Philly or Bust

A few weeks ago I went to Philadelphia for the weekend with my girlfriend Georgette to visit her sister Diane. We both needed a break from life in general so we left the husbands and dogs at home and away we went.

We left on a Friday around 5pm, traffic wasn't the greatest getting out of Massachusetts but for a Friday it wasn't all that bad. We of course had to stop and have a super healthy supper at McDonald's. Nothing like a little greasy burger action to rot in your stomach and kick the weekend off with a bang.

Unfortunately for Georgette, she had a really bad cold and was not feeling well at all. Every minute or so while we were driving down the highway at 80 miles per hour she would steer with her knee so she could blow her nose. Is she talented? Yes! Did I fear for my life from time to time? Yes! But we made it to Philly in one piece but not before I breathed in her germs which I just knew was not going to end well for me.

On Saturday we drove an hour or so with her sister and brother in law to a buffet out in Amish country. Shady Maple Smorgasbord. All the food is fresh and from local farmers and it was SO good. Totally worth the drive. Apparently there is an area outside the building for the Amish/Mennonites to park their horses and buggies. I suppose it is probably true but I didn't see any so I am sorta convinced they were just messing with me to see if I would believe them. The rest of the day we did a whole lot of nothing at Diane and Brian's house. Which was just what I needed. We played games, watched a movie and TV. Sunday we went into Philly and did some window shopping etc. I somehow managed to not take any pictures which is very odd for me. I am generally VERY camera happy. Oh well.

Around 4 or 5 Georgette and I headed to her car so we could make it home to Boston at a reasonable hour. We both had to work Monday and G was still sick. All was going well until we hit major traffic on the New Jersey Turnpike. For about 45 mins we were going under 10 miles an hour starting and stopping. It really sucked. During this time we could smell something sort of like burning rubber. We couldn't be sure it was G's car though because we were bumper to bumper with so many other cars and big trucks. And New Jersey itself stinks, so it was really hard to tell. Finally at the last exit before the George Washington Bridge we saw smoke and realized it was coming from G's car. Figuring it was overheating we decided to exit, find a gas station and let things cool down. Long story short we were informed we should not drive with the car as is, that we wouldn't make it back to Boston. We ended up taking the car to a shop to be fixed the following morning and were left stuck in stinky New Jersey. In a cab we went to the Holiday Inn for a room that would become our home for the next 24 mind numbing hours.

Her car was supposed to be ready at 5pm the next day but turned out not to be ready till right around 8. They had to replace her clutch. We ended up having to pay for a half day in the hotel just so we had somewhere to hang out. There was nothing around where we were, not even a restaurant we could go kill a couple of hours in. So we spent the day laying around eating crap from the gas station next door and watching mindless shows on MTV and VH1. We also watched What's Eating Gilbert Grape which was a very good movie. Not sure why I had never seen it before. Good times.

Thanks for a fun weekend G even if you did give me your germs and your nasty cold which I am still feeling the effects of. I would post a pic of G and I so you know who I went to Philly with but I am not allowed to post pics of her.