A Saturday night in Hoboken. I just got back from dinner and a stroll with my sister Annemarie and our niece Meghan. We had some pizza at Grimaldi’s on Washington Street, much like we did last year. Annemarie and I eat at Grimaldi’s at least once each time she is back on the east coast. Last year Meghan joined us. Bill usually joins us too but his schedule did not permit it this time around. We’ve also been joined by Earl, Julio and Stine at various times, but this year was a repeat of last year, sitting in the sidewalk café.

It’s a beautiful night and perfect for a stroll. There were a lot of other people who had the exact same concept it seemed. Tons of people and families roaming about on the shores of the Hudson River. A nice breeze and a few photo opportunities to be had. There was even a local production of The Pirates of Penzance going on. Unfortunately Gilbert & Sullivan operettas aren’t my thing and the novelty soon wore off fast despite the noble efforts of the acting troupe. I enjoyed a very nice El Rey De Mundo 60 gauge cigar and also did not want to smoke around the ‘theater goers’.

Things of course were better than yesterday, Annemarie’s husband and son made it to Eugene, OR with little difficulty. Earl was participating in a trivia event and texting his mother for answers which is actually cheating. My family is all about trivia it seems and I am often tempted to enter a trivia competition at one of the many bars and pubs in Hoboken that have those events. I think my only drawback would be sports trivia of which I know little. Music and movies I think I would excel at.

One of these nights I will give it a try I reckon. Right now The Hustler is on PBS. I never watched it before and since I am writing this while it is on, I am barely watching it now. Bill is driving to Atlantic City once again, same as he did last night, and some weekends previous. Surprisingly enough I slept quite well last night, so well that I had difficulty waking up this morning. The clock radio goes off, Elton John is singing Philadelphia Freedom and I go reaching for the snooze bar.

I was out and about soon enough and once again being a summer weekend, Hoboken had half the population it usually does or so it seemed. I visited some friends in their office and sat with them for a while, talking and sometimes even answering the telephone for them. They’re nice people and I had nothing better to do anyhow. Weekends down the Jersey shore are too crowded so staying in Hoboken is just fine by me.

Annemarie flies back west on Wednesday so we plan on one more trip to Sandy Hook on Monday. Tuesday is a chill out day. Tomorrow is a family reunion of sorts at Meghan and Rob’s house for a barbecue.

All is well.

Meghan, Annemarie and me