Labor Day Weekend Snapshots

Posted on September 5th, 2017

Busy weekends with back to back adventures have their place in life, but there is something so blissful about an open weekend.  On Friday, I was practically giddy at the thought of three days without much on the calendar.  There would be time to get stuff done, time to continue exploring our new neighborhood, and time for fun, too.  Despite a somewhat lackluster weather outlook in the Northeast, the weekend delivered in spades.

Saturday was our lowest key day.  It was overcast and chilly but not raining, so we had an 8 mile run before setting out on important local expeditions: I needed to find a nail salon, and Ian needed to find a barber.  To celebrate our self maintenance successes, we had a quick lunch at Walter’s, a hot dog stand that has been a Westchester staple for almost 100 years.  Certainly the best $2.50 hot dog I have ever eaten!  We spent the rest of the day mostly basking in the glorious return of college football before our usual early bedtime.

We awoke Sunday to a monsoon, but would not be deterred from our day of exploration.  One of our groomsmen has just started law school at Yale, and we were so excited to take advantage of the fact that we finally live close to our friends that we forced ourselves on him after only one week of classes.  On the first leg of our Connecticut adventure, we stopped in Westport.  I had been dying to visit the Serena & Lily design house, which on a rainy day felt like a cozy day at the beach.

With the weather having interrupted our plans to visit while strolling around the Yale campus, we had no other choice but to queue up for America’s best pizza at Frank Pepe’s.  It was my first Pepe’s experience, and as a devout pizza lover I found it practically holy.  Worth waiting in the rain for sure!

The sun broke through on Monday, and Ian and I woke up for a sunrise run to say goodbye to summer.  Always painful when the alarm goes off, but always worth it.  Besides, we were on a schedule– we had a date in Queens!

For our anniversary, Ian had given me tickets to the US Open.  I had only been to the US Open once and never to a day session, and Ian had never been to a professional tennis match at all.  The US Open feels like the Disney World of tennis, and from junior girls’ doubles to men’s singles in Arthur Ashe the excitement is palpable.  We really want to make this an annual Labor Day tradition.  Sipping a Honeydeuce in the sun watching world class athletes is the perfect summer send off.

Summer is my absolute favorite, and I will never say I’ve had enough, but our Labor Day Weekend was a wonderful encapsulation of summer’s sweetness that leaves me satisfied and looking forward to next year!  And looking on the bright side: at least autumn is my second favorite.