This morning Scott Lee left his new, unused umbrella at the bagel shop setting the stage for our most challenging day of the trip. Here comes the rant.
Humidity is horrible and everywhere we go today is humid. I have a new appreciation for the dry heat of Arizona, even though it is 115 degrees there. I know the humidity I'm feeling today isn't bad relative to other places in the country, but I'm going to complain anyway because it feels like I just took a shower with my clothes on. Also, did I mention I'm in the car? Air conditioning might be one of man's top 15 greatest achievements.
You can't see this, and I'm lazy, but the two stickers on his window say "Size Matters" and "I (heart) Roadhead". The two gentlemen wave politely when they cut us off.
Because of this stupid blog, and because we both have never been, we take an ill-advised sidetracked trip to White Castle. In Newark. God have mercy on Newark, for it is truly everything negative everyone says it is. I don't know if traffic is always atrocious in this city, but today was dentist trip/bill bad. We just want to go to White Castle, 4 miles off the turnpike. It takes near 40 minutes to get there. And we sweat.
White Castle is easily the worst fast-food I've ever eaten. Worse than the Mexican trifecta of terrible (taco bell, del taco, taco time). Worse than Weinerschnitzel. I remember the frozen ones I use to have as a kid being at least 33 percent better than what I'm eating now, but maybe I just have fond memories of childhood. Megan cannot eat more than one bite of hers, proclaiming, "the bathroom is clean" the best part of this meal. There is a McDonald's across the street and I am tempted to go to cleanse my palate.
The rain we anticipated is brutal. For long stretches, visibility is measured in feet, on one hand. The worst part is the aftermath in Camden, a city we get lost in when the GPS decides to drive us in circles. Camden is not prepared for this much water and is flooded horribly. We pass a particularly ill-conceived parking lot that is now a marina, with water covering parked cars to their hoods, or bonnets as Jeremy Clarkson would say. The thought of Top Gear aquatic car challenges are the only thing making me happy right now. More traffic, flood related.
Four hours. We do 98 miles in four hours. Awesome.
Finally in Philadelphia, we do a whirlwind American history tour, seeing the Liberty Bell and Constitution Hall in 90 minutes or less. I take lots of pictures of Asian people learning about America. Urge to kill, falling.
We are greeted at our residence for this stop by Becky and Greg, an all-star husband and wife tandem living in a great house in a great neighborhood. Becky is yet another one of Scott's childhood friends; I'm continuously amazed at the longevity of his friendships though not at all surprised. We are refreshed by the hospitality (and rest and water and air conditioning) and set out for the evening with one more Scott Lee childhood friend (Leslie) joining us. The night is capped with Quizzo, the local bar trivia game, at Urban Saloon. With table clothes, flat screen televisions, candlelight and microbrews, this is by far the classiest trivia night I've attended. The trivia is also one of the best run I've participated in, using the tv's to post the questions and the stereo for audio questions. Our team does above-average, nailing some challenging questions (show with most Emmys, Mel Gibson movie character names) but ultimately coming up short by dropping the ball on gimmes (lyrics of Smells Like Teen Spirit, words on Mr. Peanut's hat). Losing aside, this is the perfect end to a struggle of a day.
Tomorrow is last day before Scott Lee returns home, but not the last on this trip. It is also the day of sandwiches, perhaps the most eagerly awaited day for me.
Tomorrow's Agenda
Route: Philadelphia > Philadelphia
Estimated Distance: 0 miles
Estimated Time: 0 hours, 0 minutes
No comments:
Post a Comment