Our trip began with Tony "encouraging" me to play up my knee pain in the airport by requesting a wheelchair. Even though I still required crutches, I was feeling well enough to crutch to the plane but Tony would not hear of it. I soon realized why. Not only do you get to breeze through security and get priority seating (i.e. leg room) on the plane, but you become a Sherpa on wheels for the rest of the people you are traveling with. At times I had bags piled so high on my lap that I literally could not see in front of me. I just sat back, prayed that he would not run me into anything, and enjoyed the ride.
Our first stop was northern California to witness Tony's brother Chris marry his longtime girlfriend Wendy. I was honored to be asked to do a reading at the ceremony, and even more honored when I realized that I was the ONLY ONE doing a reading. Thank God I didn't know that ahead of time. As if I wasn't nervous enough already, Tony's great aunt Marion, a Catholic nun, took a moment literally right before the ceremony to read what I had chosen. I almost died. She chuckled and grunted and made some other noises that I am not totally familiar with followed by "your not really going to read that part about the children right?" and then handed it back to me. Had I not been already standing in front of all the guests I would have bolted right out the door and straight for the Clayton Club. In the end I had no choice but to white knuckle it, so I crutched my ass right up there and read the damn thing. I got about 1/2 way through it before I started to cry. I am pretty sure that I saw Aunt Marion roll her eyes at this point. But there was no turning back. After the ceremony I had several people (men and women I might add) that approached me to say that my reading had made them cry as well. Take that Sister Marion!
We spent a few days catching up with friends and family in the Bay. We conducted ourselves as sort of glorified couch surfers, sleeping in places like in-laws quarters, air mattresses, and even an actual couch with a bath sheet as our blanket. We had an amazing time at Chris's waterfront property fishing with my mom and the kids. Cienna caught her 1st fish, my mom could have caught her a Delta man with a Porche if she tried and Tony and I caught a buzz. It was a good time had by all.
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I even got to see the Chupacabra of relatives...my little brother...on the trip. Even if it was for only 20 minutes it was nice to see him.
After the all the fun in California we could hardly believe that our trip was just beginning! Philadelphia here we come! I once again put on a stellar performance at the airport and off we went to the opposite side of the country. We were greeted by the one and only Phyllis Lacca who chauffeured us to her Atlantic City penthouse on the water. Her 7 year old niece and nephew were visiting and hit it off great with the kids. Almost too great. Our kids lost all interest in hanging out with us at that point. "Aunt Phyllis" treated them to dinner at the Rainforest Cafe, Hard Rock and The Palm, got to swim in her indoor pool and ride the rides at the Steel Pier followed by M&Ms for breakfast and chocolate milk for a midnight snack. After the first day Cienna said "Mom? I want Phyllis to be my mom now. Dad can still be my dad but I want you to be my Aunt." While I could have been totally offended by that statement I got it. I wanted Phyllis to be my mom too!
Next stop, NYC! It is hard to imagine how an 8 year old and a 5 year old will hold up in a bustling city like New York. There are so many people and cars and lights that I thought they might just find a corner and lie down. Let me just say that they adjusted well to big city life. They seemed to thrive in the chaos. Finally the chaotic life that Tony and I have afforded them all these years have finally paid off!
We went to the Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, Bryant Park, Central Park, rode the subway and got a private tour of the Hard Rock in Times Square (thanks Phyllis!) where we got to go out to the marquis and take pictures high above the crowds. It was an amazing and unique experience!
By far the funniest memory I have of New York came when we went to go visit the Hells Angels Manhattan clubhouse. Tony's friend told him to go down, ask for so-and-so and well...it's all very hush hush. After taking Uber to the clubhouse we pulled up outside a door with flames on it, motorcycles parked in front and a rough looking bunch standing outside. Cienna flings open the door to the car and says in her loudest voice "Uhhh! This is the clubhouse? I thought they play tennis there! This place is scary!" and exits the car. It was beyond classic. My little country club snob has no time for the Hells Angels anymore!
After wrapping up NYC we headed to Philadelphia to get our education on. Or so I thought. Cienna and AJ were asked to spend the night at Gianna and Benny's house and without giving it two they ditched us like a hot potato. It was OK. Our hotel was amazing and we got to spend a night on the town without kids!
The next and final day of our trip we ran around Philly trying to see as much as possible before returning to home sweet home. We managed to see Independence Hall,the Liberty Bell (we cheated a little), Benjamin Franklin's grave and Betsy Ross's House.
It was an amazing trip from coast to coast. We took planes, trains, automobiles, buses and carriages. And some how we managed to get home in one piece! Spring Break 2015 was one for the ages!
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