Adeline Olmer
- Jul 26, 2018
- 2 min read

So close yet so far. . . Life in suburbia

Is there life after 9 pm in suburbia?

Sunday night is never traffic free and this night wasn't any different. We were driving home from the Jersey shore with friends. Since we had a late lunch we decided to wait until we got home and have dinner at a local restaurant.

Traffic finally started to clear. We needed to confirm that restaurants would still be open after 9 pm. Not a problem 10 pm was closing time.

We drove straight to the restaurant and then quickly to another and another as our friend, John jumped out of the car each time to ask if they were still serving. No, was the unanimous answer! It turns out, the closing time and the time the kitchen closes are different. Good to know!

At this point we were hungry. Only 45 minutes from New York City and at 9 pm the town had shut down! It's hard to believe. The car became very quiet as we pondered life in suburbia. We wondered how we were going to get dinner and wine. John and Judy said that they had frozen pizza if we wanted. We accepted gratefully.

Not only did they have pizza (Paul Newman's and Trader Jo's) they also had a frozen pear tart for dessert. All 3 were great! And if that wasn't enough they opened 2 bottles of Chateauneuf-du-Pape one red (my favorite) and one white. (If you've never had the white you have to try it. It is amazing and I don't love white wine. Here is a link to our local wine store that carries it.)

What can I say dinner was fun and amazing! The moral; never despair and always keep your freezer and wine cellar full.

This post was created prior to our site upgrade. Comments at the time of our upgrade included:

Jennyvi Dizon - july 26, 2018

Awe poor things! At least you weren't turned off by frozen pizza. :)

Adeline Olmer July 26, 2018

I know! It turned out to be such a surprise, those frozen pizzas were really good, not to mention the wine!!

Jane - July 27, 2018

Ohhhhh man I can relate. This happened to me recently, but then again I was in Michigan, not NEW YORK!!

Adeline Olmer - July 27, 2018

I know, it's hard to believe it would be so difficult to eat late so close to the big apple!

Scottie - July 27, 2018

I'm spending the summer in a very small rural town (live in Chicago) and I'm appalled at how early every place - even fast food - closes! I feel your pain.