What a weekend. It was so long it's taken me all week to recover. It started on Friday when we dropped off the dogs with my coworker and his wife and left for the airport.
When we arrived in Philly, my parents picked us up at the airport, we stopped at the lil sis' house for a quick visit and to pick up the twin and then we headed into the city to check into the hotel and go out to dinner. All I wanted was to relax for a minute and maybe take a shower, but four people were waiting on us for dinner, so after a quick drink we headed over to the Oyster House.
Oh and somewhere in here is where S met my cousin J. They're like long-lost brothers...both have giant beards and do kickboxing/muay tai.
Dinner was pretty damn good. All the seafood - oysters on the half shell, shrimp, scallops, a lobster roll or three. And whatever my drink was - the brown derby (whiskey, grapefruit and honey) - it was amazing. After dinner we headed back to the hotel for a while. The bridal party and some of my other family were staying there and we were meeting them for drinks when they were done with the rehearsal dinner. So we're hanging out in the lobby, just off the bar, drinking when all of a sudden there's some random guy passed out in the vestibule. He was right on the other side of the glass from us. We saw him struggle with the doorman, the bellman and then the police...and then he got TASED. Quite the show.
Next we went in search of the oldest bar in Philly, which just so happened to be an Irish bar. He has a thing for Irish bars in new cities. Looked pretty cool, but it was also full of 21 year olds, everywhere, so after one drink we went in search of another Irish bar. Where we saw another fight. Oh Philly, how I've missed you. A drink or two later, it's almost two am. And what do you do at 2:00am in Philly? Get cheesesteaks of course. At Jim's on South Street though, not Pat's or Geno's although I would have went there just so he could see it.
Unfortunately, when I woke up Saturday morning it was raining. We were supposed to go running so S could see more of the city. But we settled for the gym (which was probably the best hotel gym I've ever been in) and then went to Reading Terminal Market for breakfast. If you've never been to the market, it can be more then a little overwhelming when you walk in the door.
Next up - time to start getting ready for the wedding. I had a hair appointment pretty early, so we walked over to the Ritz and then he wandered around the city for a bit while I had mimosas. We caught the last trolley over to the church at 2:00pm. The wedding was beautiful, but also a little hard. It was the first time I had been to church since Gpop's funeral and when Doug sang the Ave Maria (beautifully, by the way) it was all I could do not to leave the church. Also. S had never been to a Catholic wedding before, his 20 questions were pretty interesting. And also made me realize I do a lot of things bc that's what you're supposed to do, not bc I understand why I'm doing them. Such is life.
We had some time to kill before the reception...so we met some of my family for drinks and snacks across the street before heading back to the hotel bar to meet more family for more drinks.
The reception was two blocks from the hotel so we walked over...and had to go through Macy's to get there. Macy's is in the old Wanamaker building, which if you've ever seen the movie Mannequin, you would recognize. The reception was on the 9th floor of that building.
When we arrived in Philly, my parents picked us up at the airport, we stopped at the lil sis' house for a quick visit and to pick up the twin and then we headed into the city to check into the hotel and go out to dinner. All I wanted was to relax for a minute and maybe take a shower, but four people were waiting on us for dinner, so after a quick drink we headed over to the Oyster House.
Oh and somewhere in here is where S met my cousin J. They're like long-lost brothers...both have giant beards and do kickboxing/muay tai.
Dinner was pretty damn good. All the seafood - oysters on the half shell, shrimp, scallops, a lobster roll or three. And whatever my drink was - the brown derby (whiskey, grapefruit and honey) - it was amazing. After dinner we headed back to the hotel for a while. The bridal party and some of my other family were staying there and we were meeting them for drinks when they were done with the rehearsal dinner. So we're hanging out in the lobby, just off the bar, drinking when all of a sudden there's some random guy passed out in the vestibule. He was right on the other side of the glass from us. We saw him struggle with the doorman, the bellman and then the police...and then he got TASED. Quite the show.
Next we went in search of the oldest bar in Philly, which just so happened to be an Irish bar. He has a thing for Irish bars in new cities. Looked pretty cool, but it was also full of 21 year olds, everywhere, so after one drink we went in search of another Irish bar. Where we saw another fight. Oh Philly, how I've missed you. A drink or two later, it's almost two am. And what do you do at 2:00am in Philly? Get cheesesteaks of course. At Jim's on South Street though, not Pat's or Geno's although I would have went there just so he could see it.
Unfortunately, when I woke up Saturday morning it was raining. We were supposed to go running so S could see more of the city. But we settled for the gym (which was probably the best hotel gym I've ever been in) and then went to Reading Terminal Market for breakfast. If you've never been to the market, it can be more then a little overwhelming when you walk in the door.
Next up - time to start getting ready for the wedding. I had a hair appointment pretty early, so we walked over to the Ritz and then he wandered around the city for a bit while I had mimosas. We caught the last trolley over to the church at 2:00pm. The wedding was beautiful, but also a little hard. It was the first time I had been to church since Gpop's funeral and when Doug sang the Ave Maria (beautifully, by the way) it was all I could do not to leave the church. Also. S had never been to a Catholic wedding before, his 20 questions were pretty interesting. And also made me realize I do a lot of things bc that's what you're supposed to do, not bc I understand why I'm doing them. Such is life.
We had some time to kill before the reception...so we met some of my family for drinks and snacks across the street before heading back to the hotel bar to meet more family for more drinks.
The reception was two blocks from the hotel so we walked over...and had to go through Macy's to get there. Macy's is in the old Wanamaker building, which if you've ever seen the movie Mannequin, you would recognize. The reception was on the 9th floor of that building.
You walked in and were greeted by men with trays of champagne and then you immediately landed at the raw bar. The food was off the charts and besides some oysters and ahi tuna, I found my way over to the lobster mac n cheese. I felt like all we did was eat. And drink. Who doesn't love a top shelf open bar? Seriously. Whiskey gingers all night long.
Th reception started at 5:30 and the after party started at umm maybe around 10:30pm? It was kind of a blur. But it was a great time. It had been eight months since my last trip home and I got to see everyone in one shot. Laughing, drinking, dancing...it was a great night.
Sunday morning. They were hosting a brunch at 10am, and even though our flight was at 11:30, we hung around long enough to inhale some bacon and eggs, say good bye to a bunch of people and then grab a taxi to the airport.
Sunday also happened to be my birthday. And it had been at least four days since we'd had Mexican. So we went to dinner at El Tiempo and then after I took a nap and he did some stuff, we went back out for more drinks. And then, bc I'm still celebrating my bday, I took Monday off. Relaxed at the pool, saw a movie, had Oishii happy hour (if you haven't been, you should go) and then later that night got conned into the breakfast shot - jameson and something, followed by OJ, followed by bacon. So weird and yet strangely good. The bday celebration continues this weekend...I'll try not to get into too much trouble...
And now. Pics.
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| The brown derby |
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| Reading Terminal Market |
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| The happy couple |
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| Waaait. We need a picture in Macy's |
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| The Crystal Tea Room |
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| What is happening here? Oh right. Story of my life...Twin yelling in my face haha |
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| Obligatory family pic |
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| The dessert ROOM was amazing. Have another cannoli! |
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| Stand in front of the window they said. It will make for a great photo they said. |
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| I do NOT look like Lt Dan :/ |
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| Breakfast shot |
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