Oot and aboot, eh
I still marvel at the fact that most Americans that I meet think we really talk like that. Yes, we have a distinctive accent, but it’s not quite oot and aboot. On that note, Nadine and I have really (read: finally!) started to see more of the city since the spring.
Easter brunch chez les Dunk-Grahams
We kicked things off by hosting some friends at our house for Easter Sunday brunch. The spread included bacon, eggs, french toast (with Canadian maple syrup, of course!), tea biscuits (whipped up by yours truly), fresh fruit, juices, coffee, and tea. While the rate of food production didn’t quite meet the demands (we have a small kitchen and we hosted about a dozen people), hopefully the quality was sufficient.
Anniversary brunch chez oot’n'aboot
On Mother’s Day weekend we celebrated our 1st anniversary with a fancy brunch at the London Grill. The food was great and it’s an interesting building. I felt that the service was a little sub-par for the faciness of the place, but it was busy (Mother’s Day brunch). We then wandered down to Center City (downtown) and through Reading Terminal Market. It’s a market place that has many stalls selling all kinds of fresh and prepared foods (we opted for coffee and produce). On to the LOVE park:
LOVE Park
It was really fun watching all the skateboarders fall down. There was also a random guy who would offer to take a picture of you and your loved one in front of the LOVE statue…and then ask you for money. We opted to move on…
Family visitation
Our cousins Lisa and Derek were in town on vacation for a few days at the end of May. Needless to say they saw more sights in Philly in 4 1/2 days than we have in 10 months… Any way, we met them at their hotel in Center City to guide them to the restaurant of our choosing…which ended up being the same one they had eaten at the night before! This was our third time at Pietro’s Coal Oven Pizzeria, and I’d go back for sure. I know it’s a chain, but it’s good food at good prices and they offer take out. That said, Nadine and I had chosen the restaurant and when we arrived with Lisa and Derek, it turned out that they had already eaten there a couple of nights before…
The next morning we joined Lisa and Derek again for the Galileo Exhibit at the Franklin Institute:
Franklin Institute
The Institute was overall quite good and worth the trip, but I felt a little disappointed with the Galileo exhibit. I think I was tired and didn’t feel like reading as much as was required. A lot of cool stuff about his contributions to physics and astronomy, including one of only two original telescopes built (and signed) by Galileo himself that are known to exist in the world. I think my brother-in-law Tim would have really enjoyed it given his interest in astronomy.
Steeeeeerike!!!
We joined Nadine’s labmates for a night of bowling at the very cool North Bowl. From my experience here in the US, bowling alleys are much better kept and have much better food than some of the sketchier places I’ve been north of the border. Good beer, good food, good times.
Pre-Tour warm-up
We joined our friends Graham and Christine to watch the Pro Cycling Tour race here in Philly:
Chillin' out watchin' guys sweat in spandex...
...sweaty guys in spandex.
That was good times until we saw a crash inside of 1000 m to go, with one rider looking like he had broken his collar bone:
Crash = bad...
Oh ya, Graham also picked up a kinda-creepy guy who I believe started a conversation with Graham by saying he was a former professional cyclist and then proceeded to follow the four of us around while we went to the wine store on our way back to our house for dinner. We left him in line at the wine store as he was trying to pick up a young woman with a suggestive neck line. She was also appeared to be having none of it.
FOOOOOOOOOUUUR!!!
I discovered Sedgley Woods Disc Golf Course earlier in the spring on a run one day. It’s 27 well-maintained disc golf holes that meander their way through a patch of woods in Fairmount Park. Maintained by the Friends of Sedgley Woods and free to play. I’ve only played a couple of other disc golf courses in the past but this one is pretty cool. Nadine and I went a couple of times, this time in the rain (we didn’t have too much company!):
Putting it in...
Nadine from the "rough"...
Miscellaneous…
We’ve also been around the city road and mountain biking, running, playing ultimate frisbee (Nadine is playing in the Philadelphia Area Disc Alliance summer league), slo-pitch, running, etc. June was wet but July so far has been pretty fantastic for weather. It’s usually very hot and humid for most of the summer so we have been taking advantage of the abnormally tolerable conditions. And yes, there has been a little work in there as well…
