August 2010 - Back in the US of A - First week

My first week back in Philly I decided to take the week off the get situated and rest from my trip back home.  Sunday the 1st, I was awake around 2AM so I got up and finished unpacking and sorting some stuff.  Went back to bed around 4AM.  Got up again at six, headed to DD, a quarter of the way down it started a very light sprinkle so I headed back.  I made coffee, it was not that good so I only had one cup.  I installed the RAM upgrade into the Apple.  I sent Tracy a message to let her know I was back in town.  I went grocery shopping, it came to $180.  Wow!  I went straight back and put everything away.  I made a decision not to long ago to start aging (cellaring) beer, and start a collection of fine brews.  I went to the craft beer shop (six-pack shop).  There was just one guy working and one or two other customers came in during my shopping time.  There’s a bar just as you walk in.  I had a pint, don’t remember what it was.  I ended up spending over $300.  On the way back I swung by Best Buy to get a wine cooler.  They only had one small one, so I got it.  Got home and packed the basement refrig with the beer.  I got the wine cooler up and running.  Originally, I was going to put beer and wine in it.  Nevertheless, the cooler only holds eight bottles so I will use it only for wine and champagne.  I lowered the temperature on the refrig to half.  I made sandwiches for lunch and did a few Beer Blogs with the new beer in the afternoon and after dinner.  For dinner, I had a T-bone steak.  Watch TV and went to bed early.

Saturday morning I walked up to DD for coffee.  About 9AM I started mowing the lawn.  Wow the grass is very high and thick.  I had to change the cutting line a few times.  The grass was growing through most of the cracks in the sidewalk.  When I made it up to the front, I broke the line mount hardware.  I had an extra one but had run out of cutting line.  I cleaned up and got ready to go downtown.  I caught the 10:20 train.  First thing I did was purchase train tickets and tokens for Mom and Dad's visit.  After that, I got my hair cut in the train station.  I walked up to the bank but I did not have my account info so I headed down to Spankie's bar in University City, a place called "Local 44".  I took the Blue line to 46th street and walked to the bar.  I had lunch and a few beers.  I sent Jill an email to see what their schedule was like this week.  Got back home and watch TV then did laundry and some other stuff.  Had a sandwich for dinner, and worked on the beer blog.

On Tuesday I got up early again.  Made a breakfast, egg muffin and bacon.  Continued to updated the beer blog.  I canceled the Comcast account.  About 9AM I went to the Comcast office to drop off the equipment.  There was no one in line so I was able to go in and out.  Since I was ahead of schedule, on the way back I swung by Loews to get the Weed Whacker stuff.  Got back to the house and waited until 10:30 before heading back out.  I got down to Bell’s Beverage, it was in front of the I-95 off ramp.  Very cool.  I must have browsed around for an hour.  I found a Harvest Ale and it was $110 a case.  However, I past it up for now.  I ended up getting a variety case from St. Bernardus ($97).  Case in hand it was time to head south (DFH Brewery).  I set the GPS and off I went.  It was a lot longer drive than I thought.  As usual, the GPS took me the long way, but since I had plenty of time to kill, I did not mind.  When I got a mile away, I saw a Shopping Strip.  I pulled in and got the packing tape I forgot about this morning.  Proceeded to DFH.  What a nice building and plenty of parking.  I waited in the car until 1:30.  I should have gone in because the waiting area was a gift shop.  I checked in a browsed around.  There must have been 30 people on our tour.  It was a typical tour with stories about Sam and how they started.  At the end, we had four samples and I purchased 750ml bottles of their beer for the cellar and two glasses.  And I also picked up “Beer Wars”.  I headed back, I started getting hungry and knew I would get to Philly during rush hour.  So I decided to stop somewhere for a meal.  However, I did not find anything.  I did not follow the GPS directions because it would have took me off the highway again.  I stayed on US1 to I-95.  The only traffic was at the Ben Franklin Bridge, which is normal.  I got home about 5:30PM.  I unpacked the car then made dinner.  I cooked the turkey sausage, and I made it with the St. Bernardus Abt 12.  I had it was a Merry Monk, which was the wrong brew of choice.  Later in the evening, I decided to try the Russian River - Supplication Ale because I had two bottles.  I was thinking it was going to be a treat because it’s hard to get and the cost is $17 for a 12oz bottle.  Well I was wrong, it is a sour beer that I am not a fan of.  Nevertheless, it will go into the Beer Blog.  I watched “Beer Wars”, which was awesome, then went to bed.

Wednesday, Got up at 5:30, early again.  I walked up to DD for exercise and morning brew.  I checked my email and saw a message from Tracy.  She just had questions about what I have been up to this week.  I up dated my journal, which I have not been doing this week.  First I dropped off the DirecTV box at USPS then pick upped a few items at the store.  I decided to skip downtown and head to the Hulmeville Inn.  So I headed to Franklin Mills to go to Bed Bath and Beyond.  But first I needed to fill the gas tank.  $40!  After BB&B I headed to the Inn.  The place was cool, I had two Barleywines including the DFH Old School.  I took it easy the rest of the day.  I cleaned up a little.  I made plans to have dinner with John, Mary and my folks on Friday.  Tried to get reservations for Friday but no go, so we will go to the Royersville Sly Fox.  I checked my AECOM email, Andy wants to have dinner Monday night, that’s cool.  I also checked the Verizon Spam folder and all of my BB messages were there and the reply from Slapper which he sent last Saturday.  That was a bummer, because I could have swung by yesterday when I was in Delaware.  I sent a reply to Tracy's email just before bed.

Thursday, I got up and continued to clean up around the house.  Made a cup of coffee but it was too weak.  Joe replied to my email, he said to come over with a few of my new brews on Saturday.  I headed over to Sears for bedding stuff and a new AC unit.  They did not have a small AC unit so I went to Loews to pick up the new AC unit.  I installed it, its smaller than the others and fits in the window better.  I headed to the airport around 11:30.  Picked up Mom and Dad and headed home.  We got situated and rested a bit before dinner.  Tracy replied to last night’s message.  That was a quick turn-around.  We headed to Iron Hill about 2:30PM.  The early dinner was good and I was able to get three more big bottles for the cellar.  We stopped by the grocery store before heading home.  We watched some TV then I put “Beer Wars” in.  After that we watched the Phillies game.

On Friday we went to the diner near the house for breakfast.  For lunch, we just had cheese and crackers.  Mom and I went to the local ice cream shop for desert, but it was closed.  I went to the liquor store for wine and Drambuie.  We left for Valley Forge about 4PM.  We did the loop around the park and took pictures.  We still had time to kill so I took off to the KoP mail and walked for a bit.  Then at 7PM we took off for the Sly Fox.  John and Mary arrived and we had a good time eating, drinking and socializing.  Got home around 10PM.

Saturday I walked to DD for coffee.  We drove to the Fox Chase train station and took the train downtown.  We got on the Hopon-hopoff bus and did the loop.  They loved it.  I did not know that Philly had a Hopon-hopoff tour.  At the end of the loop, they kick everyone off.  We got on the next one and took it to the PA State Pen stop.  We walked over to London Grill and had lunch.  I had not eating here in over ten years, that is the last time they visited and was living in this neighborhood.  We had cheese steaks and I had two good drafts, a Larger and a La Trapp on draft.  We walked over to Jack’s Firehouse to kill time then caught the bus back to the Franklin Museum.  We went in to the Natural History Museum.  I have never been in this one.  Afterward, we walked down to Scoop Deville for ice cream then to the train station and headed home.  The plan was to take them out to the Broad Axe Tavern for dinner but Joe called and said they were BBQ and to come over.  Therefore, we took off and stopped at the Acme to get steaks.  We stayed until about 9:30.  Got home and went to bed.

Sunday - Last day for Mom and Dad's visit.  Got up about 6AM and made coffee.  We left for the airport about 7AM.  I drop off Mom and Dad at Terminal F.  I drove back home and swung by DD for a coffee.  I cleaned up a bit.  Then I drove to Barns and Noble for the latest coin pricing book.  I got the 2011 edition and a book on cooking with beer.  I originally planed on dropping off the car at 2PM but when I got back from the bookstore it was 12:30 and I checked to see If that would work with the trains.  So I hauled ass back to the airport and made it on time.  Got home about 1:30.  Started to update the coins spreadsheet.  Mom called when I was on my way to the airport, they made it to Springfield okay.  I had the leftover slice of pizza and a piece of quiche.  I also opened a bottle of wine and watched the Phillies and rested.  Tomorrow is the first day back to work in the Philly office.