The Ivy League

The next morning Nancy and I went for a walk while the boys planned the route and prepped the boat for our two hour cruise to New Haven.  Nancy sat on the bow deck the entire way enjoying the wind in her hair and the feeling of expansiveness and freedom cruising on the ocean can bring. 

After docking, we headed out to Frank Pepe’s Pizzaria, which is known for pizza so good Frank Sinatra used to send a driver from New York all the way to New Haven to pick one up. The line was out the door when we arrived on a Monday at 3:00 in the afternoon. The cab driver told us that on weekends it is not uncommon for the wait to be three hours. We were a little concerned it would take forever to get in, but the line went quickly and we were sitting at a table within twenty minutes. The pizza really was amazing; crisp and chewy, thin, wood fired crust, real house-made tomato sauce and light and delicious cheese. My belly is very full of it as I write this and yet I still fantasize about eating some more!  

After lunch we walked to Yale University and marveled at the gorgeous Gothic Revival and Georgian architecture of the 18th and 19th centuries. Every window, every wall, every gated arch is graced with beautiful details we don’t see much of in the U.S. This is why Yale’s campus buildings are frequently referred to as an outdoor museum of architecture.  

We had a very late dinner (due to our very late lunch) on a rooftop deck at a New Haven restaurant called ‘Goodfella’s’. When we walked through the ground floor of the restaurant, even though it was a lovely and elegant setting, there were several flat screen TVs running either ‘The Godfather’ or ‘Goodfellas’. We had a pleasant dining experience, then headed back to the harbor to get some sleep.