The Meet-ups, NYC

We had such a great time in Manhattan; part of the reason was the meet-ups. I'd contacted three people I know who live in the area; unfortunately one had to cancel, hey, there's always next time. Mary T, and her wonderful husband Vinny, came in from Queens and picked us up at our hotel. It was so great to meet them IRL. Mary wears a number of hats, in blog land, Work of the Poet, where she host Ruby Tuesday, Mary Tomaselli's Photos, Sepia Scenes, and Window Views; plus she teaches college courses. She makes me look like a slacker! Vinny is retired, and like Bob, not a blogger. We all had so much in common; we had a wonderful time.

They whisked us off to The Cloisters, where Mary and I each took hundreds of photos. Each trip to NYC, I've wanted to visit this museum, but never fit it into our busy schedule. The day couldn't have been more perfect. The Tomaselli's and the Prytz's have similar museum visiting styles. Go in, see as much as possible, have a lot of fun and leave.

After our visit to The Cloisters, Vinny chauffeured us to a fabulous NY deli. The portions here gigantic, each plate would have easily served all us. Mary and Vinny were very generous with us; Mary even gave me a wonderful bag of books. I can never have too many books.

Our next meet-up was with a former bookseller, Melissa. She majored in Criminal Justice in college, because she always wanted to be a Fed. Below are some shots she emailed to me when she was going thru the Secret Service academy.

Yes, she does carry guns and knows how to use them. She's stationed in NYC, as a diplomat, but has traveled the world with various members of the State Department. She's protected both Condoleezza Rice and Hilary Clinton, among others. She'll stay in NYC for two years and then be posted somewhere else in the world. She's fluent in Spanish, so it'll be interesting to see where she goes, next. We had a great time catching up; she and Bob have a lot in common, and really get along. She pick a Greek restaurant and it was fabulous.