This was definitely one of those all over the place types of weekend with lots of variety and experiences. There were some fun experiences with friends that were pretty routine and normal, and then adventures that were brand new to me. Friday night I was able to meet up with some of my besties at Minerals Sports Club Tiki Bar. We had a great time catching up with Brad, Steve and JG. We definitely made our fun time count, that's for sure.
Saturday morning bestie Artie talked me into joining him, Margie, George and Mayor Paul at Birdie's for breakfast. I knew there was a pretty long day ahead of me, so getting a hearty breakfast was probably a good idea. I did basic scrambled eggs with bacon, homefries and toast. Not exactly a change of pace for me at all, lol. I looked over and noticed that Margie was enjoying a smoked salmon. She reminded me the importance of going past page two in menus sometimes. Margie is right, that looks like a fun option for me to try sometime. We all had fun meals. Success. I was then able to venture from there over to Jenny's Cleaners on 23 in Hamburg. I was really due to pick up my dry cleaning, and relatively due to drop off my current batch of dress shirts. I was in and out of there quickly with friendly service per usual.
Earlier Saturday morning, Brendan and Jasen texted me asking if I had plans after we attended the celebration of life for our dear, late friend Janice. I told him not at all. We knew that the celebration of life was at an Elks Lodge in Ridgefield, Park. Brendan then texted our thread and asked if I was okay going to Carpaccio. Always up for an adventure, I replied with "Sure!" Immediately after sending that text, I googled Carpaccio to learn that it's a nice Italian restaurant at American Dream Mall. This had me excited. Even though I've seen American Dream Mall dozens of times while tailgating at MetLife Stadium before all of those New York Giants games we go to every year, this would be my first time ever going inside this enormous attraction. Is it okay to use the word "attraction," when talking about a mall? In this case, I firmly believe the answer is an absolute yes.
The celebration of life for our late friend Janice Heule was a wonderful, touching tribute. She had many friends in both Vernon and Bergen County as well. Janice's loved ones did a very touching photo tribute to her. I just know she would have been so proud at both of her terrific kids Alex and Danielle, and her tribute.
Tough to believe I've been to Bergen County for these types of events now twice in the past three weeks. Tough year for so many.
1 of 9 2 of 9 3 of 9 4 of 9 5 of 9 6 of 9 7 of 9 8 of 9 9 of 9
Saturday afternoon, I ventured over to American Dream Mall with Brendan and Jasen. Just like last month seeing Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts without any signage to make way for generic FIFA World Cup signage, it was just as surreal seeing MetLife Stadium without the signage I've seen (and done selfies in front of) dozens of times.
It's so wild when telling stories about American Dream Mall. I've been here in Jersey for 12 and a half years, and at least the first half of my time here there were always questions, jokes and memes wondering whether or not The American Dream Mall would ever even open to the public. Construction basically started right before the Recession, and it took several ownership changes to make it finally open.
The minute I walked in, this place was worth the wait and build up too. There were stores both high end (which I just kept walking quickly by) and regular ones too. Just like with restaurants, they had a selection of high end like Capparcio, and regular ones I'm used to like Yard House. Yard House is basically a big, glorified sports bar chain, often with upwards of a hundred beers on tap. You could spend days there eating. I think there were 3 separate massive food courts, with types of food from all over the world.
I had fun checking out attractions like Nickelodeon, and Big Snow. To think Mountain Creek basically has a presence there and you can watch skiers/snowboarders just like I do from my deck every winter. Many joked that I must have felt right at home. Indeed, I did!
Both Jasen and Brendan had wonderful meals at the restaurant. Mine didn't work out as well. I ended up with the jumbo crabcake, which normally is right up my alley. This one had tons of onions, I was done after one bite. While I wish they put on the menu that there were onions in it, all is okay. With all of this pollen, I wasn't that hungry anyway. I was honestly more happy with the wonderful experience we had checking out this place.
They have a self serve wine bar right in the middle of this mall! Really cool setup I have to say. You get a card right up front, and then basically go over to where they have two self serve wine stations. You swipe the card, see a bottle you want to try, and then click on whether you want a 3, 6, or 9 ounce sample of the wine. I enjoyed a cabernet little sample and it was lovely. They even have enough faux grass everywhere where you can almost not tell you're in the middle of a massive mall. Almost. Lol.
1 of 12 2 of 12 3 of 12 4 of 12 5 of 12 6 of 12 7 of 12 8 of 12 9 of 12 10 of 12 11 of 12 12 of 12
Sunday I slept later than planned, probably from the pollen. All good. I was able to shower up and go see Girlfriend Brooks in Hackettstown. She said our plans were hopefully to get get our propane gas tank replaced for grilling, GNC, and ShopRite Mansfield to "pickup ketchup and a few other things." Okay, all good. I was then explaining to Brooks at around 2pm "okay let's go, it's Sunday we want to make sure these places aren't closed by the time we get there." Brooks cracked up and said "Oh Steve, our Boy, you've been spending too much time in Bergen County lately!" She may be right.
Getting propane turned out to be Epic. Would you believe it took us 4 gas stations to finally get it replaced? That was another adventure to talk about on another day. At least we finally got it and were able to grill. We then went to ShopRite. Brooks asked me "should I get a cart?" I replied with "You're the one with a list, I'm not sure if you need one." Girlfriend Brooks then got a grocery carriage, and then busted on me for calling it a carriage instead of a cart. Apparently carriage might be a New England thing? Long story short, this is NOT what I would refer to as a "few things." Whether you want to call it a grocery cart or carriage, Girlfriend Brooks filled it! This is definitely not my definition of a few things! If she asked me to take her grocery shopping, would I have still done it? Honestly yes, I would have. This was more about the principle of me feeling bamboozled! Several friends have since said "Steve, that's how women are." So you're saying I can't trust them? Lol.
Sunday night, we were able to grill some hot dogs Padre gave us a few weeks ago, and some Linguica straight from Fresh Catch in Mansfield we recently bought. Everything was great. Success!
Time to start planning next weekend, that will involve us celebrating a wedding for our friends Tracey and Jack. This will be fun!