So consensus of this weekend is that Philadelphia deserves much more credit than it gets. Nicer and more fun than any of us thought going into this trip. I've been to philly a few times, but they've been short trips where i didn't really go out or do anything there!
As Giants and Skins fans, Diana and AJ are inclined to dislike philly and its people, but found that they had a good time there. We even encountered a few eagles fans who were super nice, even to AJ who was wearing a skins t-shirt!
Friday night we checked into the hotel and then headed out to a main street where two bar rescue bars were located. We first went to Downey's which was actually pretty awesome. It looked like what i'd expect to see on bourbon street with an upstairs outdoor wrap around balcony. There was lots of space, good drink specials and what seemed to be a pretty local and regular crowd. The music was good and the people were friendly. I would have been content to stay there all evening and would definitely go there regularly if I lived in Philly. It's also on the water and has a great view of a giant pretty bridge from the balcony.
downey's
upstairs bar. met some promoters and got to try the new jim beam red stag. won some stuff. took a weird picture with a moose headpiece.
outside balcony
the clay oven that was featured in the bar rescue episode. the owner used to be a great chef and had awesome food 'til tragedy and now it's just covered in dust!
tried my first jager bomb. actually really like it!
when we were leaving i asked sketchy to take a picture by this window. if you look in the window the second guy to the right in the white t-shirt is the owner!
sketchy and owner.
So then we decided to head out and go check out other places on that street. We learned that Swanky Bubbles (bar rescue place number 2) had closed down. sadtown. Sketchy has now visited 4 bar rescue bars! We walked down the street until we found another place that looked good. This place was neat, also not crowded and also had friendly folks.
aj liked their pint glasses. =)
We headed back to the hotel after the second bar since it was already super late. Whilst looking for food in the wee hours of the morning, we happened upon a WaWa. I discovered that they have the most magical mac and cheese there. I had it twice during the less than 24 hours that we were in Philly. lol
The next morning Diana and I went to the Brides Against Breast Cancer event. We traveled to Philly for this event because the event would be in DC when I was going to be in FL and i really wanted to check it out to see if they had any dresses that would work! We ended up meeting a lot of vendors (some local to philly so not very helpful) and got at least one productive thing done. Unfortunately they didn't have any lace dresses in my size. Pretty sure i've narrowed down to at least the material.
After about an hour or so at the bridal event, we headed out to meet the boys at this amazing market place. They had all sorts of homemade things from jellies to awesome fresh cuts of meat to spices to baked goods!
this was a place that had been on man v food. the line was outrageous.
there were SO many CHICKEN sausage options! heaven.
and variety of TURKEY bacon!!
found some more chicken sausage! lots and lots of booths with fresh meats!
we bought a few of these rubs which look really good. we actually ended up buying lots of meat and having a bbq when we got back on sat night. We used the cajun rub which was really delicious!
the fruits and veggies were so cheap and delicious (grilled those too).
sketchy had a crazy deli sandwich there. Diana and AJ also ate crazy things from the booths. I had a giant mac and cheese ball and then went to WaWa for more mac and cheese on the way out of the city lol.
colorful and awesome variety of flavors. didn't get any though. =(
JAMS. we got the guava jam because that's something i can't even find in the international stores by us!
SO.MANY.JAMS.
There were also so many samples of CHEESE. How i managed to leave there without 10lbs of cheese i have no idea.
We headed out right after that in the early afternoon and got back to Springfield around 5 or 6pm.
some of the items we grilled.
lamb with the cajun rub.
aj and diana's giant 1lb steak!
tried to show the size, it was basically two of my hands. this picture didn't do it justice.
tried to get aj to show that it was the size of his head but the depth and such in this picture are also off. trust that it was very large!
turkey bacon!
diana injured herself heating things up in the microwave. lol she had to nurse her crazy burned fingers by running cold water over them for forever. as such, she had to drink her wine from a straw.
i've been all obsessed with the immersion blender and dips! tried to make a hummus, but realized i didn't have tahini. made a fake hummus using seasoned yogurt as a substitute
before
after
diana set the table because she's very anal about having things be proper when you sit down to dinner lol. #jerseyitalianproblems. I was excited to use our new plates though. Engagement gift from scott and miriam! =)
final product. still alive though.
for size measurement. picture still off. steak was def bigger than her head. that plate is a serving platter not a regular plate!
my meal
crispy bacon and one of those crazy chicken sausages
diana's burnt fingers caused her to look like a 4 year old eating her steak. i don't even know how she was holding the fork. lol
was quite entertaining.
AJ's "i killed that steak!" pose
as if we didn't have enough food. we got a fresh peach pie from the market. we ate the whole damn thing. ooc.
Saturday night Diana killed two bottles of the best chianti and aj killed a bottle of grey goose. they then proceeded to play madden (angrily) into the wee hours of the night. Friday and Saturday were really fun and actually relaxing days despite spending a few hours on the road and a night in a different city!
Yesterday was first football sunday of the season and melanie's apartment warming. I think i want to do a special post on that so will save for tomorrow!
Today i dropped sketchy off at the airport around 3am. He's going to be in ATL for work until Wed. Then we're flying separately (him from ATL, me from DC) to orlando for the rest of the week/wkend to get some wedding stuff done!
Went to the new froggy bottom today with some of the girls to finalize some bachelorette party planning things. The new place is very swanky and nice, very different from the hole in the wall which had so much character.
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