Thursday morning the 10th, we rented a car early in the morning and made our way to West Haven to meet up with Elder and Sister Mouritsen. We met up with Kathy at a park where she introduced us to some members of the Woodbridge Ward (which they are serving in). While Elder Mouritsen was off giving a blessing to a member in need we met Heidi, Jen, Sarah, Taylor, and Jaime (an investigator) and Nikki and Rob (who we have read so much about in their letters). It was a really nice experience meeting such wonderful people while the little ones ran around playing.
After Elder Mouritsen returned we decided to get some lunch at a seaside restaurant called Stowes. It was one of those lunch shacks that specialize in fried seafood. We enjoyed sitting outside on a picnic table catching up and learning about missionary work in the area.
We first stopped to visit Jaquie. A recent convert originally from Jamaica. She was a really sweet lady who just recently had surgery. You could tell that she really loves the Mouritsens and has a special relationship with them. After visiting for a bit and before leaving, the four of us sang "Oh, How Lovely Was the Morning". I think she appreciated it. I know I did. It was fun singing harmony with the Mouritsens again:)
After we left Jaquie's place we went to visit with Taylor, one of the mothers from the park. She is really sweet with two children, Rowan (a boy) and a newborn girl, Sloan. Her husband is not a member but had come to church the previous Sunday for Sloan's blessing.
Our next visit was in New Haven, CN at Yale University. Dick and Kathy wanted us to see the area and we stopped at the bookstore to find a souvenir hat and bell as well. Rick found a hat but there was no bell in sight:( I did buy a fun book for our grandkids as well as some chocolate covered almonds that we shared in the car:)
Our next stop was to the Montoya family. They are a less active family with a son, Victor, who is preparing for baptism. The mother was not there so we did not get a chance to meet her, but we did visit shortly with Victor, Eliana (his older sister) and the neighbor boy Shawn.
Next, we went to a unique grocery store called Stu Leonards. Stu Leonard was a friend of Walt Disney and we could certainly tell because this grocery store was not your average grocery store. It had talking cows, crabs climbing ropes, and chickens crowing. For little children this grocery store is heaven. Lots of interactive things for them!
Clover the talking cow!
Our last stop of the evening was the Hartford, CN Temple. With Rick's and my goal to visit ten new temples this year, getting to Hartford was on our list of things to do. The temple was closed for cleaning which was a huge bummer but we enjoyed walking around and taking pictures of the outside. This temple is so pretty! With its tall steeple it reminded me a lot of Independence Hall in Philadelphia....except that it's white. These pictures don't do it justice but it was such a beautiful sight with the sun setting in the distance.
Group shot selfie.
Before we left the Mouritsens they took us back to their apartment to show it to us. Elder Mouritsen just kept saying, "the church takes care of it's senior missionaries!" Of course, we already knew that;-) They love their apartment and it is in a nice complex with a pool and gym. It has two bedrooms and two baths and their back sliding door leads out onto a grassy area into the woods.
It was very nice!
We didn't get left from the Mouritsens until about 9:30 and we had a two hour drive to get back to NYC. I'm so thankful for Rick who drove the whole way. After 10:00 I could NOT keep my eyes open. (Which really is nothing new in my case!) But we were able to arrive safely back to the BW Hotel and drop into bed.
The next morning we left bright and early to get to our next destination. Atlantic City! We arrived at the Courtyard by 11 AM and not only did we get an early check in, they also upgraded our room to a suite. (Love our Marriott Platinum status!) After our small NYC room it was nice to have some space to spread our wings:)
The famous Atlantic City boardwalk was filled with shops and food. (and we passed a couple of
psychic shops along the way as well!) Atlantic City is a lot like a small Vegas with lots of gambling establishments, etc. We even passed three strip joints in five minutes' driving. I think this city probably was a big deal back in the day but to us it was just kind of a run down, gritty town:( Sorry, Atlantic City lovers!
We did enjoy the boardwalk with it's sights and smells and especially the beautiful Atlantic Ocean. We got to stick our feet in the sand and even put our toes in the water. It was really cold!
We really enjoyed just sitting on the sand watching the waves come in as well as some of the crazy people willing to swim in that freezing water. Rick even took a little snooze as we were sitting there.
We stopped at a hole in the wall place, called Bill's Gyros, recommended by our valet. As we walked in, a customer who was sitting with his wife and eating a plate of mozzarella sticks said to us, "You've got to have the mozzarella sticks cooked crispy! They're so delicious and gooey on the inside!" So we did. I also got a chicken sandwich while Rick got the gyro, which in AC it is pronounced Ji Ro! HAHA!
The mozzarella sticks were indeed....delicious!
The walls and ceiling of the Ji Ro place were covered, literally covered in dollar bills. Some from other countries but mostly from America. If that place ever burns down, that'll be a lot of lost cash!!
Atlantic Ocean.....lots of shells on the beach. Typical for the Atlantic. Our grandkids would have loved exploring here.
After going back to the hotel and taking a snooze we got up and got gussied up for the occasion that brought us back east in the first place. The Brian Regan show. Rick bought me tickets for Christmas. We love Brian Regan. He is super funny and very clean. That's hard to find in a comedian. We were a little concerned that seeing that he might let his hair down and be crude, seeing that we were in a more coarse environment. He wasn't. The show was great and we had a lot of good laughs!
Before the show we stopped at PF Changs for some walnut shrimp and lo mein. YUMMM!!
The next morning we got up early again and drove an hour and a half to Philadelphia. We were excited to get into another temple to get closer to our yearly goal (we are at seven temples already, Yay!) I was surprised that this temple is so close to the city center. Just a few minutes from the historical sights. We were able to do some initiatory work and spend some time in the celestial room.
That is always nice:)
After the temple we went downtown to see some of the historical sights. We only had a short time to sightsee since we were flying out that afternoon but we got to see the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Two Philadelphia icons.
We stopped for lunch at a little cafe that had patio seating. The weather was very nice, so that made our time there really enjoyable. While I ordered yet another chicken sandwich......
Rick got the PHILLY BEEF STEAK SANDWICH. When in Rome...... :-) Both of our lunches tasted fabulous!
That was the last hurrah of our trip. We boarded a plane and flew into Chicago and then on to home.
What fun memories we made on this little getaway.
I always love to be with my hunny!
