I’ve done that sitting here in heathen California, and it is well worth it.
“Delis” in the Bay Area don’t know crap about pastrami. And you need good rye and mustard also. Columbus pastrami (available in Costco here) and Orowheat Jewish rye make for a barely acceptable alternative. But it ain’t the same.
Literary excursion In “Westerward Ha!” S. J. Pereleman mentioned a night that he and Al Hirschfeld were sitting overlooking one of the islands near Hong King. It was a beautiful scene, the lights of the cities spread out before them. Hirschfeld turned to Perleman.
“You know what I’d do if this was all mine?”
“No, what?”
I’d trade it all for a hot pastrami sandwich."
Quoted, frequently, by my mother when we lived in Africa.