RBOC: Never-ending November Edition

No rest for anybody these days...one house guest leaves and another shows up! Therefore, I present you another edition of RBOC:

• We walked the entire Freedom Trail in one day -- we did stop for lunch, but otherwise we walked from Park Street to Bunker Hill. Beautiful weather and cupcakes; what more could you wish for?
• Plymouth Rock evoked different emotions from Sarah and I: simultaneously, we blurted out opposite opinions. Can you guess who thought what?
• We capped off the visit with a visit to Barbara Lynch's dual establishments, Sportello and Drink. But before we even got there, Sarah and I had a Candid Camera moment: we reached Congress Street, but weren't sure which way on Congress to go. As we stood there, a car pulled up and a girl asked, "Are you looking for Drink?" Next, she asked if she could walk w/us as the three of us searched for the address. As Sarah pulled out her Iphone to doublecheck everything, another woman walks up to us w/the same question, "Are you looking for Drink?" At this point, I was convinced we were on Candid Camera. Eventually we discovered that we were standing right in front of the place -- very minimal, indeed.
• The food was incredible: Al got a spicy tomato soup to start and Sarah & I split a Fontina fondue. Next, Al got gnocchi which is apparently the star of this place; Sarah got a risotto with quail pieces and I had a brown-butter bigoli (a kind of pasta) with lobster and sage. As the pictures & name (Sportello means counter service in Italian) illustrate, you sit at a counter and the waitresses are very intimate and knowledgeable. Well recommended!
• I had a great week w/Sarah, and I'm sure I've left out from stuff...of course, "Reckless" and the Beehive at the BCA, as well as our discussion of Freud in the car! Exploring the North and South Ends, as well as Plymouth -- a great time was had by all, I think!
• "FC Ph.D", our current indoor soccer team, started the season w/a 5-3 victory. It's always good to start on the right foot, so to speak.
• And I'm flying home on Tuesday -- I hope that the Fatted Calf is back open again.

Philly

In the end, I didn't run up the "Rocky" steps, but I did end up walking up them, which felt like quite a victory as it was. Unfortunately, the morning we toured the city was a little misty -- not exactly raining, but enough to ruin our landscape photos. We saw Independence Hall, and I reminisced about 1776.

We had fantastic meals, including a stop in the lobby of 10Arts -- Eric Ripert's restaurant featuring Jennifer from "Top Chef". I kept looking through the kitchen door, but I never saw her!

We also ate lunch, although both of us had brunch, near the touristy part of town at Farmicia. This place was definitely not touristy, though -- from their play on formica, to their farm-fresh, local produce, this restaurant is worth tracking down. We're certainly going there again, if we're even in Philly again. The most remarkable building in Philly, from my limited experience is the City Hall. Is it some mix of Beaux Arts and Greek Revival?

I'm particularly proud of this photo -- it was taken left-handedly and out of a moving car, as I was driving; not too shabby?

Beer Pong...

Just what kind of beer pong is Jimmy Fallon playing these days? (Oh, who am I kidding?) It's January Jones -- enjoy!

Wow...

Watch this clip. I've never down anything like this; I ripped a guy's shirt once, but he deserved it! Found over at Unfogged.

Movie Character Interactions...

Check out this guy's chart of the interactions of movie characters in LOTR, Star Wars, Jurassic Park, et. al.

Maybe I should consider reformatting my fourth chapter in this style?

In an October State of Mind...

Isn't October great? The weather's fantastic: the leaves are beautiful (so I'm told); it's not too hot, it's not too cold; I can still play soccer outdoors. October is capped off by my favorite holiday, Halloween; you get a plethora of scary movies (my DVR's still loaded with 'em), and you are required to buy candy on the off-chance that some kid rings your doorbell, which they haven't in our neck 'o' the woods in three years now. Academically, the petals haven't fallen from the bloom, so to speak; there aren't too many papers to grade yet; perhaps a mid-term, but nothing too drastic. And the major holidays are right around the corner, or square in your face if you walk into a Target or Walgreens.

Too bad I was sick for almost half this month; perhaps that's responsible for my overly-rosy assessment?

Sure there are better holidays out there, but overall what month can compete? December -- waaay too cold, for some people. July -- just the opposite. I'm taking bets...somebody try to counter my hypothesis, I dare you.