For the past 28 years, the city of Montreal has been the host to over 30,000,000 people who flock to the streets waiting to hear some of their favorite jazz performers. This year, two additional American writers would be included in this extremely festive event.
In May, a friend and I flew for six hours to get to Europe for a business trip. Two months later, we were off again, looking forward to another six-hours of travel, but this time we had to drive. No in-house movie to watch, no coffee or in-flight dinner would be served… just the bottled water and snack bars I packed for the ride.
It was hot and sunny when my cohort in crime, I mean travel buddy, arrived at my home in her candy-apple red convertible Mini Cooper. The top was down, and as I walked towards the car, I wondered where I would place my suitcase. ”Just sling it in the back seat, and let’s go!” she said. The navigation system was already set and it (Navi Girl) informed us to take a right-hand turn out of my driveway. Uh duh… we knew that! Charlene put on her right blinker, pulled out of my driveway, and we were off with the hot sun hitting our face and shoulders, while the wind cruelly messed up our hair (ok, my hair… for some reason, hers did not get messy at all!).
Three hours into the trip, we decided it would be a great time to pull off the highway for a quick lunch and bathroom break. We headed towards Lincoln, New Hampshire to have lunch at one of her favorite restaurants.
We took the exit into downtown Lincoln, and Navi Girl was already telling us “If possible, make a legal U turn”. She wanted us back on the highway since we were off our planned route. ”Shut that girl up,” I said. “Doesn’t she know humans have to eat?” A few miles off the highway, we pulled up to the Gypsy Café. For our meal, we treated ourselves to an appetizer followed by two desserts that we decided to share; a jaw-dropping, mouth-watering Cuban flan and a slice of coconut cream pie with two cappuccinos dusted with cinnamon. Keeping an eye on the time, we finished our dessert and got ourselves back on the road to make the 8:00 p.m. Wynton Marsalis concert. The sky was starting to look a bit ominous, but we just turned the music up louder and headed back towards Route 93 North, and Navi Girl was glad we were back on our destination course that she had set for us earlier.
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