Anyways, we're really here for the food.
Day 1 - We rolled in at 1pm from a 12 hour drive, BLuh with a capital 'BL'. We woke up around 6pm to my Mother's awesomely satisfying enchiladas. Mmhmm good, campbell's eat your heart out.
Day 2 - Off to the train station, freezy freezy. I can't even express how much I wish that we had Wawa down here, everything about it is awesome. I start my morning with strawberry milk and tasty cakes (breakfast of champions!), love.
W
e make it into Philly (wrong train stop, whoopsie). We spent the first day walking, being cold and getting lost for the most part. It was still great. We dropped into the Reading Terminal Market. Got a (magical) sugar cookie, Josh got a (perfect) roast beef hoagie, and I got a plate of (fantastic) hummus, homemade pita, and pan-fried falafel. We hit South St., after touring the Freemason Temple, for some seriously awesome shoppage. Pretty much everything was lights out by 7pm, I had no idea that the city would shut down so early! We got some soft pretzels on the street, wandered around, and rolled back home from the train station around 11pm.Day 3 - Dash dash to the Philadelphia Museum of Art (really cool place, a must if you're in the city), drop in the cafeteria for an EIGHT DOLLAR SIDE SALAD. I mean, it was good but jeez.... Afterwards, we stopped by RTM for another cookie, and found out that they close at 6pm, so I didn't get my cookie. Bummer. Found the DiBruno Bros. Market , which is a big shiny grocery store of awesome on JFK blvd and got a fresh baguette (which I haven't shut up about for about 2 years) with a 1/4 lb. of Humboldt Fog (my favorite-est cheese ever). Stopped at a little Italian pizza joint and shared a greasy stromboli-something, which was actually really great. Anyways, we drive to a Wawa, get dolled up, and go to a way-out restaurant at The Mendenhall Inn.
It's a fancy-schmancy kind of place, hosts and servers with bowties and white gloves. First, the
host brought us a basket of rolls with scoops of sculpted butter from a bowl of icewater (I exclaimed "fancy butter!" to the host), nom. For an appetizer we got fried spinach dumplings drenched in magic-love sauce. For the meal I got a vegetarian sampler platter with spinach raviolis, stuffed portobello caps, roasted red peppers, sauteed button and shittake mushrooms.... Heaven. Josh's entree was a 4"x3" steak, perfectly cooked with a pepper rub, a side of green beans sauteed with roasted red peppers and some more of that magic-love sauce from the dumplings, along with a dollop of mashed potatoes brought from Mt. Olympus to the kitchen to his plate. Afterwards, our awesome server Mark wrapped up our food into a tin-foil swan. Yeah. Drove home in the snow, got hit by a deer, and arrived around 11pm.Day 4 - Went to the 'disturbingly informative' Mutter Museum which is a showcase of all things medically weird and kind of icky, a great time was had by all. :) Dashed to RTM again, remembering at 6:04pm and a block away that they close at 6pm, so I still didn't get my damn cookie. Wandered around Chinatown for a few hours, had a fantastic time. Lots of cheap candy and cute trinkets all over, weird videos and magnetic hula-hoops. We asked a girl at one of the stores what her favorite restaurant was in the area, and she directed us to a ritzy joint with fishtanks full of eel, crab, and mackerel lining the walls of the dining room. The prices weren't bad, and the food was great. Tea was served at the beginning of the meal without question. We had to rush out before we could finish, but still enjoyed our time there. Rolled in around 2am from my Aunt's house (she's a hoot).
Day 5 - The Philadelphia Zoo was great! A lot of the animals were sent away because of the snow, but the open exhibits were really something. :) I actually liked that it was February, because there were maybe 4 other groups besides us in the whole park (no noisy kids!). Finally, we get back to the city and hit up Little Italy. Josh had a cheesesteak at Geno's a few years prior and so, naturally, we went to Pat's for a 'wit-out, cheez wiz'. Wandered around, got $40 of cheese at the original DiBruno's. These guys know cheese. We asked their opinion on the best Philly Cheesesteak, so they (oh, snap!) directed us to 2nd and Oregon, under the I-95 bridge (hint hint) to Tony Luke's.
Oh ehm gee. My mother had a 'roast pork w/ sharp provolone', Josh had the 'beef buster' (a suggestion from DiBruno's, the website doesn't mention the curly fries in the sandwich), and I had the 'Uncle Mike's' sandwich, which should just be illegal. So good. Still no fucking cookie.Day 6 - Wake up, pack up, Exton Mall. I love orange julius, and it loves me, and they should bring it back to Greenville. Buzzed back into Philly for the last day before we had to pick up my Dad and make that horrible drive back to SC. Hit up RTM again, and the cookie store closed an hour early. So I never got my goddamn cookie. We soaked in the city (which can't be good for your lungs in Philly) for awhile and hit up Chinatown again. Stopped into a hole-in-the-wall (the best kind, of course) restaurant where they sold Thai food and American breakfast food. Yeah, that's what I said too. Anyways, Josh found 'bitter melon' which is this lovely beef dish that he hasn't had since Hawaii. I got french toast with peanut butter in the middle and sweetened condensed cream on top, along with an egg sandwich on the house (the first time it came out with ham). Hit a couple bakeries, had a custard pastry and got this weird melon biscuit thing (which was delicious later). We then found my loverly parking ticket and drove to Chichester to pick up my Father. Stopped at Wawa and stocked up on milk (strawberry, cookies & cream which tastes like a pack of oreos, and double-dutch chocolate) and one last soft pretzel. Sigh. Drive drive drive yuck, and back to Greenville we went.
I never got that second cookie.
But we had a great time, and I can't wait to go back up. Sooner than this time, I hope. :)
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