New York & Great Day with Barbie & Jeff

We stayed across from the 23rd Precinct- This NYC Station House is a landmark building in the Medieval Revival style, constructed in 1908 to serve the Tenderloin. The unusual building style, commonly associated with armories, looks like a "police station"!

For breakfast we went to "Luckin Coffee" a China-driven pioneer of a technology run new retail model that offers coffee and other products of high quality (delicious), high affordability (.99 a cup for "a signature coconut latte" the first time) and high convenience (can only order and pay online, no cash) to our customers. The AI technology is at the core of this business, from customer engagement and storefront operations to supply chain management and quality control. They opened on March 31, 2023, with 2 stores in Singapore. Best sellers include: Coconut Latte, Velvet Latte, Little Butter Latte, and Orange Americano. We loved Luckin for its taste and efficiency .. not sure about the fact that the only way to order and pay is online and that their goal is to continue this incredible growth and "take over the World". https://www.luckincoffee.com.sg/

Next stop was Ess-a-Bagel.
Where to go for a great NYC bagel? Now that's a problem when there are a dozen wonderful bagel shops just in midtown Manhattan. We choose Ess-a-bagel for its history in NY and legacy for those that lived here. In 1976 Ess-a-Bagel by Florence and Gene Wilpon and Florence's brother Aaron Wenzelberg. Coming from an Austrian baking family, the art of baking or crafting the perfect bagel came naturally to them. Within two years of opening, Ess-a-Bagel was voted #1 in the Tri-State area, and had attracted a loyal following. In 1993 Florence expanded the business and opened a second store. In 2013, Florence passed away and her sister Muriel and niece Melanie took over the operation. Florence always had a passion for the bagel business. It was her baby and she nurtured and grew it with the same ingredient that continues to be part of their DNA ... both of us had a wonderful bagel breakfast.

After a stop at Dunkin Donuts (rare in CA), we jumped on our Amtrak train and got to Annapolis where we rented a car and drove to Barbie & Jeffs (old friends) to spend the rest of the day and evening. We had a wonderful day catching up with them and lots of laughs too. Unfortunately, the resident photographer was so engrossed by all of our conversations that he forgot to to take any photos. Believe us, we were all smiling all day!!!! We enjoyed a wonderful home cooked meal prepared by Barbie topped off with her delicious apple cake for dessert. And then she sent us off with extra apple cake leftovers for our breakfast the next morning in the hotel (much better than any hotel breakfast)!Læs mere