We’re back from Philadelphia, where it was indeed sunny the entire time, and I saw Paddy’s pub in tribute. (It’s small.)
I had a great time being a tourist there, and managed to walk over 11 miles on Saturday. (I got to experience none of Philly’s extensive public transportation system save the airport train; walking is the best way to see things, after all.) I absolutely loved the Mutter Museum, despite their photography prohibition that means I can’t post a million photos of midget skeletons, 70-pound cysts, or deformed fetuses preserved in jars. (You’re welcome.) I had lunch at an excellent Belgian bar, where I hung out with one of the hundred-or-so locals who were there for a breast cancer fundraising pub crawl. I then went and took in some of America’s history, though I didn’t take the time to do the tour of Independence Hall. Which had scaffolding on it, by the way, and therefore I demand a refund of my tourist dollars.
By the time I was back in the Center City area about an hour before Matt was due to be back at the hotel, I was so tired of walking that I went and plopped down at the bar at the Marriott to wait. The bartender and I got talking about the various huge events that were going on there (they have over 2,000 rooms), and he said the main one was surrounding the anniversary of the Million Man March. Right as he mentioned it, he told me to turn around and check out the elevator bay, where a big part of Louis Farrakhan’s entourage was just walking past. Holy crap! Between that and the Occupy movement camping at city hall a block away, there was a lot going on in that neighborhood.
Matt and I had happy hour at Rum Bar and then an excellent dinner at Sampan before going to pick up our rental car. We got to the train in time to watch it leaving the station, so we grabbed a cab to the airport instead. (At a set rate of $28, and the fact that it took us right to the rental place, it was a pretty good deal.) We headed to Atlantic City, and got there within an hour. Our hotel was right on the boardwalk, with an awesome view of the beach, and a Jacuzzi with a window looking out on a rotating TV. How much porn has been watched from there, I don’t even want to know.
We checked out the Trump and Caesar’s, but our favorite casino ended up being Wild Wild West, which is part of the Bally’s complex. There was a bar offering 24/7 happy hour, a 90s-era cover band, a fake coal train running overhead, and a pai gow dealer who know every word to every song coming from both the cover band and the DJ at the bar. We played for a long time, and got to witness a $750 fortune bonus win, which I had doubted was even possible (the guy had a royal flush – with a joker, but it still counts). I didn’t do that well, but Matt did. We crossed over to Bally’s just to experience the novelty of ordering a drink via an extensive menu on the video poker machine, and then it was time to head back to the hotel. After a stop for some giant, flat east-coast pizza slices on the boardwalk, of course.
We checked out the next morning, and walked up and down the boardwalk again to see it during the daytime. It was way nicer there than I expected, and we didn’t see a single needle washed up on the beach!
We drove back to Philly, took Bally to see the Palestra, then had lunch at Resurrection Ale House before heading to the airport. Our return flight took us through Atlanta, which meant that we got to have breakfast in New Jersey, lunch in Pennsylvania, and dinner in Georgia. That’s pretty awesome.
And because of a couple weird layovers like that (see also: stopping in St Louis on the way to Seattle), I’ll manage to reach elite status on Delta for next year. I’m sure we’ll never get upgraded to first class, but some of the other perks will be worth it!
I began my work-week yesterday with a visit to the dentist. I was expecting that she was going to replace my crown, but after getting the old one halfway cut off, she decided it was actually my tooth that was loose instead. So that had to come out, and now I need either a bridge or implant. (Starting price: $3500! WOOO!) After almost 2 hours of yanking and twisting, she still couldn’t get one of the roots out, so they sent me over to an oral surgeon on the other side of downtown. It was at that point that I was ready to cry.
The oral surgeon was awesome, though, and got it out within 15 minutes. The nurse asked if I wanted to see it afterwards, and I kind of regret not taking a picture just to freak everyone out. (There was a lot of blood on the table with it.) He stitched me up and sent me off with prescriptions for mega-ibuprofin and vicodin, which is why I had a really entertaining time trying to focus on any one thing last night. I fell asleep on the couch shortly after 10.
This morning was basically the opposite of my experience yesterday, because I booked our honeymoon cruise! It’s a week-long trip on the Mediterranean, leaving from Rome, with stops in Portofino, Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Tunisia, and Sicily. I’m most excited about having a stop on a new continent (and because of hearing about it from the Tunisian guy we met in Budapest), but all of those are going to be amazing.
Speaking of amazing, we’re going to Bismarck this weekend. Um, wait.