Up at 6, out at 8 to get from central New Jersey to Queens, for our nephew\’s aufruf (accent the first syllable, pronounce both the “au” and the “u” as you would the double-o in “good” and you\’ve got it right) – which, in simplest terms, is an honor bestowed upon a groom-to-be shortly before his wedding (our nephew and his beautiful fiance will be married next month).
Driving in was a snap. We took the turnpike to the Holland Tunnel, across Manhattan, and out the Williamsburg Bridge to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, to the Long Island Expressway, and then local streets. Much better than going through Staten Island and Brooklyn, which not only is about 8-9 miles longer, but has construction traffic up the wazoo.
Coming home, however, was a disaster. wall to wall traffic, an accident which held things up, heavy rain squalls, etc. – it took almost an hour longer than the trip in.
And in a couple of hours, we\’re heading back to Manhattan, to meet with friends. Yikes.
One other thing. Since the trip in was so fast, and we got there so early, we stopped for coffee and a cruller at the Dunkin\’ Donuts on Union Turnpike between 168th and 169th Street. The coffee was just OK, nothing more. But the cruller tasted like they dipped it in lard. One small bite and I had a discernible layer of film across my tongue and the roof of my mouth.
I have never liked the donuts at Dunkin\’ Donuts stores (not just this one, I assure you), but we were in the store, there wasn\’t a lot of time to find an alternative place, and my wife wanted a pastry rather than one of the soft bread circles they allege to be bagels. So I acquiesced. Never again.
I have no idea why people would go there.
