December 14 The #1 Reason I Come To NYC

"And there are more I remember
And more I could mention
Than words I could write in a song
But I feel them watching
And I see them laughing
And I hear them singing along

We're all gonna be here forever
So mama don't you make such a stir
Just put down that camera
And come on and join up
                                                   The last of the family reserve" - Family Reserve by Lyle Lovett

I have family all over this country. But I have not lived close to any relatives for most of my life. And thanks to my mother, I love visiting family. She instilled the importance of family in me at a very young age. So whenever she gave me a choice of where to go for Easter vacation or summer vacation, I chose NYC because it is the city where both sides of my family originally lived. And I got to stay with my grandparents and spend time with my aunts, uncles and cousins. It was during those visits that I fell in love with the city. So early this morning we said goodbye to Georgie & Marcy when they left to fly home to California. We are leaving later today so I still had time to spend at home before we headed back to Chicago...the place where I live. We had breakfast at the Le Petite Cafe.

The food here is fantastic and the outdoor eating area in back is the most incredibly decorated area I have ever seen in a restaurant. Here's Chrissy checking out the menu...

 ...and here she is amazed that we can eat outside on a 20 degree day...

...in such a beautiful place. After breakfast, we decided to do some Christmas shopping locally along Court Street in Carroll Gardens. Of course I took some pictures along the way.

I have explained my love for NYC over the past five blogs. There are many reasons I love this place and here is a picture of my number one reason for visiting NYC

This is my Aunt Maryann's dining room table. Even though we only had a couple of hours to spend with her, she cooked the best meal meal we had all week long. Yes, that is a plate of chicken cutlets in the foreground and eggplant cutlets in the background. Since my Uncle Freddie was stuck at work, it was just the three of us.  Now I know you are asking, "Gregg you fat bastard, why isn't there a picture of the wonderful lady that cooked you this incredible meal?" She wouldn't let me take her picture and I didn't have time to argue. I had to catch a plane which meant I had limited time to attack those cutlets. So now you know why I love NYC so much. It has so much to offer everyone that visits. But it has that something special for me...family.