Well this has been a curious week for your most favored friendly and vivacious home vacation team as one of us had to return to work! I suppose it was inevitable that the new school year would begin for Janet, no matter how long the days of summer. At least she had no students this first week and was able to ease into the routine of her job.
I on the other hand remain gainfully unemployed. I am on permanent hiatis. My summer remains endless. Of course it's not without trying to change the situation. I keep buying lottery tickets........
But, rather than continuing to bore you with details of my financial ruin, I'll get right back into the activities of the past weekend.
Rain cancelled a concert at the park that is across the street from Janet's place. Inclement weather has sadly ruined much of the summer's slate of activities, for such shows were cause for impromptu parties at Janet's house. People would amble back and forth from the show to her house for the plumbing and libations would be poured. Location location location.
Well, this past Friday's concert was cancelled because of rain but the lovely and charming Leslie came to the rescue and offered her own home as a gathering place for a small party. With a table laden with meatballs and homemade hummus and bruscetta (sic?) and a nice selection of beers and drinks we were graced with her kindness and hospitality. Another friend and her daughter came over eventually and we gathered around the food and chatted into the night.
Now you may ask how is a man able to endure such a lengthy time with three women talking about "women" things?
Beer.
Actually it was a lot of fun, except when the conversation lolled off into a long tangent about hot flashes and menopause.... At that point I had to stand up and scratch myself and go into the bathroom.... for a long time.
When I came back I tried to steer the chatter towards sports and was told to take out the garbage!
Hopefully you'll realize I am exaggerating. It was a very nice night and it was an honor to be accepted into this new circle of friends.
On Saturday we traveled back to New Jersey to the Howell Farm Fiddling Contest! Howell Farm is a living history museum, just on the outskirts of Lambertville. It was a great place when my children were younger to bring them for a free afternoon. According to their website, Howell Farm is an educational facility open to the public that preserves and interprets farming life and processes from the era of 1890-1910. www.howellfarm.com/ Best of all it was FREE. The kids could see and sometimes pet sheep and chickens and horses and pigs. They were often allowed to go into the hen house to fetch freshly laid eggs. They were able to participate in arts and crafts, go on hay rides, easter egg hunts, draw water from a hand pump, help dig for potatoes and watch people in period dress tap maple trees for syrup.
In the 20 years I've lived in Lambertville Howell Farm has grown up. It used to be a sleepy place, but last weekend the place was humming. There is a new "barn" that is the welcoming building and where they held their annual fiddle contest. Each participant was allowed two songs. Sometimes they were solo, sometimes they were accompanied by a banjo, guitar or bass fiddle. There were kids and adults playing and two different categories. The youth division was won by a boy who played beyond his years and the adult was won by rotund fellow that played with such flourish that the crowd cheered wildly when he finished. Most of the music was "bluegrass" and we heard more than one version of "Turkey in The Straw," but because of the two song limit we were not bored as the styles changed with every peformer.
There was home made ice cream and food for purchase and a young woman gave out tickets when we entered for door prizes like honey and Trenton Thunder baseball tickets. No purchase was necessary for the tickets, they just handed them out when we entered.
It was a good day. I'm considering going back this Labor Day weekend for their annual Plowing Match!
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
nothing to squawk about....
Now I must remind you my dear loyal wonderful readers that though I am in Lambertville and much closer to Philadelphia than NYC, I remain a loyal fan of all New York sports. Funny part is, I am dating a fan as devout as I to her hometown sports.
It makes for some difficult times. Yes, she roots for the Eagles and the Phillies... I root for the Giants and Yankees.... Thankfully the one thing we can agree upon is the Mets. We're not fans of that team, for a myriad of reasons and because of this an uneasy coexistance permeates our lives together. Of course, as the lead members of your Home Vacation Team we remain professional in our quest to find all things good and cheap and fun to share with you.
Janet, who has T.O.'s number tattooed on her shoulder and loves dressing as Donovan McNabb on Halloween and goes into convulsions every time Chase Utley is at bat, purchased tickets in March to a Phillies/Diamonbacks game for August 18th; this past Tuesday. I cannot afford to purchase similar tickets at Yankee Stadium and she got hers at the incredible price of $39 per, which included preferred parking passes! Best of all, it turns out that Pedro Martinez, a pitcher I've admired since his days with the Boston Red Sox and the New York Mets, had come out of retirement to pitch for the Sillies...sorry.... had to slip that in!... and was making his second start for the team that night! As a fan of the game I was terribly excited.
We first had a couple of beers and some wings at the iconic Chickie's and Pete's Crab House and Sports Bar. According to my Philadelphia counterpart of the equally iconic Home Vacation Team, "Chickie" is a South Philadelphia nickname for Charles....not some girl in a bikini.... The vast open bar was buzzing with excitement; the last time Martinez pitched the Phillies won 12-3. The wings were crunchy and hot and most importantly, reasonably priced. We had just one beer each and nothing else to eat; we wanted to save ourselves for the ball park. So, with thoughts of crab fries and mussels and burgers toying with our palates, we drove across Broad Street into the south Philadelphia sports complex and Citizen's Bank Park.
Our seats were just beyond first base about 17 rows back; great seats to get whacked by a foul ball. Before we took our seats though, we had to eat. We toured the ballpark and walked along the perimeter ogling all the fine cuisine available. There were several cheese steak stands, the Schmitter, created by McNally's in Chestnut Hill, was available and all the typical food available at ballparks throughout the country. But, at CBP at someplace called Asburn Alley is Greg "The Bull" Luzinski's Bull's BBQ! I had been to the park once before with my friend Stan, a big Phillie's fan and he introduced me to Luzinski and the great bbq his place serves and was thankful that Janet too was looking forward to eating here. We bought a couple of Pulled Pork Sandwiches bought some Yards Philadelphia Pale Ales and the Brewerytown beer stand just opposite of our section 113 and stood at the counter that edges all the seating on the concourse level and enjoyed our meal. The phenomenal part of this whole escapade is that all the beers, whether it be Miller Lite or a craft brew like Yards, are all priced exactly the same. They may be typically steep at $6.75, but at least you can drink quality beer for the same price as swill.
Janet has spoken often about her times at the ballpark, about how she and her friend, Carol, another fan of the World Champion Phillies, know right where to go for the best beers and the foods they enjoy eating at the park and at Chickie's and Pete's. Janet has told me several times about two particular vendors that ply the aisles and as much as the game I was looking forward to seeing these two. One is a dour old man who mumbles something that is not understood. If he did not hold aloft a Crackerjack box, one would never know what he was selling. Another was a squawking Miller Lite guy who wears a fake parrot on his shoulder and periodically dons an eye patch like some modern privateer. He squawks and yells and well, if you look for the video attached to today's entry, you'll get a better idea of his personal zaniness.
Of course, there was a game too. It turned out that Pedro Martinez, a pitcher whose career I've followed since he pitched for the hated Boston Red Sox, was making his second start for the Phillies. While there he was involved in a fight with the Yankees old bench coach, Don Zimmer. Zimmer had charged him when the benches emptied for whatever reason and Pedro tossed the rotund old man to the ground. He was a good pitcher and hated by the Yankees, which was nice that he eventually signed with the equally despised (by Yankee fans) NY Mets. He was with the Mets for a few years and then retired. This was his second game for the Phillies and the place was sold out. In any event he gave up a homer to the first Diamonbacks batter and the second man up reached base. The joint was grumbling a bit, but after that the seasoned pro shut them down for three innings. Then a long rain delay sat him down for the rest of the night. Clouds in the twilight sky turned inky black with slashes of brilliant blue light illuminating their outline. It had been very hot and humid and the wind picked up swirling debris through the stands, cooling us. After the third inning though the grounds crew sprinted out onto the field, though it had not yet begun to rain. We, along with everyone else in the stands, took this as a cue to leave for they obviously knew what was coming. Sure enough, within minutes a torrential rain soaked us, for we were unable to get up the stadium stairs in time because everyone was doing the same thing. Finally reaching shelter we dripped into fresh beers as we watched the sky crackle with lightning and the wind lashed the rain sideways.
A lot of people left, but the rain eventually let up enough to continue the game. Pedro was replaced by Jamie Moyer who shut the D-backs down as the Phillies poured on the runs.... (like the rain reference?) Many people left and we first moved down and over to within a few rows of first base. While there a ball being tossed around between innings whistled by my head. I watched, stupidly, as the thing banged against the empty seats behind me, rolled under my feet and into the aisle in front of us and was grabbed by some woman who just happened to be picking up errant kernels of popcorn from the floor when it plopped into her portly flippers. I didn't react at all, or more importantly, made the right decision to protect my beer!
Eventually we slinked our way down to the dugout, which was almost a big mistake. Had I not tackled the enthusiastic Janet before she clamored onto the Phillies dugout she would surely had sought more than autographs from her favored team! Neither of us had ever been this close to the field and we cheered the team on for the final 2 innings from this precious perch. It was a great night, even if a "Bull Dog" grilled kielbasa we shared during the rain delay wanted to come back and visit us in the middle of the night....
Update: This Sunday the Phillies ended a game with the New York Mets with an unassisted Triple Play. The last time this happened was in 1927 and only the second time it had ever happened in major league play. The runners were moving with the pitch and second baseman, Eric Bruntlett, (filling in for the resting Chase Utley) caught a line drive, stepped on second and tagged out the advancing runner from first.
We had gone to Brother Paul's, an Eagleville tavern with a very nice selection of beers for some wings and beer, where we had caught this unlikely event. Serendipity and chance are powerful things, for we were out galavanting around when I offered to buy Janet an afternoon libation and the old stone bar was the nearest joint. Good fortune seems to follow us around!
It makes for some difficult times. Yes, she roots for the Eagles and the Phillies... I root for the Giants and Yankees.... Thankfully the one thing we can agree upon is the Mets. We're not fans of that team, for a myriad of reasons and because of this an uneasy coexistance permeates our lives together. Of course, as the lead members of your Home Vacation Team we remain professional in our quest to find all things good and cheap and fun to share with you.
Janet, who has T.O.'s number tattooed on her shoulder and loves dressing as Donovan McNabb on Halloween and goes into convulsions every time Chase Utley is at bat, purchased tickets in March to a Phillies/Diamonbacks game for August 18th; this past Tuesday. I cannot afford to purchase similar tickets at Yankee Stadium and she got hers at the incredible price of $39 per, which included preferred parking passes! Best of all, it turns out that Pedro Martinez, a pitcher I've admired since his days with the Boston Red Sox and the New York Mets, had come out of retirement to pitch for the Sillies...sorry.... had to slip that in!... and was making his second start for the team that night! As a fan of the game I was terribly excited.
We first had a couple of beers and some wings at the iconic Chickie's and Pete's Crab House and Sports Bar. According to my Philadelphia counterpart of the equally iconic Home Vacation Team, "Chickie" is a South Philadelphia nickname for Charles....not some girl in a bikini.... The vast open bar was buzzing with excitement; the last time Martinez pitched the Phillies won 12-3. The wings were crunchy and hot and most importantly, reasonably priced. We had just one beer each and nothing else to eat; we wanted to save ourselves for the ball park. So, with thoughts of crab fries and mussels and burgers toying with our palates, we drove across Broad Street into the south Philadelphia sports complex and Citizen's Bank Park.
Our seats were just beyond first base about 17 rows back; great seats to get whacked by a foul ball. Before we took our seats though, we had to eat. We toured the ballpark and walked along the perimeter ogling all the fine cuisine available. There were several cheese steak stands, the Schmitter, created by McNally's in Chestnut Hill, was available and all the typical food available at ballparks throughout the country. But, at CBP at someplace called Asburn Alley is Greg "The Bull" Luzinski's Bull's BBQ! I had been to the park once before with my friend Stan, a big Phillie's fan and he introduced me to Luzinski and the great bbq his place serves and was thankful that Janet too was looking forward to eating here. We bought a couple of Pulled Pork Sandwiches bought some Yards Philadelphia Pale Ales and the Brewerytown beer stand just opposite of our section 113 and stood at the counter that edges all the seating on the concourse level and enjoyed our meal. The phenomenal part of this whole escapade is that all the beers, whether it be Miller Lite or a craft brew like Yards, are all priced exactly the same. They may be typically steep at $6.75, but at least you can drink quality beer for the same price as swill.
Janet has spoken often about her times at the ballpark, about how she and her friend, Carol, another fan of the World Champion Phillies, know right where to go for the best beers and the foods they enjoy eating at the park and at Chickie's and Pete's. Janet has told me several times about two particular vendors that ply the aisles and as much as the game I was looking forward to seeing these two. One is a dour old man who mumbles something that is not understood. If he did not hold aloft a Crackerjack box, one would never know what he was selling. Another was a squawking Miller Lite guy who wears a fake parrot on his shoulder and periodically dons an eye patch like some modern privateer. He squawks and yells and well, if you look for the video attached to today's entry, you'll get a better idea of his personal zaniness.
Of course, there was a game too. It turned out that Pedro Martinez, a pitcher whose career I've followed since he pitched for the hated Boston Red Sox, was making his second start for the Phillies. While there he was involved in a fight with the Yankees old bench coach, Don Zimmer. Zimmer had charged him when the benches emptied for whatever reason and Pedro tossed the rotund old man to the ground. He was a good pitcher and hated by the Yankees, which was nice that he eventually signed with the equally despised (by Yankee fans) NY Mets. He was with the Mets for a few years and then retired. This was his second game for the Phillies and the place was sold out. In any event he gave up a homer to the first Diamonbacks batter and the second man up reached base. The joint was grumbling a bit, but after that the seasoned pro shut them down for three innings. Then a long rain delay sat him down for the rest of the night. Clouds in the twilight sky turned inky black with slashes of brilliant blue light illuminating their outline. It had been very hot and humid and the wind picked up swirling debris through the stands, cooling us. After the third inning though the grounds crew sprinted out onto the field, though it had not yet begun to rain. We, along with everyone else in the stands, took this as a cue to leave for they obviously knew what was coming. Sure enough, within minutes a torrential rain soaked us, for we were unable to get up the stadium stairs in time because everyone was doing the same thing. Finally reaching shelter we dripped into fresh beers as we watched the sky crackle with lightning and the wind lashed the rain sideways.
A lot of people left, but the rain eventually let up enough to continue the game. Pedro was replaced by Jamie Moyer who shut the D-backs down as the Phillies poured on the runs.... (like the rain reference?) Many people left and we first moved down and over to within a few rows of first base. While there a ball being tossed around between innings whistled by my head. I watched, stupidly, as the thing banged against the empty seats behind me, rolled under my feet and into the aisle in front of us and was grabbed by some woman who just happened to be picking up errant kernels of popcorn from the floor when it plopped into her portly flippers. I didn't react at all, or more importantly, made the right decision to protect my beer!
Eventually we slinked our way down to the dugout, which was almost a big mistake. Had I not tackled the enthusiastic Janet before she clamored onto the Phillies dugout she would surely had sought more than autographs from her favored team! Neither of us had ever been this close to the field and we cheered the team on for the final 2 innings from this precious perch. It was a great night, even if a "Bull Dog" grilled kielbasa we shared during the rain delay wanted to come back and visit us in the middle of the night....
Update: This Sunday the Phillies ended a game with the New York Mets with an unassisted Triple Play. The last time this happened was in 1927 and only the second time it had ever happened in major league play. The runners were moving with the pitch and second baseman, Eric Bruntlett, (filling in for the resting Chase Utley) caught a line drive, stepped on second and tagged out the advancing runner from first.
We had gone to Brother Paul's, an Eagleville tavern with a very nice selection of beers for some wings and beer, where we had caught this unlikely event. Serendipity and chance are powerful things, for we were out galavanting around when I offered to buy Janet an afternoon libation and the old stone bar was the nearest joint. Good fortune seems to follow us around!
Monday, August 17, 2009
in the navy
Sweet.... There's nothing like a long weekend vacation at someone else's home, especially when you get your own comfortable bed! No couch, no blow up mattress that deflates around 3:35 a.m.! A real bed, with air conditioning no less. There were plenty of beers too.... It was a great weekend. The only thing that would have made it perfect is a boat....and our hostess is working on that.
A dear friend of your favorite Home Vacation Team, Tracy, recently had to move to Annapolis, MD for her job and wanted friends to visit her in her new place. Tracy also invited Carl and Jill down; it was Jill's birthday. What followed was a liquor induced hazy weekend that I will try and reconstruct with this entry.
A dear friend of your favorite Home Vacation Team, Tracy, recently had to move to Annapolis, MD for her job and wanted friends to visit her in her new place. Tracy also invited Carl and Jill down; it was Jill's birthday. What followed was a liquor induced hazy weekend that I will try and reconstruct with this entry.
Laden with bottles of wine as gifts for our hostess, Janet and I drove down on Thursday night. Typical of all my driving routes, we avoided Route 95 and took the somewhat roundabout way through the eastern shore of Maryland and over the Bay Bridge. Actually, according to Google maps both routes were equal in distance and time. But the route going down Route 301 and the Bay Bridge had no tolls in this direction. Remember...cheap...
Most of the traffic was heading east towards shore points and we avoided any drastic traffic jams. This is not usually the case as we learned the hard way on Saturday when we drove to Kent Island and on Sunday afternoon for our return. Still, we arrived pretty much the same time as the other guests, despite the seemingly meandering way.
After relaxing a bit we took a taxi to a restaurant on the South River for their delectable half priced happy hour appetizers. The bar area of Yellowfin was crowded with patrons aware of the good food served here. We each ordered an appetizer. Janet had a "Rainbow Tower" which had three different types of raw fish, layered between large fried won tons. I had fish and chips; pedestrian by comparison. As we chatted we watched the sun glint off the vast windows overlooking the scenic marina.
We took another taxi into Annapolis proper to walk along Dock Street to ogle with the rest of the hoi polloi gathered here on this hot night the yachts of the well-heeled. After yet another quick drink in the Middleton Tavern and attempting to negotiate its warren of corridors to find the men's room, we took a taxi back to Tracy's to drink even more.
Jill's birthday was Friday. She spent most of the day wishing she was not hungover. Tracy had to work and the rest of us drove into Washington, D.C. for the museums. We had a limited amount of time though, and Jill was of very limited means. So, we settled for two museums. First we went to the Museum of Natural History. We found a fortuitous parking spot directly in front of the place on Constitution Avenue. We then saw a head spinning 3D film about dinosaurs, the Hope Diamond and several dinosaur skeletons. Surprisingly Jill held up pretty well, even when we walked across the Mall to hit the Air and Space Museum. There we oohed and aahed over the various displays of airplanes and capsules from the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions. Janet was especially interested in the World War II displays of aircraft because she had an uncle that served as a tail gunner. I dragged her through the WWI display. We then separated from Jill and Carl at this point, because we went on to meet my daughter for her 23rd birthday.
Ally has been living down in Maryland just outside of Baltimore with her mother since she left school last spring. She's not returning to Florida this fall and she agreed to meet for a birthday dinner. Jill was too tired from cavorting about the night before and declined to meet her birthday partner, Ally, though she and Carl had expressed an interest in meeting my vivacious first born. A friend from the D.C. area recommended a place called Busboys and Poets. A restaurant, bookstore and bar, it's reference is to Langston Hughes who worked as a busboy before gaining recognition as a poet. It's eclectic clientle and menu in the high ceiling airy place made for a pleasant place to meet my girl. Modertly priced, Janet had a meatloaf sandwich, Ally a hamburger and I a blackened Mahi sandwich, each priced under $10.00. Bright sunlight streamed through the tall windows as Ally smiled over the modest gifts I had gotten her. As a Dad it's always great to have your daughter smile at you.
After seeing my daughter drive off out of my life for another four months or so, Janet and I toured D.C. a bit. We drove along Embassy Row on Massachusetts, through Georgetown and searched for the "Exorcist Stairs" and over to Arlington Cemetery, which was closed for the day. We then drove back across the Potomac River and walked through the impressive Jefferson Memorial as the waning light of day turned the dome a dusty pink. We stood next to the statue and peered out onto the Tidal Basin and thought how nice it was to be here. I've always liked this town; I had been here several times over the years. I've run three marathons here and while in high school studied journalism one summer long long ago. This was Janet's first trip.
We finished our visit to D.C. with a drive by the Capitol. Bullards prevented us from getting close by car so we drove slowly by, careful not to slow our pace too much. We felt like we were being watched intently until we left the capitol hill area. We slipped quickly along route 50 and the drive back to Tracy's townhome was quiet. We arrived to find Jill convulsing in a dry-heave to the Rolling Stones, while her husband tapped a beer bottle to compliment Charles Watts' rhythmic drumming. No matter how many drinks we inbibed we would never catch up with this bacchanalia.
Saturday was spent driving around on Kent Island and finding more places to drink. After fighting traffic across the Bay Bridge we briefly toured a golf course then hit a couple of bars situated right on the marinas. I asked about crabs, but they were far too expensive! A dozen "jumbo" at the first place was in the neighborhood of $70.00. Everywhere at The Crab Deck people were banging and prying at the pile of critters before them, but we settled for beers and moved on to the next place. It was a biker bar. Red Eyes Dock Bar had some event going and there were a lot of tattooed, pierced, doo-ragged, overweight biker types left over even though by the time we arrived most of the festivities seemed to winding down. A cover band played music as eclectic as Sublime to Prince. But, there was no admission and the beers were the same price as the last place, so we settled in at a table next to the water for a few. The sun was warm, but the water (and beers) kept us cool. Moving on we decided to stay in the Kent Island Narrows area rather than return to Annapolis for dinner. We ate a decent meal at a Fisherman's Wharf that had a lionel train set tootling around a track suspended from the ceiling. I had a spinach salad with blackened mahi. It was good, but it was way too overpriced.
Only Janet andI went out to Annapolis later that night. The other three wanted to stay home, but it was far too early for us and we found a parking spot and walked around the town again. I purchased a cigar and we watched as sailors in their dress whites stroll the town with their dates. We window shopped and admired the old homes. We peered into the dark campus of the Academy and kissed on the dock of the National Sailing Hall of Fame.
Sunday we went for a lunch with Tracy at a chain craft brewer in something called Parole, Maryland. It was in a mall. The beers were decent and the prices reasonable.
Monday, August 10, 2009
winkys, wings and hop devils
Ah ... welcome to another edition of Vacations From Home my dear and dedicated blog readers! I went for a physical exam the other week and let me tell you it was not a lot of fun. I'm in good health and good spirits, but boy oh boy my indignity is less than intact! And...there's more tests in the future.... I'm thinking the Who had it right in their song...My Generation..."Hope I die before I get old..." Truthfully though, the alternative is not very appealing... So, I'll submit to pokes and probes as needed... I just wish the doctor would give me flowers when she's done.....
Winkys....A lovely word. I was introduced to "winky" a number of years ago by my sainted Home Vacation Team member, Janet, and let me tell you it's another slur on one's dignity! Winkys are those little white areas of your body that don't tan because layers of skin fold over it and the sun don't shine there.... Of course it's really not a horrible thing, but when you stand in the bathroom after you've allowed the sun to kiss your body all day, and you've got this little white streak going across your fat belly, you just feel, well, like you haven't tanned properly.... Time to put on a shirt.
Last week we tried to make our winkys blend into various parts of our body. This was the 3rd time we made it to the beach this summer; a new record for us. I think we were successful, but I'm not going to post any pictures for you to judge.
In any event the weather turned ugly in the afternoon, but we knew this would be the case and had left for Sandy Hook earlier in the day than usual. We got five hours of sunning in and the Winkys were defeated! We were back in Lambertville in time for happy hour at Triumph and drank Amarillo IPA's for just $3.00.
Saturday our dear friends Jill and Carl invited us to their house for an afternoon of lunch by the pool. We didn't even have to ask!!!!! Mooching at it's best. Of course we helped a bit with some weeding, ignoring their feeble protests. Sometimes you just have to give a little to get back a lot.
Your Home Vacation Team pulled out some weeds for ten minutes or so and then relaxed the rest of the afternoon. We were happy to give a little back to our dear friends and they were so very appreciative. Later on, when Carl and Jill left for their second home in Delaware, we lingered for awhile at the pool. We then raided their refrigerator.
After showering we headed over to the Victory Brewing Company's pub in Downingtown. http://www.victorybeer.com/ Over a number of tasty and strong hand pumped brews and while watching the Yankees defeat the hated Boston Red Sox for the third straight game we ate wings and had a spirited discussion over which is the best brew pub. Brew snobs that we were it did not take that long. There have been so many brew pubs to consider over the years. This was a good thing for we were able to linger over our beer. We first had Victory's signature brew, Hop Devil, off their hand pump. It was perfect. Served at room temperature, it was smooth and tasty and with a high alcohol content of 6.7% it was dangerous on an empty stomach. We had wings. We had a pretzel with some liquidfied cheese and mustard for dipping. I then had a very strong and flavorable Storm King Stout, also off a hand pump. It too was served at room temperature and was bold and complex and at a 9.1% alcohol content the two beers were sufficent enough to stop me in my tracks. As a nod to personal safety Janet chose a Donnybrook Stout served colder than the others and only 3.7%.
So, talking strictly beer, we selected Victory as our favorite destination. Perhaps the great distance we need to travel to reach the brewery influenced us, but they had at least 10 different beers we were interested in, plus with three on hand pumps (or cask conditioned) it was hard to choose. The Storm King Stout often gets a 100 rating and I've had dreams about the Hop Devil on hand pump with its oh so delectable smoothness! Other places we've visited either don't have the uniqueness of Victory, like Rock Bottom in the King of Prussia mall which is a countrywide chain, or fail to have enough different beers for our liking. Triumph in New Hope (also in Philadelphia and Princeton) http://www.triumphbrew.com/ is a great place, but usually they have 5 beers total with only one that we're interested in drinking. The Ship Inn in Milford, NJ www.shipinn.com/ is enchanting and a joy to find and their ESB and the cask conditioned Best Bitter are refreshing, but there's never much beyond that we enjoy. We certainly enjoyed our trip to Dogfish Head in Rehobeth Beach last month http://www.dogfish.com/ and Janet has acquired a taste for all I.P.A.'s. They offer a good number of beers too, so perhaps if we lived in Delaware Victory would lose.
Our love of craft beers has gotten so discerning that we avoid regular gin mills. We would often frequent say, the Inn of the Hawke in Lambertville, but haven't done that in months. And, we look forward to the Chili Cook-Off at the Winter Festival so we could drink vast amounts of River Horse brew. http://www.riverhorse.com/ River Horse does not have a pub, but offers their beer to several events in the Lambertville area, like the Shad Fest, usually held the last weekend in April and the Octoberfest held, well, in October.
Sunday we bit the bullet and dodged the rain and drove up to Bethlehem, PA to attend Musikest www.musikfest.org/ It was the final day of the festival that had started on July 31st. It is an incredible event with stages everywhere and such varied music that there is something appealing somewhere. Except for the headliners, all the music was free. Sunday Crosby, Still and Nash were set to perform, but this is all about having an inexpensive fun time. We purchased a Musikfest mug and walked around and past all the stages with odd Germanic names ending in "platz". At the Volksplatz we listened to a zydeco-type group out of Baltimore called The Crawdaddies. I caught for Janet a string of beads tossed into the crowd by the lead singer. At Liederplatz we listened to a folk group called Girls, Guns and Glory. We stuck our head Festplatz to ogle people dancing to polka music and we briefly lingered at a Hip Hop group performing at some platz or another. There was music in the streets. On Main Street there was a stage for folk music and street performers juggled flames and walked slack ropes. We quickly discovered that once you buy your huge mug, several places in town would fill it at a nominal cost. We stopped drinking Molson and sampled beers at the Bethlehem Brew Works on the corner of Broad and Main. Several times we said this event was done right. There were a lot of people, even with the sporadic rain that was torrential sometimes, but everything was calm and pleasant. Perhaps it was the mainly folksy music being offered today that had a calm effect on the crowd. Perhaps it was the beer people were able to tote around and drink that helped. Whatever it was, I think we'll be looking forward to Musikfest 2010. We ended our day at the Musikfest with a performance by an Australian group called Women In Docs. They have the typical big voice sound made popular by Missy Higgins, but with a fiddle player that quite literally enchanted the crowd with his play.
Incredibly Musikfest runs for 9 days and goes as late as 11 p.m. each night. Martin guitars is located in town, so I guess that has an impact on the event. Sadly it was the last day for Musikfest. I had never heard of it before, and yet the event has been going on since 1984. As I look at the website myself I see there's a number of shows I wished I could have attended this year. The surfer music band, Los Straitjackets, is one, Polka Family Band is another. CSN would have been nice, as well as Yes and the B52s.
It was a busy weekend of Home Vacationing. If we keep up this pace, we're going to need a real vacation.
Winkys....A lovely word. I was introduced to "winky" a number of years ago by my sainted Home Vacation Team member, Janet, and let me tell you it's another slur on one's dignity! Winkys are those little white areas of your body that don't tan because layers of skin fold over it and the sun don't shine there.... Of course it's really not a horrible thing, but when you stand in the bathroom after you've allowed the sun to kiss your body all day, and you've got this little white streak going across your fat belly, you just feel, well, like you haven't tanned properly.... Time to put on a shirt.
Last week we tried to make our winkys blend into various parts of our body. This was the 3rd time we made it to the beach this summer; a new record for us. I think we were successful, but I'm not going to post any pictures for you to judge.
In any event the weather turned ugly in the afternoon, but we knew this would be the case and had left for Sandy Hook earlier in the day than usual. We got five hours of sunning in and the Winkys were defeated! We were back in Lambertville in time for happy hour at Triumph and drank Amarillo IPA's for just $3.00.
Saturday our dear friends Jill and Carl invited us to their house for an afternoon of lunch by the pool. We didn't even have to ask!!!!! Mooching at it's best. Of course we helped a bit with some weeding, ignoring their feeble protests. Sometimes you just have to give a little to get back a lot.
Your Home Vacation Team pulled out some weeds for ten minutes or so and then relaxed the rest of the afternoon. We were happy to give a little back to our dear friends and they were so very appreciative. Later on, when Carl and Jill left for their second home in Delaware, we lingered for awhile at the pool. We then raided their refrigerator.
After showering we headed over to the Victory Brewing Company's pub in Downingtown. http://www.victorybeer.com/ Over a number of tasty and strong hand pumped brews and while watching the Yankees defeat the hated Boston Red Sox for the third straight game we ate wings and had a spirited discussion over which is the best brew pub. Brew snobs that we were it did not take that long. There have been so many brew pubs to consider over the years. This was a good thing for we were able to linger over our beer. We first had Victory's signature brew, Hop Devil, off their hand pump. It was perfect. Served at room temperature, it was smooth and tasty and with a high alcohol content of 6.7% it was dangerous on an empty stomach. We had wings. We had a pretzel with some liquidfied cheese and mustard for dipping. I then had a very strong and flavorable Storm King Stout, also off a hand pump. It too was served at room temperature and was bold and complex and at a 9.1% alcohol content the two beers were sufficent enough to stop me in my tracks. As a nod to personal safety Janet chose a Donnybrook Stout served colder than the others and only 3.7%.
So, talking strictly beer, we selected Victory as our favorite destination. Perhaps the great distance we need to travel to reach the brewery influenced us, but they had at least 10 different beers we were interested in, plus with three on hand pumps (or cask conditioned) it was hard to choose. The Storm King Stout often gets a 100 rating and I've had dreams about the Hop Devil on hand pump with its oh so delectable smoothness! Other places we've visited either don't have the uniqueness of Victory, like Rock Bottom in the King of Prussia mall which is a countrywide chain, or fail to have enough different beers for our liking. Triumph in New Hope (also in Philadelphia and Princeton) http://www.triumphbrew.com/ is a great place, but usually they have 5 beers total with only one that we're interested in drinking. The Ship Inn in Milford, NJ www.shipinn.com/ is enchanting and a joy to find and their ESB and the cask conditioned Best Bitter are refreshing, but there's never much beyond that we enjoy. We certainly enjoyed our trip to Dogfish Head in Rehobeth Beach last month http://www.dogfish.com/ and Janet has acquired a taste for all I.P.A.'s. They offer a good number of beers too, so perhaps if we lived in Delaware Victory would lose.
Our love of craft beers has gotten so discerning that we avoid regular gin mills. We would often frequent say, the Inn of the Hawke in Lambertville, but haven't done that in months. And, we look forward to the Chili Cook-Off at the Winter Festival so we could drink vast amounts of River Horse brew. http://www.riverhorse.com/ River Horse does not have a pub, but offers their beer to several events in the Lambertville area, like the Shad Fest, usually held the last weekend in April and the Octoberfest held, well, in October.
Sunday we bit the bullet and dodged the rain and drove up to Bethlehem, PA to attend Musikest www.musikfest.org/ It was the final day of the festival that had started on July 31st. It is an incredible event with stages everywhere and such varied music that there is something appealing somewhere. Except for the headliners, all the music was free. Sunday Crosby, Still and Nash were set to perform, but this is all about having an inexpensive fun time. We purchased a Musikfest mug and walked around and past all the stages with odd Germanic names ending in "platz". At the Volksplatz we listened to a zydeco-type group out of Baltimore called The Crawdaddies. I caught for Janet a string of beads tossed into the crowd by the lead singer. At Liederplatz we listened to a folk group called Girls, Guns and Glory. We stuck our head Festplatz to ogle people dancing to polka music and we briefly lingered at a Hip Hop group performing at some platz or another. There was music in the streets. On Main Street there was a stage for folk music and street performers juggled flames and walked slack ropes. We quickly discovered that once you buy your huge mug, several places in town would fill it at a nominal cost. We stopped drinking Molson and sampled beers at the Bethlehem Brew Works on the corner of Broad and Main. Several times we said this event was done right. There were a lot of people, even with the sporadic rain that was torrential sometimes, but everything was calm and pleasant. Perhaps it was the mainly folksy music being offered today that had a calm effect on the crowd. Perhaps it was the beer people were able to tote around and drink that helped. Whatever it was, I think we'll be looking forward to Musikfest 2010. We ended our day at the Musikfest with a performance by an Australian group called Women In Docs. They have the typical big voice sound made popular by Missy Higgins, but with a fiddle player that quite literally enchanted the crowd with his play.
Incredibly Musikfest runs for 9 days and goes as late as 11 p.m. each night. Martin guitars is located in town, so I guess that has an impact on the event. Sadly it was the last day for Musikfest. I had never heard of it before, and yet the event has been going on since 1984. As I look at the website myself I see there's a number of shows I wished I could have attended this year. The surfer music band, Los Straitjackets, is one, Polka Family Band is another. CSN would have been nice, as well as Yes and the B52s.
It was a busy weekend of Home Vacationing. If we keep up this pace, we're going to need a real vacation.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
you are the father...
Earlier this week your very favorite Home Vacation Team went on an excursion to Stamford, Connecticut. This free lifestyle of kicking around and traveling around the area is great, but it still costs money. I need to work. There is a job in Stamford that I applied to and we traveled overnight for the Tuesday interview. We booked a hotel through Hotwire which saved us quite a bit on the eventual stay at a Hilton, though the whole process was a bit unnerving. We didn't know we had a room at a Hilton until I gave them a credit card. Though we got the room at a great price we did not know what amenities were included in that price, such as continental breakfast, parking, wifi, etc.
Sure enough, Hilton had nothing included. Parking was an extra $10.00. Internet in the room was an extra $10.00. If we wanted a king sized bed instead of a double it was another $20.00. There was no continental breakfast included. Sure we got a room for $73.00 with the tax, but it ended up costing up nearly the same as a Super 8, more if you included the price of the breakfast. The room was comfortable enough though and there was a great work out room and a pool, things missing at a Super 8. Also, our room, 431, was situated over the business center and we were able to tap into the wireless connection! So, I guess all in all it was a positive stay, though I will be hard pressed to book through Hotwire again.
Janet loves to research places we are to visit. She is never without a lead or without a map and with this trip to Stamford she tried to satisfy our love of brew pubs. She found SBC Brewery on Summer Street in Stamford, but I guess we are beer snobs. We first split a $5.85 flight of five different beers brewed by SBC and sadly we couldn't taste any difference between them. Mediocre at best, the only thing going for SBC was the price of a pint; just $3.00. We had a plate of acceptable wings at a happy hour price of $5.00 and then moved on. We had a pub meal in one of a number of bars that line Main Street. Tiernan's had a nice selection of beers and we had a decent meal. The burger I had was pricey at $11.95, because there really wasn't anything special about it, but at least the beers were tastier than SBC. They sold pints for $3.00. Tiernan's was clean and pleasant, where SBC seemed dingy, like there was a layer of dust on everything.
Indeed, most of downtown Stamford seemed gritty, empty and edgy to me. There were a number of restaurants and cafes and perhaps we didn't explore it enough, but I was unimpressed. There seemed to be a rough element everywhere we turned. Evidently though there's a lot of work up here and so maybe I'll have to wait to tender a stronger opinion. After our meal we walked a bit, but the heat was too much, so we got into the car and drove around. South of Route 95 the town breaks up into two very diverse areas. The section where the Amtrak is located is particularly gritty and we felt unsafe even in the car, but the area called Shippan point was absolutely lovely with spectacular homes and views. We drove through this area with our mouths agape as we dreamed of a different life.
The next day the interview went well enough. It was for a job that I had held for the past 9 years, which on the surface was a bit annoying. But, it turns out the job function had changed and they wanted to open it up to others. Hopefully I'm qualified to keep my job. I should know soon..... In any event it'll be a helluva commute. All my accumulated knowledge about couch surfing and mooching will come in handy if I get this position.
Before the interview Janet and I checked out of the Hilton and went for a breakfast at Curley's Diner. It's on Main Street. It looks like a wreck. Paint is peeling and the tile is cracked, but it was clean and the food was decent...but of course how could you mess up breakfast. The coffee though was awful....
We had an offer to visit friends who live in Connecticut, but Janet needed to get home, so we took a raincheck. Instead of taking the Tappan Zee Bridge home we drove over the George Washington Bridge. Since seeing a show on the Travel Channel about deep fried foods, Janet had been wanting to visit Rutt's Hutt in Clifton, NJ. I hadn't been there since my adolescent drinking days! I'm not sure if this is a frightening fact or a happy experience, but the place had not changed in 30+ years! There was a pervasive feel of another time in Rutt's Hut, as if old ghosts still linger absently chewing their ethereal hot dogs. Rutt's Hut first opened in 1928. There's a bar and restaurant in the front near the road, but we walked into the somewhat creepy stand up eating area, there are no chairs, and immediately I had a vision of someone passed out under one the counters drunk with his friends hovering over him tossing parts of their Rippers at him. No, no, that wasn't me...I just made that up. But I do remember the florescent lights casting an unearthly pallor on us one dark night after a visit to some gin mill in the area. Well, thankfully large windows in the eating area allowed brilliant afternoon sun to cascade in, dispelling any murky specters after an all-night drinking binge. We bravely ordered a couple of Rippers that were sloshing about in grease behind the counter, one with cheese, $1.98 with tax, .20 cents extra for the cheese. All scepticism dissipated with the first bite. Rutt's Hut calls their deep fried hot dogs Rippers because the skin tears when it's deep friend. Crispy outside, but the inside is soft and juicy. Knowing these things probably were not good for our health, we ordered another one and I drove the rest of the way back to Lambertville using my extended belly to steer the sedan.
Sure enough, Hilton had nothing included. Parking was an extra $10.00. Internet in the room was an extra $10.00. If we wanted a king sized bed instead of a double it was another $20.00. There was no continental breakfast included. Sure we got a room for $73.00 with the tax, but it ended up costing up nearly the same as a Super 8, more if you included the price of the breakfast. The room was comfortable enough though and there was a great work out room and a pool, things missing at a Super 8. Also, our room, 431, was situated over the business center and we were able to tap into the wireless connection! So, I guess all in all it was a positive stay, though I will be hard pressed to book through Hotwire again.
Janet loves to research places we are to visit. She is never without a lead or without a map and with this trip to Stamford she tried to satisfy our love of brew pubs. She found SBC Brewery on Summer Street in Stamford, but I guess we are beer snobs. We first split a $5.85 flight of five different beers brewed by SBC and sadly we couldn't taste any difference between them. Mediocre at best, the only thing going for SBC was the price of a pint; just $3.00. We had a plate of acceptable wings at a happy hour price of $5.00 and then moved on. We had a pub meal in one of a number of bars that line Main Street. Tiernan's had a nice selection of beers and we had a decent meal. The burger I had was pricey at $11.95, because there really wasn't anything special about it, but at least the beers were tastier than SBC. They sold pints for $3.00. Tiernan's was clean and pleasant, where SBC seemed dingy, like there was a layer of dust on everything.
Indeed, most of downtown Stamford seemed gritty, empty and edgy to me. There were a number of restaurants and cafes and perhaps we didn't explore it enough, but I was unimpressed. There seemed to be a rough element everywhere we turned. Evidently though there's a lot of work up here and so maybe I'll have to wait to tender a stronger opinion. After our meal we walked a bit, but the heat was too much, so we got into the car and drove around. South of Route 95 the town breaks up into two very diverse areas. The section where the Amtrak is located is particularly gritty and we felt unsafe even in the car, but the area called Shippan point was absolutely lovely with spectacular homes and views. We drove through this area with our mouths agape as we dreamed of a different life.
The next day the interview went well enough. It was for a job that I had held for the past 9 years, which on the surface was a bit annoying. But, it turns out the job function had changed and they wanted to open it up to others. Hopefully I'm qualified to keep my job. I should know soon..... In any event it'll be a helluva commute. All my accumulated knowledge about couch surfing and mooching will come in handy if I get this position.
Before the interview Janet and I checked out of the Hilton and went for a breakfast at Curley's Diner. It's on Main Street. It looks like a wreck. Paint is peeling and the tile is cracked, but it was clean and the food was decent...but of course how could you mess up breakfast. The coffee though was awful....
We had an offer to visit friends who live in Connecticut, but Janet needed to get home, so we took a raincheck. Instead of taking the Tappan Zee Bridge home we drove over the George Washington Bridge. Since seeing a show on the Travel Channel about deep fried foods, Janet had been wanting to visit Rutt's Hutt in Clifton, NJ. I hadn't been there since my adolescent drinking days! I'm not sure if this is a frightening fact or a happy experience, but the place had not changed in 30+ years! There was a pervasive feel of another time in Rutt's Hut, as if old ghosts still linger absently chewing their ethereal hot dogs. Rutt's Hut first opened in 1928. There's a bar and restaurant in the front near the road, but we walked into the somewhat creepy stand up eating area, there are no chairs, and immediately I had a vision of someone passed out under one the counters drunk with his friends hovering over him tossing parts of their Rippers at him. No, no, that wasn't me...I just made that up. But I do remember the florescent lights casting an unearthly pallor on us one dark night after a visit to some gin mill in the area. Well, thankfully large windows in the eating area allowed brilliant afternoon sun to cascade in, dispelling any murky specters after an all-night drinking binge. We bravely ordered a couple of Rippers that were sloshing about in grease behind the counter, one with cheese, $1.98 with tax, .20 cents extra for the cheese. All scepticism dissipated with the first bite. Rutt's Hut calls their deep fried hot dogs Rippers because the skin tears when it's deep friend. Crispy outside, but the inside is soft and juicy. Knowing these things probably were not good for our health, we ordered another one and I drove the rest of the way back to Lambertville using my extended belly to steer the sedan.
Monday, August 3, 2009
so-cheet
Now, this may seem strange coming from a New York football Giants fan, but I like Philadelphia. If only there weren't so many Eagles fans there, the place would be perfect. Okay, okay, before all youse guys who boo Santa want to take me out back and beat the heck out of me, I apologize. At least the Sillies won last year's World Series, so one would think that the Philadelphia sporting mood would be a bit more sedate, but this is a football town. So, good luck in the impending season (just not a lot of it).
Truthfully though, I do like Philadelphia. Since my divorce 5 years ago I have been exploring this city more and more, and with Janet as the tour guide these past 3 1/2 years, she has shown me a lot of this historic city. There are many nuggets to explore (like Chestnut Hill) and several entertaining events like the Dragon Boat races we attended back in June. Over the years Janet has dragged me all through the city; we've strolled through Elfreth's Alley, gone to several operas, eaten Italian in the 9th Street Italian market, devoured Jimmy's cheese steaks on South Street, strolled through Fairmount Park and the city's Museum of Art. We've had beers in so many places around the city I've lost count. Yes, Philadelphia is worth exploring and it's an easy destination for the Home Vacation Team.
On my birthday Janet took me to a restaurant in Head House Square in a section of town called Society Hill. It is a very affluent with a high concentration of 18 and 19th century original homes. The streets are rough cobblestoned and Janet walked me through some absolutely beautiful alleys and hidden gardens to marvel at the trim neat homes. She remarked that as a child from Upper Darby she dreamed of living in this section of town.
Anyway, Head House Square used to be called New Market Square, in order to distinguish it from a similar market on High Street, which is now called Market Street.... There's a test in the morning... The head house was originally used as a firehouse. It was started in 1804. The structure behind the firehouse is called the Shambles, which is an archaic word for butcher, it is evidently the oldest farmer's market in the United States. The original structure was erected in 1745. When we walked through the Shambles Saturday night there was a crafts show.
Janet took me to a restaurant right there on Second Street, just across from the Shambles. Xochitl (so-cheet) is a very good, high end Mexican restaurant. Janet doesn't like the normal Tex-Mex food that passes for Mexican and after this meal I doubt that I will ever get her to taste another Poblanos Rellenos. The food was exceptional and because we each ordered a "tasting menu" at a reasonable price of $45 the cobblestoned streets were especially treacherous because we were so stuffed. There were five courses involved in the tasting menu. The first was guacamole made fresh at our table. The guacamole guy came up to our table with his little platter of avocados and other ingredients and mixed everything in a molcajete, which is a bowl made from lava rock.
For our antojitos Janet had a lamb carpaccio and I had Gorditas de Huitlacoche, which are little mushrooms that grow in place of kernels on a cob. For our ceviche or Mexican sushi Janet had Vuelve a la Vida “Return to Life”, a menage of sea critters garnished with cilantro, jalapeno and avocado and I had "Yucataco" de Atún, tuna flavored with apple, lemongrass and aji amarillo pepper.
Every bite of this delicious meal stopped us and we'd flop back onto our chairs to savor each morsel. We giggled like school children and rolled our eyes at the good fortune with having found this place. For the main course Janet had a strong tasting Cabrito con Salsa Mulato y Habas, baby goat with salsa mulato and a Fava Bean salad and I had a bacon and lime encrusted chunk of halibut with a watermelon salsa that forced my taste buds to bounce in several directions at the same time. This was definitely not your typical Mexican restaurant, especially when the head chef himself came around the neatly decorated, diminutive restaurant to thank people for coming to eat his food. He asked us what we had ordered and nodded his head approvingly.
The fifth course was dessert. Janet had a semi sweet chocolate souffle and I had caramelized bananas with walnut ice cream. When we rolled out of Xochitl we were lighter in our pocketbook, but quite stuffed. Perhaps this was the best meal I had ever had for my birthday. It is a somewhat transient tradition that I like to eat a Mexican meal on my birthday. I doubt too that I would ever be able to eat another Poblanos Rellenos after this.
Afterwards we attempted to stroll along South Street, but it was brimming with people that were a bit too rebellious for us and rather than ruin the euphoric haze that clouded our senses we ducked quickly back into the extremely quiet confines of Society Hill. We marveled at the trim homes as we made our way back to the car for the relatively short ride home.
Wow... what a birthday....
Truthfully though, I do like Philadelphia. Since my divorce 5 years ago I have been exploring this city more and more, and with Janet as the tour guide these past 3 1/2 years, she has shown me a lot of this historic city. There are many nuggets to explore (like Chestnut Hill) and several entertaining events like the Dragon Boat races we attended back in June. Over the years Janet has dragged me all through the city; we've strolled through Elfreth's Alley, gone to several operas, eaten Italian in the 9th Street Italian market, devoured Jimmy's cheese steaks on South Street, strolled through Fairmount Park and the city's Museum of Art. We've had beers in so many places around the city I've lost count. Yes, Philadelphia is worth exploring and it's an easy destination for the Home Vacation Team.
On my birthday Janet took me to a restaurant in Head House Square in a section of town called Society Hill. It is a very affluent with a high concentration of 18 and 19th century original homes. The streets are rough cobblestoned and Janet walked me through some absolutely beautiful alleys and hidden gardens to marvel at the trim neat homes. She remarked that as a child from Upper Darby she dreamed of living in this section of town.
Anyway, Head House Square used to be called New Market Square, in order to distinguish it from a similar market on High Street, which is now called Market Street.... There's a test in the morning... The head house was originally used as a firehouse. It was started in 1804. The structure behind the firehouse is called the Shambles, which is an archaic word for butcher, it is evidently the oldest farmer's market in the United States. The original structure was erected in 1745. When we walked through the Shambles Saturday night there was a crafts show.
Janet took me to a restaurant right there on Second Street, just across from the Shambles. Xochitl (so-cheet) is a very good, high end Mexican restaurant. Janet doesn't like the normal Tex-Mex food that passes for Mexican and after this meal I doubt that I will ever get her to taste another Poblanos Rellenos. The food was exceptional and because we each ordered a "tasting menu" at a reasonable price of $45 the cobblestoned streets were especially treacherous because we were so stuffed. There were five courses involved in the tasting menu. The first was guacamole made fresh at our table. The guacamole guy came up to our table with his little platter of avocados and other ingredients and mixed everything in a molcajete, which is a bowl made from lava rock.
For our antojitos Janet had a lamb carpaccio and I had Gorditas de Huitlacoche, which are little mushrooms that grow in place of kernels on a cob. For our ceviche or Mexican sushi Janet had Vuelve a la Vida “Return to Life”, a menage of sea critters garnished with cilantro, jalapeno and avocado and I had "Yucataco" de Atún, tuna flavored with apple, lemongrass and aji amarillo pepper.
Every bite of this delicious meal stopped us and we'd flop back onto our chairs to savor each morsel. We giggled like school children and rolled our eyes at the good fortune with having found this place. For the main course Janet had a strong tasting Cabrito con Salsa Mulato y Habas, baby goat with salsa mulato and a Fava Bean salad and I had a bacon and lime encrusted chunk of halibut with a watermelon salsa that forced my taste buds to bounce in several directions at the same time. This was definitely not your typical Mexican restaurant, especially when the head chef himself came around the neatly decorated, diminutive restaurant to thank people for coming to eat his food. He asked us what we had ordered and nodded his head approvingly.
The fifth course was dessert. Janet had a semi sweet chocolate souffle and I had caramelized bananas with walnut ice cream. When we rolled out of Xochitl we were lighter in our pocketbook, but quite stuffed. Perhaps this was the best meal I had ever had for my birthday. It is a somewhat transient tradition that I like to eat a Mexican meal on my birthday. I doubt too that I would ever be able to eat another Poblanos Rellenos after this.
Afterwards we attempted to stroll along South Street, but it was brimming with people that were a bit too rebellious for us and rather than ruin the euphoric haze that clouded our senses we ducked quickly back into the extremely quiet confines of Society Hill. We marveled at the trim homes as we made our way back to the car for the relatively short ride home.
Wow... what a birthday....
Saturday, August 1, 2009
39 and holding
Today is my birthday! Officially my age, waist and I.Q. are now the same number; a confluence of astrological unity that has an ebb and flow of time and space and many beers and an occasional cigar in my future....
The celebration began yesterday. The Home Vacation Team's intent was to travel to the shore again, but when the weather report reads 100% chance of rain, there's no reason to make an attempt. Instead, we saw a matinee of Michael Mann's new film, Public Enemies; a beautiful movie, if predictable story. We exited the theater into a soft summer rain that became steadily fiercer as we drove along the flooded streets. I avoided the highway for we had some time to kill. We were going to the Hopewell Valley Winery's Friday happy hour which began at 5 p.m. The winery is along Yard Road just outside of Pennington. We had been there before to purchase a bottle and had enjoyed their award winning Chambourcin at the NJWGA event we had attended last spring. We had signed up for email announcements and finally we decided to go to their Friday happy hour.
There was a jazz quartet playing in a cavernous back room of the wine store. Individual pizzas were available for $6.00 and wine was for sale either by the bottle or glass. We arrived just before the event offically began at 5, but there were a few people already seated and drinking. Evidently the "hours" were very loose. We settled in at a table with a bottle of Chamourcin, $15.95, ordered a pie and watched the place steadily fill up. Other people arrived with their own food and some splayed out on their table an array of snacks. It was very nice and a light jovial athmosphere was pervasive. We could have stayed through the evening, even after we had drained our bottle, but our moveable feast had us heading over to the Triumph Brewery again to play trivia!
After a quick sandwich at the house and a change of clothes; it had gotten noticeably cooler after the rain had stopped; we drove down into town and walked across the bridge into New Hope. We ordered beers, $5.00. Janet and I first had an Irish Red, which had a subtle smoky flavor and signed in as BIM to play trivia. We were neck and neck with a bunch of kids across the bar from us signed in as ROY. They smoked us with all the rap questions, but eventually we won the overall game! After a couple of more beers we weaved back across the bridge to NJ pausing to marvel at the beautiful endless Delaware and the rolling hills shilouetted by a half moon and life just seemed to be in the right place.
For a vacation from home you could do a lot worse....
Today for my birthday we are heading into Philadelphia for a Mexican dinner.
How old am I you may ask? 39 and holding........................................................
The celebration began yesterday. The Home Vacation Team's intent was to travel to the shore again, but when the weather report reads 100% chance of rain, there's no reason to make an attempt. Instead, we saw a matinee of Michael Mann's new film, Public Enemies; a beautiful movie, if predictable story. We exited the theater into a soft summer rain that became steadily fiercer as we drove along the flooded streets. I avoided the highway for we had some time to kill. We were going to the Hopewell Valley Winery's Friday happy hour which began at 5 p.m. The winery is along Yard Road just outside of Pennington. We had been there before to purchase a bottle and had enjoyed their award winning Chambourcin at the NJWGA event we had attended last spring. We had signed up for email announcements and finally we decided to go to their Friday happy hour.
There was a jazz quartet playing in a cavernous back room of the wine store. Individual pizzas were available for $6.00 and wine was for sale either by the bottle or glass. We arrived just before the event offically began at 5, but there were a few people already seated and drinking. Evidently the "hours" were very loose. We settled in at a table with a bottle of Chamourcin, $15.95, ordered a pie and watched the place steadily fill up. Other people arrived with their own food and some splayed out on their table an array of snacks. It was very nice and a light jovial athmosphere was pervasive. We could have stayed through the evening, even after we had drained our bottle, but our moveable feast had us heading over to the Triumph Brewery again to play trivia!
After a quick sandwich at the house and a change of clothes; it had gotten noticeably cooler after the rain had stopped; we drove down into town and walked across the bridge into New Hope. We ordered beers, $5.00. Janet and I first had an Irish Red, which had a subtle smoky flavor and signed in as BIM to play trivia. We were neck and neck with a bunch of kids across the bar from us signed in as ROY. They smoked us with all the rap questions, but eventually we won the overall game! After a couple of more beers we weaved back across the bridge to NJ pausing to marvel at the beautiful endless Delaware and the rolling hills shilouetted by a half moon and life just seemed to be in the right place.
For a vacation from home you could do a lot worse....
Today for my birthday we are heading into Philadelphia for a Mexican dinner.
How old am I you may ask? 39 and holding........................................................
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