We were up at 5am and immediately off to Heathrow with Keith at the wheel. Everything went very smoothly with the automated bag drop and priority security check. We had a good breakfast and a brief visit to the vast BA lounge. We’d been upgraded to Club so we had a super comfortable flight.

US immigration was swift and surprisingly welcoming. Avis had a very nice Ford Fusion waiting and the Waze lady guided us to the Midtown tunnel through some lesser know parts of Queens and Brooklyn. We arrived at Jinny’s hotel – the Marriott Marquis – around midday, dropped the car with the parking valet and Jinnie’s bag with the hotel porter and went across the street to Junior’s for lunch.

After lunch we met up with Jinny’s room mate and her dad. Georgie and I left them to check in and drove up to our digs at the Courtyard Marriott in Tarrytown. A restoring snooze and then we drove down to the riverside for supper at Hudson Farmer and the Fish.

Georgie and I started our day with breakfast on the sidewalk in Tarrytown. First stop was Crest Drive which was alarmingly neglected and overgrown. Fortunately Birch Close was a lot more as we remembered it and we stopped at a lemonade stand on the corner and chatted to a couple of current residents.

Millwood next and we found the A&P transformed into a beautiful DeCiccio & Sons. We stopped at Gedney Park – lovely as ever. Then on to Georgie’s old schools: Westorchard, Horace Greeley and Robert E Bell.

Saving the best for last we drove on down to Chappaqua. Hooker Lane, now Meade Lane, was quite changed. The old Vasallo driveway was blocked and the circle didn’t appear to have been resurfaced since our time. Number 5 has a new fancy porch and some granite facing and the wood shingles have been painted.

While we were being nosey a car drew up. It was the dog sitter and Georgie told her our story. She called the owner and Georgie talked her. She was happy for us to look around the outside which we did. My old bump-out at the corner of the kitchen has been replaced by much bigger extension and the screen porch has been filled in. Round the back there’s a big high-level deck off the living room but our mid-level deck is still there.

Our last stop of the day was the Seven Bridges Field Club. It was much as we remembered ‘tho the pool seemed to have been foreshortened and separated from the little pond. Georgie asked a couple about this. It turned out she was Erica Keiter, a good friend of Jocie Weaver’s. I dimly remembered the Keiters and we had a good chat exchanging names and memories from forty years ago.

We drove up round the Tarrytown lakes and back through Katonah and Bedford Hills before taking the Saw Mill River Parkway back to Tarrytown. Georgie and I shared a 40oz Tomahawk steak for dinner at Ruth’s Chris to finish off a really excellent day.

Georgie went off early to meet her friend Laura in Briarcliff Manor and I had a pretty unsatisfactory quesadilla in the hotel lobby. She returned at 10am and we went off to Hooker Lane to meet Shane and Peter. We were early. Shane had gone out for croissants and Peter was in the shower so we cooled our heels on the new porch for ten minutes.

Shane and Peter were lovely and we had a long chat before looking around the house. The house was both changed and very familiar. Shane helped us recreate a photo from forty years ago.

We drove on down to Manhattan via the Throg’s Neck bridge to get a glimpse of Cryder House – our first home in New York.

We made another detour so we could arrive “Feeling’ Groovy’ via the 59th Street Bridge, but our arrival at The Knickerbocker Hotel was marred by the fact that hotel parking was a block away walking – but many blocks by car. Here are the directions from Knickerbocker to City Parking:

• Drive East down 42nd Street to 3rd Avenue.
• Turn Left on 3rd Avenue.
• Drive North to 47th Street.
• Turn Left on 47th Street.
• Head West on 47th Street to 5th Avenue.
• Turn Left on 5th Avenue.
• Drive South to 43th Street.
• Turn Right on 43th Street.
• Garage entrance will be on Left side of street between 5th Avenue and 6th Avenue.

Eventually we made it to the hotel. Our rooms weren’t ready so we went across the street to The Counter: A Cheeseburger for Georgie and a BLT for me. We felt much better.

After a rest we headed out to meet Jinny and go up Father Duffy Square for the ‘Dance The World’ performance. Lots of waiting round but it was worth it in the end.

We made a lazy start as Georgie wanted to watch the Grand Prix. About 10.30 Georgie called an Uber to take us down to The Edge. We had a great time on open-air deck. An old rocker from Arizona took photos for us and we chatted about the bands we loved back in the seventies.

I booked lunch at the Queensyard and it was perfect. We sat overlooking Thomas Heathwick’s Vessel – a structure made up of 154 flights of stairs. After lunch Georgie bought some gifts for her kids in the Hudson Yards mall. Then we wandered down the High Line to 23rd street and called an Uber to take us back to the hotel.

That evening Georgie and I took an Uber up to the Upper West Side to have dinner with Gretchen Atkins. Gretchen’s apartment was typical New York with a canopy on the street and a doorman. We had drinks on the roof and Gretchen made us a lovely supper. It was a memorable evening with lots of chat about old times and new.

Georgie walked over to the Marriott Marquis to collect Jinny and they knocked on my door just before 8am. We took an Uber down to Battery Park to catch the Liberty Island boat at 9am. The boat was packed and the weather was very grey with intermittent light rain. We walked round the island and took photos before returning to Manhattan via Ellis Island. By the time we got back the building were shrouded in mist.

We walked from Battery Park up to George’s for breakfast. Georgie had french toast with bacon and sausage; Jinny had a chocolate waffle with bacon, and I had corned beef hash. All just right!

It was a short walk from George’s to Ground Zero. The park is very beautiful with the South and North pools where the twin towers once stood. A very effective and moving memorial.

In the evening we took a short walk over to Bryant Park which was buzzing with activity. We had dinner in the Bryant Park Grill. As we left we paused to watch the start of a Star Trek movie playing on a big screen in the park.

Before setting off for Long Island we walked up to Rockefeller Centre. We walked through the NBC building – now the Comcast Building – to the Plaza. The building was as beautiful as ever but unfortunately the Plaza was closed off because they were shooting a movie. Not that we saw any action but we weren’t able to take the iconic photo of Prometheus with building behind. We did manage to get a shot of Atlas in front of the International building where the BBC offices used to be. We walked on up to the corner of Central Park and the Apple store. We had a coffee and croissant at Le Bilboquet on 60th street before getting our Apple fix.

We took a yellow cab back to the hotel. Check out and departure was very smooth and we headed out along 42nd street past Grand Central station to the Midtown Tunnel. We stopped for a delicious lunch in Patchogue at an unassuming little place called South Ocean Grill. I had a wonderful shrimp risotto with scallops, Jinnie had pasta and Georgie a chicken sandwich. All very good.

We got to the Sag Harbor Inn just before 4pm. It’s just the kind of place we wanted for a few days relaxation to finish off our trip. I went for a swim in the pool before we all set off for an early supper at the Bell and Anchor.

Georgie and Jinny had a slow start this morning so I headed into the village for breakfast at K Pasa: Scrambled Egg with Bacon, Grilled Tomatoes and Coconut Black Beans. I strolled up to the Dock and back down Main Street before heading back towards the Sag Harbor Inn. I met G and J on the way. They were planning to stay at the hotel so I took the car on over the little ferry to explore Shelter Island.

I stopped for a coffee on the deck at Marie Eiffel Market in During Harbor before filling up the car. Then on to Sunset Beach for a glass of Chardonnay and a Lobster Roll.

I got back to hotel at about 3pm and Georgie and Jinny took the car over to Bridgehampton to do a bit of shopping. I stayed for a snooze and a swim.

Supper was to be at Rita Cantina but I got the time wrong and we arrived there to find they’d given our table away. We managed to get in to Page at 63 Main in Sag Harbor and had a great meal there.

We got started at about 8am and drove up to Montauk to catch the ferry to Block Island. It was a beautiful day but the second half of the ferry trip was shrouded in fog. When we docked at New Harbor, Paul and Kathy were waiting to meet us. They were just the same as ever and we got straight into chatting about all our memories of great times together. Kathy drove us over to the house they were renting in a spectacular setting on The Bluffs. Mandy was there with her three girls and Brad & Kaiser with their son. We’d missed Josie who already gone home.

Kathy had made us a great lunch with hot dogs and salads and we all sat with beers and sodas shooting the breeze for a couple of hours. Then we went off to have a proper look at The Bluffs. I rode with Kathy and Paul and Georgie and Jinny went with Mandy and Kit, her eldest daughter. We went on to meet the rest of the family on Mansion Beach which Kathy reminded us is were we used to go when we were last on Block Island with them nearly 40 years ago! I had a paddle and finally we said goodbye to all the kids and grandkids and Paul and Kathy took us off to catch the ferry.

We had a smooth trip over to Montauk and on the way back to Sag Harbor we managed to get into Bostwick’s Chowder House for supper; an authentic Hamptons experience.

We made an early start and stopped for delicious coffees etc at the Hampton Coffee Company. We got to Roosevelt Field just as it opened and spent the next 2½ hours shopping. The girls were much more successful than me! We had a fine last US lunch at Grande Luxe Café before heading to the airport.

Bag drop and security was slow but smooth and we all settled down in the BA lounge to wait for our overnight flight.