Last stop, South Norwalk, Connecticut

Our last weekend was spent with an old family friend in South Norwalk. We had packed and checked out in the morning, stored our luggage at the hotel while we visited Central Park and The Met, and then caught a train from Grand Central Station.

The station itself is marvelous. Cavernous, great architecture. So large even the Apple Store in the concourse looks small.

We hadn't planned on doing much. Just taking a breather and gathering ourselves before flying back to Jo'burg from Newark on the Monday evening. But Rusty, our friend, had other ideas.

Friday was a lovely dinner at home with a British couple who have lived in the States for decades. After Gavin watched the rugby at O'Neill's, Saturday was lunch at Harbor Lights. Rusty had persuaded Karen and I to order the Connecticut staple: lobster rolls (I had the hot and Karen the cold version). It seems very decadent (and a tad shameful) to sandwich lobster between a bread roll. They were very tasty though.

Rusty decided that we needed to go and buy some fresh lobster and cook it ourselves. We headed off to Pagano's and purchased three live lobsters. We stored them in the fridge and took them out at dinner. There's something just not quite lekker (nice) about throwing a live creature into a pot of boiling water. Gavin took charge and just, eyes closed, dumped them straight out of the paper packets into the pot and put the lid on (hoping. that there would be no screeching).

Now these were delicious. Tasty. Fresh. Just like one imagines lobsters to be.

Sunday was a trip to New Canaan where Rusty had lived before and another delicious lunch in the town. This is a beautiful and extremely wealthy area (it's also known as "bankers strip"). Enormous homes. All we could think of was "how many people live there?" and "how do they heat it?" and then "how do they keep it clean?". But then, if you have hundreds of millions these are only questions asked by the Middle Class (or South African's travelling on the ZAR).

For dinner on Sunday we'd decided to 'braai' (BBQ). We bought some steaks at Trader Joe's and then headed to Sprite Island. This is a yacht club on a teeny Island just of the mainland looking across Long Island Sound. One is ferried across with all your belongings. If you forget something back home, too bad. Or you can ask a kindly fellow islander to loan you what was left behind. In our case, braai tongs, fire lighters and additional charcoal! The club provides braai facilities (Weber kettle braais) and picnic tables. And the sight of the most stunning deep purple hydrangeas.

As the sun began to set, the fireflies came out and what an amazing sight. I couldn't manage to get a clear picture but have a lovely video of them winking in the darkness.

We made our way back across the water and just because we needed more fattening up, we headed to the celebrated Mr Frosty's for ice-cream.

And so our journey ended. Sitting on a bench outside a very busy ice-cream shop. Tucking into the best soft serve we have eaten!