Even though our hotel offered a full breakfast buffet, but it didn’t have anything that Diane or Jeff wanted to eat (I would have been ok with Cheerios), so we started today with a return visit to the Golden Reef Diner for breakfast; it was far better than the Rockville Diner, which we’d hit on our first day of the trip. After that, we packed up, checked out, and headed for Diane’s alma mater.

We had two goals for our visit to Hofstra: take a campus tour, and replace Diane’s old t-shirt. We succeeded in the former, though we didn’t get the full prospective family experience because we didn’t go to the “information session”. The latter goal was more problematic — she did buy two t-shirts, but even though they were labelled as large, they fit more like smalls, which means they may not be ideal for exercising. But they do look good on her, so I’m happy.

We chose not to dine at Hofstra; instead, we went back to Valley Stream and an old favorite, Ancona. We’d never been there for a weekday lunch before, so I didn’t realize that parking might be at a premium. It was, but we found a spot without too much trouble (though I don’t think the person who was lurking halfway down the parking lot liked us), and the food was, as usual, filling and tasty. After that, we went to Ralph’s of Valley Stream for a farewell Italian ice — it’s not clear that we have any reason to go back to Valley Stream in the future, after all.

From there, it was a quick hop to JFK, followed by a long wait in the JetBlue terminal, a short flight to Richmond, dinner at Yen Ching, and then to my brother’s new house. I have to admit to being impressed by the place, especially the kitchen area. We left Jeff there playing with his younger cousin, while Diane and I went to my mother’s apartment, where we talked for a while before eventually admitting we were tired and calling it a night.

Not really, but we’ve done all that we’re going to do; we shipped seven boxes out this afternoon (many to Diane’s dad — he thought he’d seen the last of the pillows in the attic…), and Jeff spent the entire day shredding papers. In the end, we’d filled up about six trash bags and a dozen bags of paper (half of which were the result of Jeff’s shredding efforts). There is still a ton (probably literally) of stuff that we left in the attic pending a decision by Diane’s brother (things like ancient oscilloscopes); we just know that we don’t want any of it.

We had lunch today with Diane’s childhood friend — who took us back to International Delight Cafe. The food was good, but I think their ice cream is better. We didn’t sample it today, though; instead, we went across the street to Ralph’s.

We also took Jeff comic shopping; the store he likes (Time Warp) had moved to a new location; I didn’t realize it, and drove to their previous location, only to find them gone without a trace. Luckily, I had their number in my phone, and they talked us in. I hope Jeff’s other favorite comic shop (Dave’s Comics in Richmond) hasn’t moved!

Tomorrow, we’re going to go tour Hofstra University (if they’re really open — it’s Spring Break), or at the very least go to the bookstore so that Diane can replace a rather old T-shirt. We also should be able to do some geocaching, I hope. And then, tomorrow afternoon, we’re off to Richmond to visit my family for Seder. But I bet we’ll hit Ralph’s one more time before we leave town.