  Hot pickles, sweet pickles, sour pickles, pickle relish, it went on and on!

Sweet photo of Carolyn and Tommy!

More "mini-speeches".   Then we all chowed-down on the yummy food.

Did I mention the NY cheesecake?  It was very, very good!

More visiting - the minister, his wife and Christopher.

The Penven's (Debbie's family) and you can see Richard tucked back in the background with the McCraw's!

Callie and her friend Laura.

And it was Kevin's birthday also!  So, Debbie arranged for him to be served a HUGE slice of one of these cakes.

And of course, we all sang happy birthday.....I think he was surprised and pleased!

And I'll leave you to ponder this photo that was on the wall at Harold's along with other vintage stuff....the girl is peering down from a very high spot.  This looks to my "pilot's eye" as much higher than the typical 2000 foot tower.  Where IS she???  Or is this a fabricated photo?

NYC Day 4

Last day in NYC.....just some random touring -

The NYC Library -

Amazing marble structure.

Walked down 5th avenue.....went into Sak's 5th Ave just to see what it was like.  Interesting and fancy....but not that different than any local big department store.

I sprayed on a sample of Chanel No. 5 perfume.  The nice counter lady told me the price - $125 for a small bottle.  I have no idea if that's expensive or not.

Walked on to Rockefeller Center.  Cool big building.

 On down 5th ave, we toured St. Patrick's Cathedral - beautiful Catholic church.

Amazing!

We had missed the carousel in Central Park -  so we made our way back for the experience.

Beautiful old carousel - good fun!!

 Walking back, we passed Trump Tower - I couldn't resist the urge to go inside since the sign said "open to the public".  It really just looked like a normal casino building.

But the short tour did not lean me in his direction!!!

Time to head to NJ for the wedding.....found a bar/restaurant for lunch before catching a NJ Transit train to Woodbridge!