Mini vacay

 2 days before leaving, I ended up buyin plane ticket for $240, which is now almost unheard of, so I was like what the heck, it'll get me there fast enough without driving and also a day earlier to spend with Kirstin.
And off I go!!

New York

The first night/day I got there was mostly spent just catching up.  We ended up shopping a little for some going out clothes for Kirstin, got her a couple outfits that she can swap the tops and bottoms.  Just very laid back, hanging out.

Atlantic City

We then head out to AC and stayed at the Showboat.  It is still pre-season so the boardwalk was not fully opened yet. We managed to catch some sunset on the boardwalk beach.  The beach was not very pretty but I enjoyed it nonetheless, being that it's ocean, has sun and not Cleveland.



Atlantic City beach on boardwalk

Dinner was at Celine's cafe, a quaint little place that serve sandwiches and full meals.  We had calamari and I had the coconut shrimp.  Talk about yummy and delish.  Anyways, we took a walk down the boardwalk, think walked about 3 miles after the food, then play the slots machine.  I of course didn't win anything, only lost $10.  Kirstin actually won $30 before she was tempted by more slots to play more.  She ended up being even.

We then drove to Brigantine Beach by AC, and it was gorgeous.  The sand was prettier and just got the feel of summer beach vacay.  The beach houses there are cute, the total cape cod beach house style.  We then sort of fell asleep on the beach for about 1hr and definitely got burned.  Lunch was at Nazim's Indian buffet, good, not too Americanized.

Brigatine Beach

Philly

Got to Kirstin and Mike's house in the afternoon, pizza for dinner and pool and hot tub the rest of the night.  Had a little time to catch up with Krista as she just finished her PE. Then met Amy and Guston, Mike's sister and brother-in-law, and their lovely "moose".  We just hung out at the house mostly, going down the real water slide and diving board, hot tub.

New York

My last night on Saturday, we head to rooftop lounge/bar on 230 5th.  It's got great views but definitely a little too high end for regular night out.  It's a great place for special nights outings.  It was fun though, really wished I could have met Frank and Jonathan, Kirstin's NY crazy residents.

Of course, for my flight back, Chicago has thunderstorm and tornado warning and I would have missed my connection even with all the delays, so I opt to stay an extra night with Kirstin.

By the time I left, I just felt lost, I didn't want to come back to Cleveland.  It's almost a dreaded feeling that Cleveland is now my home for a few years.  Definitely not happy here and can't wait til residency is over and I could look foward to move to the coast.