Vacation Day 3 - It's a bird! It's a plane! Yep, it's a Plane.

Our final outing in NYC was to go have brunch at Balthazar which is a very "it" place in the Village. The last couple of times we've been to NYC Ben and I have tried to go there but, being the lowly plebeians that we are, could only manage to buy a couple of pastries from the attached boulangerie. This time, not only did we snag a table, but there was no wait! Sweet. The Eggs Benedict were totally worth the effort to drag ourselves down to the Village once again. I also happened to look over my shoulder to see Tyra Banks chowing down on something equally delicious I'm sure. Celebrity sighting #2!!



Next stop in our adventure was Ben's dad's house in upstate New York. One important fact about Ben's dad is that he owns a Piper Cherokee plane. That's right. A plane. A very small (and I later learned somewhat old) plane. Ben mentioned that he wouldn't mind going flying, but the weather didn't look too promising. Until we actually got to upstate New York where it was actually quite nice and calm. The idea turned into reality and when asked if I wanted to go, well, of course I said yes. **Mom, you may want to skip this part**

Here's the pilot Michael (aka Dad) pulling the plane out of the hanger. ONE person can pull the plane. That's how small it was.

Here's co-pilot Ben standing next to the plane (note how he's taller than the plane)

Passenger Sarah sporting awesome headphones


And we're in the air! Pilot and co-pilot dutifully monitoring the controls (well, the pilot was anyway)


My view out the plane window...the stately home kind of standing off by itself in the foreground is the National Historic Site of the home of FDR


Coming in for a landing! Eeeeeeeeeeee!


Made it back to solid ground safely! Here's a pic of me next to the plane looking very pleased with myself for being so adventurous

We were in the air for almost an hour and it really wasn't as frightening as I thought it would be. Not as rough or as choppy as I thought either...a pretty smooth ride actually. We flew up and back down the Hudson and got great views of the Mohonk Mountain House as well as the Catskills. Fun!

To wrap up this exciting day, we had dinner at one of the restaurants located in the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY. It was technically Ben's birthday dinner, but it was also a real treat for me to visit the CIA knowing how many incredibly talented chefs that I admire have passed through those doors. We also got a great table right in front of the kitchen so we could watch the student chefs all a-flurry with activity. The female pastry chef, in particular, looked like she was about to blow a gasket from all the stress that scooping ice cream can bring. Hee!

We were told that the students rotate working front of the house and back of the house over a six week period in at least two of the three main CIA restaurants. Most of the time, the students hate working the front of the house. Zey are CHEFS, dammit! But luckily, our waiter was very good natured about it all and very entertaining. It was a truly superb meal! If you get a chance, GO!

What a great end to the day! We still have two more days of vacation to go...what else could possibly happen?