Leaving Westchester, Mammograph at Fairfield, Lunch at Bonnie’s, Outlet Shopping at Clinton Crossings, Evening at my Brother’s, Dinner at Shake Shack

Monday, August 26, 2024

Fairfield, Connecticut

Leaving Westchester, Mammograph at Fairfield, Lunch at Bonnie’s, Outlet Shopping at Clinton Crossings, Evening at my Brother’s, Dinner at Shake Shack

Keeping a Medical Appointment:

Today was super crazy!

We awoke in our friends’, Allan and Anita’s place, in White Plains, Westchester, and since they had an early start and had already left for the day, we left as soon as we could, taking our things with us (only I left my black hoodie behind by mistake). We drove through quiet back streets using our Waze App and made our way straight to Trumbull where I had a 10.00 am Mammogram and ultra sound appointment with my radiologist, Dr. Neil Specht. But it seems I could only do the one and not the other as the technician was absent today. They gave me an appointment for the day after tomorrow, which means that I shall have to return to get it done. Huge Bummer!

Shopping at Walmart and Keeping Another Appointment:

Since I had an hour to kill, I told Llew that I would go to Walmart in Stratford and pick up our annual supply of Vitamins, Calcium and other supplements. This I did quite painlessly and then quickly drove back to Trumbull for my appointment with Dr. Glenn Rich, my endocrinologist. Turns out a change of systems & medical groups, caused me to be dropped off the schedule. Have been rescheduled for tomorrow at noon—double bummer!

Off for some Designer Outlet Shopping:

With a bit of time at our disposal (and realizing that we should make the most of every minute at our disposal and do all our intended shopping and not leave anything to be done in New Jersey, if we could help it), we decided to set off for Clinton Crossing. But our friend Bonnie insisted that we eat lunch at their’s before leaving. In fact, she had already set up a buffet of leftovers from her fridge—which we were glad to enjoy: Art’s flank steak with chimichurri sauce, Bonnie’s composed green salad, sweet potato fries, Lugano pizza from Centro. Yes, it was a delicious lunch and we enjoyed it.

But, not wanting to waste too much time, we got into our car and drove to Clinton, Connecticut. The place was empty—a far cry from Saturday afternoon when it had been heaving. Llew was very lucky, His intention was to get into Nike and buy himself a pair of sneakers—and he was very pleased to get a superb pair at a superb price. So the trip was vindicated. We poked around in a few other stores before we made our way back. Unfortunately, we were caught in horrendous traffic that slowed us down considerably. Still, we were back at Bonnie’s in time for showers and to pack all our stuff into the trunk of our car and bid goodbye to our friends as they would be leaving early tomorrow morning for their own trip to Cape Cod.

Leaving Bonnie’s, Settling into Mary-Lauren’s and Off to my Brother’s:

After saying our thanks and goodbye to our friends, we drove off to Southport to our friend, Mary-Lauren’s. Her husband Brett was working from home. It was he who showed us up to our room in their enormous home and made us feel comfortable. However, we did not stay long as we had plans to spend the evening with my brother.

The original plan was that we would have dinner at my brother’s place in Fairfield as both his children happened to be at home. Sadly, due to unavoidable circumstances, plans changed as they were unable to provide dinner. However, we had a lovely long visit with them and then left after taking a couple of pictures, as I knew that, with his son returning to uni, we would never get a complete family photograph again.

Dinner at Shake Shack:

One of my favorite upscale fast food chains at which to eat is Shake Shack and we decided that since we hadn’t eaten there yet, that would be our port of call. It was almost closing time when we got there, but we were able to place our order for their Shroom Burgers with Bacon and their extra-thick chocolate shakes which is exactly how I like them. Llew and I were the only ones at the place as we sat there and enjoyed our delicious dinner.

Just a little later, we drove to Mary-Lauren’s home and were very pleased to meet her, even if briefly, as she is off on a business trip, early tomorrow morning. We made some plans to take her out for lunch when she gets back as she will miss all the fun of the next few days with us at her place. However, her daughter Sage is home—which is a huge bonus as she is a very talkative and friendly young lady and it is always a pleasure to spend time with her.

All that was left was for us to say good night to our hosts and get ready for bed.

Until tomorrow…cheerio.

Outlet Shopping at Clinton Crossing, Lunch with Friends at Gruel Britannia, A Special Visit to Special Fairfield Friends, A Fun Cookout with ‘Dinner Club Couples’.

Saturday, August 24, 2024

Boston-Connecticut

Outlet Shopping at Clinton Crossing, Lunch with Friends at Gruel Britannia, A Special Visit to Special Fairfield Friends, A Fun Cookout with ‘Dinner Club Couples’.

We had another glorious day today! It was all about returning from Boston to Fairfield, but en route we had such a lovely time too.

Leaving Boston and Shopping at Clinton Crossing Outlets:

We Left Andover, Massachusetts, rather early in the morning and without having breakfast as we wanted to get a head start. We had a 1.00 pm appointment for lunch with friends in Fairfield Connecticut, but prior to that, we wanted to stop at our favorite designer outlet stores at Clinton Crossing in Clinton, Connecticut, to get some shopping done. The road journey (with Llew at the wheel) was quick and uneventful and we arrived in Clinton at about 11.30 pm which left us about an hour for shopping.

It is always fun to return to Clinton Crossing and to the Westfield Outlets that are a couple of exits before it. We went to Westfield first and were absolutely shocked at how deserted the place is. Most of the designer stores have closed down and were empty—the place looked like a ghost town and that too on a Saturday! We could not believe it. I was looking for a black short-sleeved shirt with a collar but could not find it anywhere.

Not to be daunted, we drove on to Clinton. There, it did look as if everyone and his brother was out shopping. Llew specifically wanted a pair of Nike sneakers; but when he went to the store, he found the line outside it so long and the wait time to enter the store to be over a half hour! That was it! We could not afford the time. I looked for a couple of things I wanted (Clark shoes) and did, in fact, find two pairs of sandals I actually liked. There was nothing to be found in my other favorite stores: Ann Taylor, Coach, Lindt, etc. But with those sandals in the bag, we left with the thought that we would return on a weekday morning to pick up Llew’s shoes.

Lunch at ‘Gruel Britannia’:

My friend Leslie and her husband Sunil had planned with us to meet at ‘Gruel Britannia’, a little British eatery on the Post Road in Fairfield, where I love the food and the ambience (given that I am such a confirmed Anglophile). Leslie was already there when we arrived, a little after 1.00 pm and found ourselves seats in the house. Sunil, her husband, joined us just a bit later.

Before we sat down to catch up and order our food, I saw the owner of the place, Karen, whom I know well. I went up there to meet her and was quite delighted at the lovey reception I received. I asked if we could take pictures together and she readily agreed. In fact, she gave me her phone number and begged me to whatsapp them to her so that she could use them on all her social media pages. It was a lovely reunion as Karen is always warm and friendly—aside from being an amazing chef.

When I did return to our table to order, we ended up with me ordering Bangers, Mash and Onion Gravy (which was just superlative), a ⁠Turkey Sandwich with Bacon and Avocado and a Side Salad for Leslie, ⁠Shepherd’s Pie for Sunil and ⁠Coronation Chicken Salad for Llew. It was a proper pub lunch and the meal offered us an opportunity to chat about everything that has been happening locally since our departure, to the travels we had recently undertaken and our plans for the future. All too soon, it was time for us to part, but we were really pleased that we were able to see another set of friends whom we love dearly.

A Visit with Special Friends in Fairfield:

The next hour was spent in the home of our friends, the Deans, in Fairfield. They are the lovely people who had left their beautiful mountain cabin home in the Grand Tetons National Park for our exclusive use (even though none of them were staying there at the time). It was fabulous to see Virginia again and to meet Jimmy who was recovering from recent surgery. We sat outside on their deck overlooking their lovely garden and were thrilled to have the opportunity to meet their son, Jimmy, who was visiting from Montana. We were too full to have even a cup of tea with them but we did enjoy our chinwag and our chance to tell them how much we had enjoyed their mountain home and how grateful we were for the opportunity to stay in it.

An Evening’s Cookout with our Dinner Club Friends:

All that was left then was our evening’s plans—for which we were running a bit late. But we were trying to squeeze in visits with a variety of friends in different places—so it was inevitable that we would end up late at some events.

When Llew and I lived in Fairfield, we had been members of a Dinner Club that met every quarter to enjoy a meal in the home of one of our members. I had requested my friend Bonnie (in whose home we were staying) to see if she could organize one of our Dinner Club evenings while we were in town. Bonnie was quick to oblige and tried to make it happen: but, since August is such a busy month, several of the members had other plans. In the end, it was just Art and Bonnie and Dan and Amy who were free to join in.

Nevertheless, Bonnie went all out to organize a really lovely pot-luck do. For starters, there was a delicious Lamb Sausage from an Italian deli which we enjoyed with drinks on her beautifully-decorated deck. Then, Art did some fantastic grilling—we had flank steak with chimichuri sauce as his main dish and Bonnie provided all the sides: Boston baked beans, a lovely salad with ripe peaches, tomato and mozzarella, Amy brought a simple salad of arugula with shaved parmesan cheese. There was also grilled corn on the cob. For dessert, Bonnie cut us huge slices of her Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. Best of all, was the very companionable chatting we did as darkness fell over Fairfield and the fireflies came out to play on the lawns. It brought back all the years of friendship that Llew and I have enjoyed with our Book and Dinner Club friends with whom we have been through so many good times and bad during our lives in the USA. It was such a lovely setting, reminiscent of the many years of Dinner Club evenings we have enjoyed through the decades.

with that, our day came to an end and we were happy to be able to simply climb up one floor and get into bed—after trying hard to give Bonnie a hand with putting things away (although she would have none of it).

Until tomorrow, cheerio…