Washington Heights

My dad's youngest brother, Randel, lives in NYC, up in the Washington Heights neighborhood on the very upper West Side of Manhattan. He has lived in that area for many years and has a dog-walking service, so he knows a lot of people in the neighborhood.

When we first got off the subway and met up with Randel last Friday, he was finishing up a dog-walk and after we took the dog home to his apartment, Randel took us on a little walking tour of the neighborhood. We walked past his apartment complex and over to Ft. Tryon Park, which is a beautiful area overlooking the Hudson River. It was one of the forts that George Washington had when he was fighting off the British during the American Revolution. Unfortunately, Washington lost some battles up there and the British occupied New York until the end of the war, but we know how the whole thing turned out. And old George got a big bridge named after him, too!

For lunch, Randel wanted to take us to one of his favorite hang-outs, an Irish Pub called Le Cheile (pronounced, "La Shay," meaning "Together"). It was fun to talk with the Scottish bartender and another Irish bartender and waitress and to see Randel among his neighborhood friends. It reminded me of the TV show, "Cheers," where "everybody knows your name"!

Randel moved to NY when I was a teenager and once I turned 16, I was allowed to take the bus by myself into Manhattan and Randel would meet me at the Port Authority (eventually). We'd spend the day walking around the city and taking in museums or eating in Little Italy. It was fun to have some time to see Randel and to have Daniel experience some of NYC with his great uncle while we were there.