a few days have gone by since my last update, due to a number of quasi-exciting things that happened last week.
on thursday, in an act of pure klutziness, i busted my big toe open after slipping on some water in our kitchen. luckily, the puddles of blood did not require stitches, but it did mean i got to work from home on friday during the torrential downpour. perfect timing! as such, the blood loss caused me to forget to write up my lunch (leftover eggplant parmesan with
bucatini, my absolute favorite pasta shape ever - yay for trader joe's stocking it!).
on saturday, we were supposed to head to
assateague state park for a camping weekend with the wild ponies, but the aforementioned rain forced us to change plans friday. instead, after dropping off the dogs we headed to philadelphia, with a quick stop in atlantic city on the way. that is, after braving two hours of traffic for four miles in delaware. it was my first time visiting ac and while it has its advantages over its counterpart-in-sin, las vegas (namely the beach), visiting on a cold, rainy day with a bunch of shadesters/panhandlers did not give me the greatest impression of the area. however, it was awesome to see the monopoly board come to life, even if i never made it to baltic avenue.
we got into philly around 6:30 and stayed at the loews hotel, which comes highly recommended. it's in a great location (you can walk to almost anything) and has super comfortable and modern rooms in a converted bank. for dinner we had hoped to try
el vez, one of stephen starr's hip restaurants near the hotel, but arriving at 8:00pm on a saturday without reservations left us with an "hour and 45 minutes" wait time. um, no thanks. everything was packed that night, we walked around in circles until finally stumbling upon the italian bistro. we had a four-course prix-fixe dinner, which was ginormous and overall quite tasty. the tiramisu was by far the best dish and j even got a surprise
suppli on his entree plate!
after a lazy start the next morning, we headed to another one of stephen starr's restaurants,
jones. this was our second time there, and i have to say it is one of my favorite restaurants in the world. nothing fancy, but an eclectic atmosphere and really tasty food for a good price. we got there at the perfect time, as we were leaving the place was packed. we split an order of the monkey bread (sugary diabetic goodness) and i had a breakfast sandwich with tater tots. j had their protein plate and we left stuffed.
we walked for a bit longer until reaching independence hall / the liberty bell. after a few pictures (and scary nps guards that whistled at anyone that dared to step off the curb towards independence hall without a ticket), we walked towards the philadelphia academy of natural sciences, maybe a 20 minute walk away. we passed a lot of people that must have just completed the race/walk for the cure, since they still had on their racing shirts. coincidentally, mother's day was founded in philadelphia 100 years ago, so it was fitting that we spent the day there. anyway, it was my first visit to the pans since first grade, but it was not how i remembered it (smaller)! the butterfly exhibit was really great though, and i would definitely recommend the two extra bucks for the admission.
on the way back to the hotel (in order to make it back in time for the late check-out), we stopped and took some photos of the castle-like city hall and the famous love statue.
until next time, philly! when we got home it was great to spend time with the pets, but my allergies returned hardcore. funny how crossing the city line does that to a person....
