One of the Bobs road with us and the other Bob road with Steven & Thad. We arrived at Bobby Flay's Burger Palace downtown where we met up with Bugs & Roger, Thad's sister Robin, and Thad's friend Alan. We had a delicious and surprisingly affordable lunch at Bobby Flay's. I had the Napa Burger (topped with goat cheese, water cress, and honey mustard) and beer-battered onion rings. Yum!
Then we drove just outside Philly to Merion PA to the Barnes Foundation. Albert Barnes amassed one of the most impressive and valuable art collections in the world with more than 800 paintings by masters including Renoir, Picasso, Matisse, Modigliani, and Cezanne. I don't know anything about art, but it was really cool to be able to view all of those masterpieces in one building. The collection is estimated to be worth about $25 billion.
Then we headed back to downtown Philly where we checked in at the Marriot Residence, across the street from the gorgeous City Hall building. Our room was on the 7th floor with a fantastic view of City Hall. I took this photo while laying on the bed.
Then we drove just outside Philly to Merion PA to the Barnes Foundation. Albert Barnes amassed one of the most impressive and valuable art collections in the world with more than 800 paintings by masters including Renoir, Picasso, Matisse, Modigliani, and Cezanne. I don't know anything about art, but it was really cool to be able to view all of those masterpieces in one building. The collection is estimated to be worth about $25 billion.
Then we headed back to downtown Philly where we checked in at the Marriot Residence, across the street from the gorgeous City Hall building. Our room was on the 7th floor with a fantastic view of City Hall. I took this photo while laying on the bed.
Then we walked to Reading Terminal Market with Bugs & Roger for a snack. I got a dark chocolate 'wheel' filled with macadamia nuts from Termini Brothers bakery. Then Roger and I split a piece of Pumple cake from Flying Monkey. Pumple gets its name by combining pumpkin and apple: pumple. Pumple cake consists of pumpkin pie encased in chocolate cake (layer 1) and apple pie encased in yellow cake (layer 2), then frosted with buttercream icing. It sounded so intriguing we had to split a piece. 
We both liked it, but it didn't have the 'OMG' factor I was expecting. Next we went to the Macy's that now occupies the old John Wannamaker's building. It is incredible! The grand court is open to the 4 floors above it and you can watch/hear an organist playing the largest organ in the world. Learn more about the organ here. In addition to providing music for daily shopping, the organ and grand court are also used for concerts and extensive holiday light shows. Its truly a spectacle everyone should see when in Philly. Then we went back to the hotel room and relaxed for a while before changing clothes for dinner.
Steven & Thad, The Bobs, Bug & Roger, and Spouse & I met up with Alan and Joe P at Knock. I had a delicious dark rum marinated pork loin with grilled mango and rice. The food and service were excellent and we all enjoyed our meal together. Afterward we walked to the Bike Stop bar, Tavern on Camac bar, and the famous Woody's bar.
Sun morning we enjoyed a free breakfast at the hotel and hung around talking for a while. Then we packed up, checked out, loaded our luggage into the cars, said goodbye to Bugs & Roger, and headed to Moriarty's for brunch with some local area guys who will be going on the cruise next month. We met several nice, friendly guys and enjoyed the brunch. Then we strolled through Outfest Pride festival before heading to the cars and leaving for home. We arrived home at 4:30 and just hung out the rest of the evening, and watched some shows on the DVR.
The weather was fantastic - sunny and in the mid/upper 70s during the day and a little cooler at night, which was ideal for all the walking we did. We had a great time and I can definitely see more day and weekend trips to Philly in our future.
Steven & Thad, The Bobs, Bug & Roger, and Spouse & I met up with Alan and Joe P at Knock. I had a delicious dark rum marinated pork loin with grilled mango and rice. The food and service were excellent and we all enjoyed our meal together. Afterward we walked to the Bike Stop bar, Tavern on Camac bar, and the famous Woody's bar.
Sun morning we enjoyed a free breakfast at the hotel and hung around talking for a while. Then we packed up, checked out, loaded our luggage into the cars, said goodbye to Bugs & Roger, and headed to Moriarty's for brunch with some local area guys who will be going on the cruise next month. We met several nice, friendly guys and enjoyed the brunch. Then we strolled through Outfest Pride festival before heading to the cars and leaving for home. We arrived home at 4:30 and just hung out the rest of the evening, and watched some shows on the DVR.
The weather was fantastic - sunny and in the mid/upper 70s during the day and a little cooler at night, which was ideal for all the walking we did. We had a great time and I can definitely see more day and weekend trips to Philly in our future.
Crush du Jour: Drew Pare
1 comment:
wanamaker's it is (never macy's) to a true born and bred philadelphian (like me)! and the pastries at termini's are to DIE for!
glad you had a great weekend!
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