Weekend highlights

Its hard to imagine the weather being much less conducive to walking around Philly on Sat. The temperature was in the upper 30s as it alternated between rain and snow the entire day. Oh, and did I mention it was very windy too? We used umbrellas but the wind drove the rain and show under them.

When we arrived in Philly around noon we started with lunch at Pietro's. We had soup, salad, and pizza. Then we had a driving tour of Philly and Thad pointed out places of interest such as museums, beautiful old government buildings, and places where he used to live and work. Then we checked into the hotel and walked across the street to Reading Terminal Market. After walking around and getting the 'lay of the land' we took advantage of the vendors' desire to get rid of baked goods for $2. The 4 of us purchased 5 different desserts and enjoyed a Dessert Extravaganza along with some hot coffee. The coffee was especially nice on such a cold, blustery day. Since it was raining/snowing I wore a water-resistant windbreaker but it wasn't warm enough. (My warmer coat isn't water-resistant.) I felt like I was cold the entire weekend. Then we went to Macy's which is located in the old Wanamaker store. What a gorgeous building! Neither Spouse nor I bought anything, since Macy's isn't really our style. Afterward we rested in hotel room until it was time to get ready for dinner. The 4 of us took a cab and met up with Joe P, Allen, and Matt & Stacy for dinner at Farmicia. But after we'd been sat at our table our waiter advised us that they had no gas (which power the stoves and ovens) so they could not provide any hot food! We decided to go to plan B and went around the corner to Fork. I think the dicey weather was the only reason they were able to seat our party of 8 without a reservation. I had wild mushroom risotto which was delicious. After dinner Joe P went with the 4 of us to a bar called the Bike Stop to see some guys in Halloween costumes. Then we walked over to to Tavern on Camac to see more. It was a fun night!

Sun morning walked across the street again to Reading Terminal Market and had breakfast at Down Home Diner. Afterward we walked around the Terminal some more. Fortunately the weather cleared up. It was bright and sunny, but still cold. We packed up our stuff, checked out of the hotel, and headed over to Trader Joe's in the car so we could stock up on our favorite items. (We don't have Trader Joe's near us so we stock up when we're in Philly or in VA visiting family.) Then came home and relaxed and caught up on emails.

It was a very nice trip, although the weather surely could have been nicer.