On Friday, March 30th, we had an 8:30am flight from Charles de Galle. This was the only leg of the trip that Grace had not guessed. The last leg was partially guessed because she checked into a flight a few weeks ago and saw our final flight home from Florida in her itineraries. Therefore, when we checked in for a flight to NYC, I’m sure she was a little puzzled. It was a nice flight back and I urged her to try to get some rest and also not eat too much before we landed, which gave it away a little.
Even after we gathered our bags and got through customs, I said, “Okay, where’s Air Canada?,” and she started to head to the connections desk, but I finally told her we were heading to the curb to get a cab. I only gave the address and after a long ride through heavy traffic, we arrived at The Four Seasons. It was our first time staying there and only upon arriving did I realize the Joel Rubuchon restaurant was located inside. Grace asked if that’s where were eating, but I said no.
We couldn’t check in right away, so we decided to have lunch. Grace was craving asian food, so she played that card. We went to momofuku má pêche. During our meal, two people sat down next to us and I heard “Jason?” It was my good friend, Ole, who was in town from London on business. Even though he moved from SF only a couple years ago, it had been a long time since I had seen him, so it was a great coincidence.
We shopped a little around mid town and then went to the hotel to settle in. Grace had made a spa reservation for the afternoon, but decided to move it to Saturday morning. She napped (which was good) while I went out to run some errands and do some shopping. I decided it was too much trouble to do laundry on a tight turnaround, so I just bought some essentials.
I told Grace that her brother, Dave, was flying in from China that night (true), so would have lunch with him on Saturday. I said we were just meeting Jen for dinner (not true). We had to wait a while for a cab, which was good because it delayed us just enough. I only gave the address and I thought once we entered the restaurant, she would know something was up because we’d never normally eat at Morton’s for dinner. After meeting Jen at the bar, we were asked to be seated and just then, Patty walked in and I waved her off (which Grace subsequently told me she saw). As we walked toward the back to a private room, she knew something was up and she was surprised by 25+ of our family and friends, many of whom traveled from CT, DC and even SF! We had a great dinner together and I was really pleased about the surprise. Thanks to everyone who joined us for a memorable evening and especially to Jen, who helped a lot with the planning, flowers and details. Afterwards, it was raining, so we decided the afterparty would be at the bar next door. Dave, Sandor and Grace took advantage of the karaoke and there was a lot of yawning going on with the old people (JT). I felt good that we continued to shut down places wherever we went.
Saturday morning, we had a quick breakfast at the hotel and Grace went to the spa. I met with Jea and Eddie and we drove together to visit Bobby’s new baby son, Caden, and Ana, who wasn’t able to make dinner. He’s super cute and is already holding up his neck (he gets a strong one from his dad).
Grace played the asian card again and we went to K-town to meet Jen and Dave before Jea and Eddie had to drive back to DC. We did a little more shopping before heading back to JFK for the last leg of our trip. It was a quick and fun 33 hours in one of our favorite cities with many of our favorite people.
