thursday

My start today is a little after 7. It is winter again. Really winter. Cold. Wanda and I hustle uptown to the Cafe. Today will be another adventure. Wanda is here from Florida, and the weather does not meet her April expectations.

It does not meet mine either.

We intersect Gene who has already come to Ridgewood by train from the south. He stops in Ridgewood for breakfast at the Cafe. Then he hops back on the train and goes off to work to Allendale. Fascinating. I always thought of the train going in the opposite direction- to New York. Allendale is a few minutes uptrain.

Wanda and Gene are with the good conductor. The conductors must be picked for their dispositions.. they are friendly and helpful. It must be tough to jump off the train at every stop without a coat on.

There are not that many onboard. Some of the passengers are headed to Suffern. The train will stop a few times until it leaves us in .....





Goodbye Gene! Have a good workday!

Nice Allendale clock- it took less than 10 minutes to get here.

Downtown Allendale is charming. The main street is lined with flags.

When I have dined in each and everyone of Ridgewood's 40+ restaurants, I will come here by train for dinner.

We need to be back by 8:30. The next train that stops in Ridgewood is 8:15. The ticket is $1.50 each way. You buy the ticket ahead of time or it's an exta $5surcharge . The train station is tiny, or seems so, because it is packed with commuters headed for the city. It's freezing outside- everyone is packed inside. It's NY quiet- nobody is chatting...

tunnels go under the tracks; it's not as tricky or big as Ridgewood Train Station

It's nice

It's snowing

It's cold

This is a place for me!

very quaint. you can walk up and back in less than 5 minutes.

Fewer people board the local.

The conductor tells me he's not cold

he does jump on and off

could that be enough to keep you warm?
I don't think so

Back in Ridgewood Penny gets us nice hot coffee and any kind of tea a Floridian could ask for

The Cheese Shop lets us in

the black truffle pate isan absolute classic

the 5 cheddar is the kid's favorite

wrapped in leaves, it takes finesse to cut this wheel

alas, I part without a taste

You can shout it on the mountain top-

they won't hear because they are on their cell phones

Watch out for Pedestrians!

I asked about the no cell phones in the stores-

it's rude, people are shouting, it's hard to help them...