welcome to philadelphia

Upon setting out for our first evening in this great historic city, we went straightaway down the pub for some traditional Irish pub food.

Bangers and mash! Shepherd's pie... Fish and chips... Proper food. Cheers to Fadó!

Wait... Waiter, there's a wee gnome in my shepherd's pie. :)

All the doors were propped open at the pub, so we felt a part of the street activity flowing near us, always an exciting part of a big city.

A few blocks from the pub was the Academy of Music. We headed there next to see Eddie Izzard perform live. The theatre was beautiful and Eddie was terribly funny.

splendor in the carpet

We're in Philly!

QVC studio tour... priceless

Day 4. Continuing our adventure out in the Pennsylvania Dutch countryside... or not.

We awoke --how many margaritas?-- and dragged ourselves out of bed to get ready for our visit to QVC Studio Park. Well, not all of us. Someone was already anxiously watching TV to see what the special value of the day was and whom we might expect to see while we're there.

You talking to me??



We signed up for the studio tour which allowed us to see how it's all put together -- from the people in the control room to the graphics department to the huge 20,000-square-foot broadcasting space where Jill Bauer (left) hosted southwestern jewelery while we watched from an observation deck 50 feet above her.

Hey, I'm watching QVC.. at QVC.

The studio park would not be complete without a retail outlet. Melinda poses by the good stuff. Laura Geller Cosmetics...

Quacker Factory... Quack, quack, quack!

Hideous!

Lock & Lock... which we had watched on the TV back in the hotel room earlier this morning.

QVC goodies!


Mmm... Chocolate diamond. Tough choice?

virginia is for lovers, but pennsylvania has intercourse

Day 3... We checked out of Caesars (Atlantic City, NJ) and took a drive out to the countryside. After only a few hours, we found ourselves in beautiful Lancaster County, PA, where the people are plain and the dairy is fresh!

Our first stop was Kitchen Kettle Village, a sort of all-in-one destination for tourists, in a tiny little town called Intercourse. We only had a few hours, so it was a great place for us to start.

We zipped through the village and ended up at the Kling House Restaurant.

By chance, we each ordered the exact same thing -- the Kitchen Kettle BLT. Sometimes there's nothing like a good BLT: European wheat bread, applewood bacon, lettuce, tomato and BBQ mayo.

After lunch, we took a buggy ride with E.J. While the horses clomped along at a leisurely gait down the scenic backroads, we sat back and took it all in.



Nearer to the village, we passed places of local business -- carriage repair, woodworking, quilts.

Farther out, nothing but dairy farms! What a vision... And they all seemed to echo the same pattern...

Huge white barns (all white, no red), a silo or two, maybe a stable for the horses, farmhouse, farmyard complete with a few trees, vegetable garden and a pulley-based clothesline that stretched pretty much to the other side of the yard and beyond, where the laundry hung: dark, simple garments in black and blue.

Check out those solar panels.

And did I mention the cows? Holsteins, to be precise. Living it up. Soaking in the good life in all its pastoral glory. Chewing the cud. God bless 'em.







We passed a young man working in a field, perched on some sort of contraption that required about six mules to pull it. No tractors. We passed school children walking down the long backroads. Two boys dressed alike, including small matching igloo ice chests for their lunch, yelled "no pictures" at us as we rolled by. They are a shy people.



We pulled in at one of the farms for a treat. At a makeshift lemonade stand, two children were selling homemade root beer and whoopie pies, a traditional snack in these parts. We each got a pie. They were good. Sweet. Reminded me of a Little Debbie snack cake, less processed.

We returned to the village and made our rounds looking for souvenirs. Homemade jams and relishes... Fudge, sweets... More whoopie pies... Pottery, leather goods... Typical country wares.

I didn't see anyone buy a bonnet. Neat idea though, considering?

How does she find a purse shop?... In the middle of nowhere??

Too cute to pass up.





I didn't really buy anything. Instead, I saved room for more do-not-miss local items that I had read about...

A traditional Amish soft pretzel. It was awesome.


Fresh homemade ice cream produced right down the road on one of the local farms. Gotta love those dairy cows!

Can you tell that this was a highlight for me? What elation! Peanut butter curl. Basically vanilla with a ribbon of peanut butter swirled through it. It was so smooth and creamy. Drool... Does it get any better?

We skipped over to Village Quilts. Sam wanted to get his mom something nice. Unfortunately, these quilts were in the designer price range.

He settled for a... spice scent-infused pot holder trivet thing? With roosters on it. Perfect!

We left the village with just enough time to seek out another popular local attraction. I got out my directions and led us to our first covered bridge...



No, we had not expected to find the bridge next to a Target, and admittedly that took a little something away from the experience. I understand building the main highway right alongside the bridge to preserve it, but once the town expands and the adjacent shopping center encroaches upon the farmland, it detracts from the old rustic charm of the bridge.

Still, the bridge itself was lovely. It is officially known as Willow Hill Covered Bridge, but in the video you may hear us refer to it by another name, affectionately!



We happened to pass a place that our buggy ride buddies had suggested earlier. The Outhouse. For all your super plus size lingerie needs...

Kidding... It's just a silly novelty gift shop. It was fun and worth the stop.


We continued on to Herr's Mill Bridge. Off the main highway, it proved to be a little closer to what we had expected of the bridges.

The next and final bridge we encountered in Lancaster County was Eshleman's Mill Covered Bridge. This one is actually open to traffic -- single lane only. We had to hurry through it to make way for a horse and buggy that was hauling ass towards us. We reckon it was a teenager gleefully taking his dad's ride out for a spin. Out of control or just overexcited? You decide.



Interestingly, not long after we were back from the trip, the Advocate published an article entitled How to Make the Most of a Weekend in Pa.'s Amish Country which included a photo of this same bridge.



What in the world could possibly make this day better? Cinco de Mayo at OTB! Duh! Needless to say, even way out in Exton, PA, they knew where the party was... So we had to wait a while to be seated, which gave us a headstart on the margaritas. The following may be a little sloppy.







And finally... Now that the Debbie Gibson show is done, bringing some Tiffany back into the mix. Yes indeed, they were playing all the good shit down at the OTB!



Look who we caught up with! Wassup Lil Wee!

Too many margaritas? He looks knackered.

Pretty good day! Here's to new places, new experiences... and old favorites.