Christmas in Baltimore, Virginia and New York

Christmas was a strange time for me, the first time in some 35 years I had not had to organise a family traditional Christmas, I left my gifts before I left the country.
Christmas morning dawned cold and bright, phone calls home were made, then the day was ours. Our first stop was for a family breakfast with the family of a friend, the fare traditional grits, eggs, ham and biscuits, with the entire family of 11, they made us so welcome. Then on to wonderful friends made last summer, in Exton, Virginia for Christmas lunch, Ann and Brett and their family again welcomed us as part of the family, real wonderful hospitality, a traditional Christmas lunch followed by Ann's amazingly good cheesecake, it was devine.
Leaving around 7 p.m. for Four days in New York, at my man's apartment lived in by his 21 year old son and two friends.
New York was an amazing time catching up with old friends not seen for some 30 years, wonderful meals at amazing restaurants, the highlight had to be an invitation to Julie and Joey's the day before we left for a dinner of clams on the half shell, steamed clams and followed by Lobsters, much wine was drunk and my mission that day had been to find three or four different kinds of cheesecake to finish the meal with, so we could have a vote of which was best.
Seeing New York at Christmas time was magical, from the huge tree in Times Square with the ice rink, and the decorations in the shops. Christmas in America is much more low key than the hype of here, they have that at Thanksgiving. It was however a wonderful experience.
Driving past Ground Zero, I was amazed that 10 years on, this is not completed yet. My tour of New York that day took in Greenwich Village, China Town, fascinating, then the Dakota Building
where Lennon lived and was shot outside, and the Monument Strawberry Fields in Central Park.
We left the following morning in good time to meet up with more friend for lunch on the way home to Baltimore.
It was a wonderful time made even more special with being with my first love from all those years ago, my first husband, we were reunited only this time last year after a parting of 33 years.