After our quick escape from Tony, we headed to Indiana, Pennsylvania for the night. It was a college town and school was out and therefore, nothing was open. So we ate some cheese and wine for dinner, went to bed and left the next morning for DC! There were a bunch of signs for Punxatawney that delighted Jaymin to no end. He was absolutely certain this was the town from the movie Groundhog Day that was the namesake of Punxatawney Phil. He was right. However as he made a few wrong turns we elected not to investigate any further and continued south to Virginia to spend some time with Casey, Liam, Brooklyn & Ashton.

We had a beautiful 5 days of family time, sightseeing and long overdue late night discussions. The weather was hot and so we were able to spend evenings outside bbqing and sipping on sparkles. We felt so comfortable and relaxed thanks to our amazing hosts and left a bunch of our things in the basement to ensure a return visit in the not too distant future!

Not sure why, but I’d had a strong desire to eat at an Italian chain restaurant called Olive Garden for the whole time we’d been in the States. Virginia was the place this dream was to be fulfilled, endless salad and breadsticks included. We spent an afternoon at a very dog friendly winery and Jaymin and Liam had an eventful night at Chics n Wings that left them feeling rather hung the following day. Jaymin also mistakenly attempted entry into the CIA which resulted in some stern words and the threat of arrest. He responded by parking around the corner and being moved on by a patrolling police vehicle. Thankfully escaping the authorities, but most likely being tracked, we then visited the Lincoln Memorial, the Museum of Natural History and took a few snaps at the Whitehouse.

Such a lovely time and we can’t wait to come back to play and read Brooklyn some more stories and to see Ashton growing into a little man!

We drove back North and had a couple more days in NY before we were due to fly out to the UK. Since we still had wheels we thought we would check out the Hamptons. Ainslie was in town staying with Rhenny so she jumped in with us and we spent hours travelling through miserable wet weather, in backed up traffic before arriving to see the mega mansions on the beach. Unfortunately due to the weather, we didn’t really want to be out walking around so we found a little pub to eat delicious chilli for lunch and then headed back in the car to Brooklyn.

That evening we had a girls night out and went to a really cool bar in the West Village called The Happiest Hour to chat and sip on some delicious cocktails. The following day, accompanied by Ainslie we wandered through Brooklyn one last time, enticed into a restaurant for brunch by a waiter giving out free cookies. One last meal before going home, packing our bags and heading for JFK. We forgot to fill the car with gas before returning it but the Budget guy was super nice and let Jaymin burn around the corner only to return it within minutes of the deadline. Goodbye for now North America, we will be back early next year on a one-way ticket!

T & J