Mystery River

After the water ice I made a quick drive-through of my high school campus. I haven't had the opportunity to go there for four, maybe five, years. Each time I go (with the exception of my fifth year reunion and one time in the summer) I find myself pretty much incapable of getting out of my car and walking around. I had, overall, a very good high school experience...so it's not that walking around would flood me with all these negative memories. I think it's that, like so many other places, I have so many exact memories of how it was that I'm not interested in challenging those memories with a current reality...plus teenagers freak me out...as does running into former teachers and having them not remember my name. So, after the five minute drive through, I drove back down to Philly...purposefully over shot Center City and exited onto Kelly Drive. I drove east along the river (I have no idea what the river is called...is it the Delaware? Is it the Philadelphia River? I don't know) and stopped at one area where one could sit and look. I sat and I looked and wrote a little in my notebook.

This portion of the mystery river is used for crew practice. I found myself having one of those movie wish moments/that I was a different sort of person pangs....ie. I wished that I was the kind of girl a guy on a crew team would notice while practicing and be so taken with he'd stop chanting and mess up the rhythm. Yeah. Whatever. My friend L. when I told this to her later that day gave me a few reasons why this was a rather silly thing to think, chiefly among them the fact that those guys couldn't even see me really from where they were in the water and, also, I couldn't see them well enough to know if they were worth wishing for in the first place.

Water Ice Comes to Those Who Wait

After my walk I thought I would swing by Rita's again...just to make sure it hadn't opened since my first drive-by. This thought process was pure genius...because you know what was open? Yeah, Rita's. In high school, the opening of Rita's was a sure sign that school was almost over. It was also the perfect substance for hall birthday parties and the optimal reward for the medium walk into Newtown from the school's campus. They usually have at least 15 flavors of ice available, some standards always there...cherry for example...while others were more hit or miss...blueberry comes to mind. I ordered a small cherry and lemonade gelati...their custard is so ridiculously fatty thick rick good that a little of it goes a long, long way. I also, after already ordering, noticed a flavor I had never seen before: sweet tea. I asked for a sample. I received a sample. I will, the next time I go to Rita's, get a sweet tea non-gelati because it was quite good.

Nature

After finishing my slurpee and getting as much entertainment as possible from the father/son conversation going on behind me, I thought I'd make an attempt to walk off a few of the calories I had just ingested.



When in high school, the equestrian team (which I was a member of) would sometimes come to Tyler State Park and gallop around in fields very much like the one above...though not, I don't think, that specific field. I rode a Chesnut named Sam.
I took a few photographs of myself so I could show off the new jewelry I got at the street fair. This photograph is me looking stern and/or blank.
This is a worried C. The earrings were nice and cheap, the necklace not as much...but it's awesome....it's a combination of real butterfly wings. I want 100 more. You can get your own here...though if you managed to see them at a street fair their prices would probably be about $5 lower than on the website.


I saw a number of interesting birds...some kind of red throated woodpecker...a slate blue bird of some kind that I wanted to take a photograph of but it hopped away before I could manage it.

Change Of Plans

Yesterday I had a foolproof plan: Leave J and J's, drive up to Newtown, Pennsylvania...have breakfast at Goodnoes Family Restaurant, buy a Rita's gelati and maybe stop by Tyler State Park. Well, if you click on the Goodnoes link you'll see what the first problem in my plan was...boo, changes, boo. Then it was too early for Rita's to be open. So, yeah, there's that. Instead I went with a slightly not as good plan B. There was a new Chick Fil-A that didn't exist during my time in the Newtown area (it's where I went to high school) and C, a while back, had said that Chick Fil-A made one hell of a moist sandwich. Since hearing C's opinion I've kept my eye out for a franchise location, and, finally, it seemed that it was time for me to have my own Chick Fil-A experience. I ordered the Chick Fil-A (I must say I think the name of this chain is stupid) sandwich and a small order of waffle fries. While paying in the drive thru the teenage girl serving me asked me if Duckie, Ambassador Iron Face was a Honda Fit...and he is...and she was all telling me how she wants one and I was all telling her how she should. Then I drove to Tyler State Park (which still exists and wasn't closed...at least that part of the plan worked) and went to the picnic area near the Boathouse.
Oh yes and I got a slurpee...just like in high school. It was magical, the slurpee...and listening to the 7-11 dudes discussing Val Kilmer's best role (Jim Morrison in The Doors) and their other favorite movies (Natural Born Killers...ugh). Oh, and P.S., remember when I got 100% of the notes correct on Weezer's My Name Is Jonas on Guitar Hero? Yeah, I do. The sandwich was a revelation after a lifelong appreciation (though not in recent years) of the McChicken sandwich. Yes, it was moist and seemed more like real chicken. I was surprised by the lack of condiments on the sandwich with the exception of a smattering of pickles. But it was flavorful even sans mayo or ranch or anything. The waffle fries were pretty good too.
My combination coke and cherry slurpee was great. As I was finishing it I got to overhear the most entertaining conversation between a father and son that I've ever heard:

I'm sitting there and I look up and over and see a tall man with shaved head, muscle clinging shirt and athletic work out pants on and he says:

"That's it, you're in time out. Go sit down right now."

Then here is a smattering of what followed. The kid was about five and had curly hair...once the conversation started I didn't look at them...I pretended to be engrossed with a) the creek and b) the slurpee.

Father: Do you know why you're in time out.
Son: No, why am I in time out?
Father: You knocked that little girl into the water. Why did you do that?
Son: When you fall into the water someone saves you.
Father: You don't push people into the water.
Son: Why?
Father: You just don't. What were you thinking?
Son: (and I should say that there was a lot more babbling and rambling then this dialogue suggests) I pushed her into the water so someone would save her. She can't swim.
Father: Are you sorry?
Son: Why should I be sorry?
Father: Because you knocked that little girl into the water....and she's still crying (in the background you can very clearly hear a little girl screaming her head off).
Son: Are you sorry? You gave me iced tea and it made me sick. Are you sorry daddy that you gave me iced tea and I got sick.
Father: You didn't get sick.
Son: I want a Pepsi, will you get me a Pepsi?
Father: No, you're in time out.
Son: Why am I in time out?
Father: Because you KNOCKED THAT LITTLE GIRL INTO THE WATER.
Son: When you fall into the water someone saves you. There are crocodiles in the water.
Father: You should never push anyone into the water. She couldn't swim. And there are no crocodiles in the water here.
Son: Yes there are, Pop Pop said so.

pause

Father: Well Pop Pop's full of poop.

Awesome.

Littluns

The last time I saw J and J, they had recently (like in the last ten days) welcomed their first son into their lives. Now there's two! It was great to see these kids and the whole family for a few days after a long time with no face time. The nine month old is in his squirm stage--not quite crawling but mobile in a wormy kind of way. And the toddler knows the lyrics to many a Beatles song. Both boys have these wonderfully big and blue eyes.
Twice I got to put the little one to sleep...this is something that, perhaps, loses its novelty if its your own child and you have to do it all the time but for me it's a magical thing, cradling a baby, singing a silly song, swaying slightly and watching his eyes droop, startle open, droop lower, startle open and then finally close. My silly song for this little one involved a refrain about how bananas are gross...but soft shell crabs are awesome. I added additional lyrics that involved pickles, babies that can't walk or talk etc etc.
Growling for the dinosaurs.


Itty, bitty, baby hand!

Sunday Bagels and Germantown Street Fair (Mt. Airy?)

On Sunday J and her two sons and I went to her in-laws. There I had a bagel with cream cheese. The bagels were nice a fresh and hot and the cream cheese was, well, as good as cream cheese usually was...it was, of course, Philadelphia brand cream cheese.
After the bagels and a little bit of playing outside we went to the Mt. Airy (Germantown?) Home and Garden street fair. It was really big. Many blocks of the Main Street jam packed with pregnant ladies, babies, old people and well just everybody.
For lunch I had an "Island Pork Sandwich" from one of the many food kiosks. I believe it came from Cafette. Though the meat could have been hotter and I would have been interested in a different kind of bun, the mixture of flavors made this sandwich a winner: barbequed pork, pineapple and hot banana peppers. Loved it.

Stromboli c/o Santucci Brothers

On Saturday, I think it was Saturday, my hosts (J and J) and I ordered strombolis from Santucci Brothers Pizza (I think it's weird they don't have a website but whatever). I ordered mine with pineapple, pepperoni and ricotta cheese. Very satisfying. I had the leftovers for dinner the next night.

Lunch c/o La Colombe

After the walk in the arboretum, my friend J. had a hankering for a sandwich...a specific sandwich. So, after returning to their house, I went out with Duckie, Ambassador Iron Face and picked up the sandwich of her choice and one for myself at La Colombe (seems to be the Intelligentsia of Philly). I ordered a milk and honey while I waited.
I had the classic panini...decent, tasty, good. I could have done with a little more of everything...more cheese, more meat and, well yeah more of those two.

Drinks and Snacks c/o Mexican Post

On Friday I went into Center City and met up with two friends from high school. We pretended we all had jobs and were going to happy hour after work...one of them is currently looking for work (that day she had a job interview so she was properly dressed up), the other has some kind of job but not the kind that you need to wear pearls for (she was wearing pearls and an argyle vest), I wasn't all that dressed up but it was pretend so it didn't really matter. We went to Mexican Post. We would have sat outside but it was pretty busy with early Cinco de Mayo festivities...we did, however, sample the complimentary mojitos c/o Cruzan rum. Because they were complimentary they were heavier on the seltzer than the rum or other flavors...but in a refreshing, this isn't even an alcoholic beverage, kind of way. This girl and another next to her were responsible for showing us the proper ratios of sugar to lime juice to what is the herb?
Inside we had their complimentary chips and salsa.
And ordered the minichangas and nachos grande. True Mexican fare it was not. It was as good as you can expect of this sort of establishment.
We ordered real mojitos and they were much better.
It was lovely to see them and hang out on an incredibly nice and warm evening. Funny to think that this could happen far more often in the coming months or years. Though they have lives of their own, so we'll see about frequency etc.

Photographs Taken While Walking Around The Morris Arboretum

Philly Dinner c/o Apamate

On Thursday I had a job interview. It was the second round for a position that I think I would actually be good at and that, maybe, wouldn't make me want to die all the time from boredom or lack of purpose. I went in thinking, honestly, that they were going to hire me...I had had a pretty good telephone interview and then I, regardless of my insecurities, seemed to do a great job on the editing try-out. There was, however, a moment in the interview where I suddenly had this sinking feeling that I was wrong-that this wasn't a formality of seeing my face and making sure I wasn't crazy-and that I had a long way to go before being hired. A full five or ten minutes later I was very relieved to find out that as long as my references weren't lies that they were going to hire me. Luckily, my references aren't lies...so...like...I finally got a job! This is a slow process: understanding that I actually have a job. I'm not starting for a couple of weeks but, you know, I will. And suddenly I'll have money that isn't from a tax refund or my parents. Yeah. It's kind of nice. Anyways. On Thursday I met up with A. A. and I went to high school together though we didn't actually socialize. He is one of a few people from high school that I wasn't actually friends with during that four year period but whom (who?) I do now consider friends. Weird, that. So I met up with A. and two of his friends (one who formally worked at my new employer's and the other another person I went to high school with...who I really don't think I ever spoke to...I could be wrong...but I don't think so). We went to Apamate and had ourselves a lot of little itsy plates.

It started with bread and oil with a bit of saffron.
I ordered a bowl of the cream of wild mushrooms soup. It was wonderful. It's a shame how mushroom soup can't escape a sort of weird browny purply color...not that much of a shame, though, because it is so tasty.
There were croquettes filled with ham and bechamel...they weren't one of my favorites.
Then there was the calamari stuffed with a scallop, piquillo pepper, gordal olives mousse served with a black sauce...or that's what the online menu says...I'm not entirely sure it was that exact concoction for us. It was pleasing to look at and the filling had a nice mix of salty flavors going on.
Their special 'pinxto' was an oxtail concoction on a plantain chip.
We shared the Plato de Charcuteria: Serrano Ham, lomo embuchado, chorizo, nevat goat cheese, Manchego and Membrillo and Cabrales blue cheese. My favorite of the meats was the chorizo, man do I love that stuff. And the of the cheeses? The Membrillo.
We also had the seared sea scallop with garlic, chives, thyme & topped with a lemon-green apple emulsion (I'm just copying and pasting this stuff from their menu...and again I remember the exact order of ingredients differently...but I think I'm just crazy). This was a well seared scallop and the flavors didn't do anything other than complement it...in a great way...I mean that as a comp-li-ment! I think I would have liked to taste a little more apple though...just to see.
And then there were the crispy morcilla sausage candies with apple and sage served with a sweet and sour sauce. I didn't particularly care for this, though the others seemed to have positive things to say about it. I don't think it was bad...I just don't think it was for me.
We also tried the lamb meatball surrounding a green grape and sofrito served with a red wine and herb reduction.
These mini-tapas all ranged in price from about $3 to $6. And each one could easily be a single serving for one person. We were splitting them four ways which made for just a bite of each...with the exception of the Charcuteria and my soup, of course. This made it possible that we weren't getting the full glory of each dish...for example the lamb's grape was in one bite but not in the other three...etc. I think that this also kept the meal relatively affordable...though A. had a gift certificate which covered everything but the tip...so, what's my point? I don't know. It's also B.Y.O.B. Lovely.

Beer and Dinner c/o General Lafayette Inn and Brewery

I arrived safely in Philadelphia a little bit earlier than I expected...which was no big deal. I got to meet two more little guys and see their parents for the first time in, hmm, three + years. Wednesday night we all went out to dinner at General Lafayette Inn and Brewery. Other than our party of four (two people under 5 equal 1 person...except that, really, they're two people), the place was dead on a Wednesday night. Which was all for the better, it felt like we were somehow special. And it made the occasional toddler gripe no big thing. We ordered samplers of pretty much every beer they had on their beer menu. Eight or nine in all. My favorites, unsurprisingly, were not the stout or porter varieties...though even those I found a little more palatable than I often do. I was particularly taken with the Raspberry Meal Ale (because I'm a girl and girls like raspberries as a rule). The Matrimoniale was also nice. As was the Germantown Blonde. So, basically, I liked every thing. But not so much the Pale Ale nor the Chocolate Thunder Porter (rich and dark and, yes, a hint of chocolatey-ness). The La Tete Fontaine was pretty good for a dark ale.
I ordered the calamari appetizer with chipotle aioli. I think I may have suspected a smaller portion and lighter batter. But the batter wasn't that heavy and I guess bigger is always better? The aioli had a little spice to it but was definitely mayonnaisey.
I also ordered the Spinach Salad. Perfectly acceptable with olives, cherry tomatoes, hard boiled eggs and sheep's cheese. I think, if I were to go back, which I would, that I would order something more inn-y/pub-y. Like their meatloaf, hamburger or fish and chips. My friends, the grown ups, had-respectively- the lamb entree and gumbo and beet salad and quesadillas. The older of the tots had a grilled cheese and fries (I think? Am I making that up?). No complaints were voiced other than the fact that the gumbo was extremely non-gumbo like.
Thanks to my friends (and hosts) for taking me out and showing me a very good first meal in Philly.

Breakfast c/o Kathy's Restaurant in Staunton, Virginia

Yesterday I made my way out of the hotel at a decent enough hour. I decided I might drive through the city of Staunton, proper since the hotel was right smack dab off the highway. I also needed to top off my gas for the remaining hours of the trip. I went to a gas station where I bought what has become my standard driving fuel: 1 bottle of V8 and 1 bottle of Vitamin Water with dragonfruit plus taurine. Then I asked the lady where I could get eggs. She suggested Kathy's Restaurant. The decor has changed since that website's photograph...instead of turquoise booths and stools its a red black motif. I decided I was going to go with my original stand-by breakfast: wheat toast, poached eggs and sausage links...with home fries. In the past I always asked for my eggs over-medium but I was feeling like a runnier egg, so I didn't specify anything...which I assumed would mean runny. In the end the sausage, which looks really unappealing, was the star of the meal while the eggs were a little disappointing. Their poaching method was flawed and the yolks were pretty firm with hardly any ooey gooey-ness to them. The potatoes were decent and the server was nice. Altogether nice. Just wish I had those runnier yolks...folks...ha!

The rest of the drive was quite easy. About 6 hours, maybe a little less, with no delays and rather pretty scenery. I like hills and mountains. You kind of forget what they do to a landscape when you've lived in Chicago for two and a half years. Driving north on I-81 is surprisingly picturesque. Lots of open land, rolling fields, barns etc. Of course, it's not completely untouched any more than any other place can be these days...but it's faring a bit better. So far.