West Philadelphia, Born and Raised

It's been a while since I've blogged.. one week exactly, but that was because I was getting ready to go visit Joel and Ally west of Philadelphia this past weekend. I took two days off work and visited them from Feb. 17-20. It was a lot of fun. I got to see the house they're renting from Ally's Dad and Uncle. It used to be her grandparents house before they passed away. It has 2 floors not including the basement. The second floor is unfinished and the basement needs some repairs, but the main floor is in great condition. They have a dog named Macy that is a small, yet vocal dog who will bark at you for about 8 hours before she gets used to you.

I flew Airtran because they have cheap tickets and let me tell you 3 out of 4 of my flights were late because of the weather. That was just sad, but at least I didn't have to spend the night in ATL. I arrived Friday at about 6:20 PM or so and Ally picked me up from the airport. We got to their house about 7 and Joel was already home. He has to commute 1.5 hours EACH WAY to work in New Jersey. And you thought your commute was bad. That night we went out to a pub that Joel and Ally go to every Friday night. It's a little weird that despite the fact that they've been going there for months, the people there still don't know them.

The next morning I woke up around 9:30 or so and Ally made us chocolate chip pancakes! They were awesome. We decided to go to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. You know, the one where Rocky runs up the long set of stairs in front like the winner he is. They had a large selection of art from various artists including Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, and many many others. There was also a pretty cool photography exhibit on the first floor. That tired us out a little, so we went back to their house to eat sandwiches. That night we went out to a couple of bars in another suburb/college part of Philly. They were alright, but I'm glad I don't have to be in crowded places like that. Good times.

The next day was Sunday and right after we woke up, we went to watch Georgetown get whooped by Bella Vista in basketball thanks to Allyson's dad, who then took us out to lunch with Graham, Ally's little brother, and her mother. We went to an Italian place that was awesome! After that meal, we went back to Joel and Ally's house to rest a while and we ended up watching Guess Who, which I thought was pretty funny, but not nearly as good as The Butterfly Effect. Sunday night we decided not to go out and to watch some of the Olympics and snack some since we were all too full to eat a meal.

Monday morning Joel had to wake up at 5 AM to get to work a little early and Ally and I woke up about 8 AM so she could take me to the airport. Unfortunately my flight had been delayed and I didn't check before we left so I had plenty of time to finish my book The Love of the Last Tycoon by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It was a pretty good book, but I liked The Great Gatsby better.

All in all, I had a really good time and I'm glad I got a chance to see Joel and Ally's place and to visit Philadelphia. Hopefully I can go back and visit their beach house in the summer!