Friday in Philly

kitty in store window

on the morning walk

Rittenhouse Square

Rodin's Gates of Hell

gargoyles at the State Penn

down by the river

blogger and friends at Comcast Center

Comcast Center ~ amazing changing mural walls

ahhhhhhhhhhhh

dinner at Farmicia on 3rd Street

Anna after dinner

It was SUCH a full day with lots of walking and more museums. This time
we did the Rodin, Perelman (for Winslow Homer) and back to the Barnes.
Walked past the famous prison and on to Boathouse Row on the river where
we had a less than edible lunch, but nice view and friendly people.

Dinner was a delight because Michael's cousin Anna from Dutchhill Farm
(to the right) joined us. She is a young woman of many talents and much
beauty, as you can see. The food at Farmicia was excellent, exquisite.
A wonderful evening after a delightful touristy day. 

glorious Philadelphia!

lots of walking, oohing, aahing...

History everywhere...

indeed...

the Free Library

Rodin Museum

Famous Philadelphia Museum

Ginger and friend

Exhibit inside the Philadelphia Museum

Entrance to the Barnes Museum

Dinner with historical folk

We had a delightful day filled with walking, coffee and ART. Almost
too much art, our brains were numb by the time we left the Barnes at
4pm for a walk to the historical district and dinner. It's an easy city to
get around without hills or crazy twists and turns like MY city. We'd
both been here before in the dim distant past, so we mostly avoided
the history sites and concentrated on museums. It was a great day indeed.

Weather was perfect, just a little cold, but not rainy like SF yesterday.

Today is more walking and museums ~ back to the Barnes which has more
art than is possible to describe: Renoir, Cezanne, Matisse, Pendergast,
Soutine, Rousseau and even more. Incredible.

Tonight we meet Anna of the Dutch Hill Farm for dinner. Can't wait!

Home tomorrow ~ WTF?

thursday in Philly

train from airport to Rodeway Inn

Dinner

Cold here!

Out early this morning for two museums, so I gotta run.  No rain or snow, thankfully.

elated...

We are sitting at the airport waiting for Flight 136 to take off for Philadelphia.
Last night was amazing ~ none of us expected such a quick WIN.  It was
very special being with friends to hi-five and hug and finally to stop worrying.
Obama's speech was wonderful and even Romney was a gentleman about
the whole thing. I'll be interested to see how/if the GOP changes their direction
(or not) in the immediate future. Can they rid themselves of the destructive
Tea Party people? Time will tell.

Next post will be from Philly. Ginger and I just studied the map and of
course we'll remember every detail. Lots of walking ahead. The airplane
is slightly delayed, rain in the City of Brotherly (ahem) Love.

leaving my cats and dogs...

over-packed as usual

the cat next door ~ Husbando calls him "the big ass orange cat"

Fernando?

Scutaro?

Brie!

Rocky?

Margo?

I can't keep track of all the dogs' names ~ I do know that a lot have been
adopted, especially the puppies. I had another pleasant few hours at the
SPCA and the walk to/fro was extra nice hot yesterday morning. November
is the new October ~ I made that up. Applaud.

Ginger and I head to Philly tomorrow. Umbrellas all packed. Tonight we
will watch the election, hoping that the Great Plotniks will join us. They
are back from their l-o-n-g and wonderful trip to Spain and Portugal.

sorrow, outrage, revenge

We weren't looking forward to this play, except for the fact that Olympia
Dukakis is playing the Greek Chorus Leader role. Well, last night she
called out sick and we were initially disappointed, but guess what?
It really is a GREAT play,  ACT pulled out all the stops with this 45 minute
drama about a daughter who wants to kill her mother who killed her
father who killed another daughter.  Lots of weeping and hysteria, but
somehow it all worked and special applause to Rene Augesen who must
be exhausted after she emotes superbly through her role as Elektra. Whoooosh.

I predict big holiday sales this year. Our downtown SF was packed last night with
shoppers ~ hordes of them. That's right, it is November. Hmmmmmmmmm.

sunday sugar rush

Dynamo Donuts ~ 24th St. and York

Worthy of Mother's silver

We had never bought these famous bacon donuts before, so this morning my
walk included a stop-off at Dynamo where there was a short line. Since
we know these probably aren't too good for our health, I only bought two
and because they are $3 each, that was enough of a treat for us. They are
cake donuts and I actually prefer the Krispy Kreme® kind, but not a
crumb remained, you'll be happy to hear.

The setting back of the clocks screwed up my inner timer, as usual. I
would prefer Daylight Savings Time all year round.

memorial week

Taco Bell in Pathetica (Thursday)

Playground ~ 39th and Ortega (Sunday)

I missed Charlie's official service since we were in Chicago, but the Blogmaid
and I met his daughter, Jen, at his favorite restaurant in Pacifica. We had a very
pleasant time and had some laughs and tears as we remembered this fine and
funny man. Like many of us, she was a Daddy's Girl and misses him terribly.
Jen was wearing his favorite Giants sweatshirt as we ate his favorite food and
each pocketed a handful of the secret sauce, just as he would have done.

There was a Borders mini-reunion at the sad occasion of Stacey's memorial
last Sunday. She was only 36 and had a two week surprise hospital stay
before she died of cancer, quickly. It's shocking that one so young and vibrant
could be gone without time to plan or prepare. She had just started her new
job at City Target and was soooooo excited about that. The Big Box Family
was there to show our support and remember her impact on our lives.

more than a food court

The Buckhorn Grill

What a difference the new City Target has made ~ the Metreon Center is
now bustling with new restaurants and lots of customers. It used to be
deserted and vaguely depressing. Yesterday Dancing Jen and I had a
lovely (and delicious!) lunch here at the Buckhorn and we spoke of
many things and analyzed many people. A very nice time, thanks, DJ.

scenes from a celebration

BART did a great job with the crowds

I leaned on this security barrier

A fashion statement

It's always Halloween in SF

Not easy to see through her...

Back home at La Taqueria ~ still all Giants

Next year I'll hit Market Street for the World Series parade. But I was a
bit late for that, early (I thought) for the City Hall. Not so, thousands of
people ahead of me. Still, it was good to be there for people-watching
and smoke-inhaling, even though I don't care much for crowds. I'm glad
I went, just to soak up the atmosphere and think back to the days at
Candlestick when we'd be part of a crowd of 5,000 or so on a foggy
night. My city sure has some crazies, but maybe these were imported
from small towns to the East or North? Anyway, it was a blast, but so
very nice to come home to a quiet house...

My favorite question was from a young woman. "Is there a parking
lot close to here?" Quite a few people asked me WHY the barrier was
there and I just smiled and said, "Security" and then it turns out that
Husbando and I were close to each other, but the cell phones weren't
working. I was impressed with BART and Muni getting all those people
around town. Lots and lots of kids and dogs ~ combining the event
with Halloween made it all seem even more surreal than it was. Ah, Frisco.