June 19, 2012

Our trip from Philly to Holly Acres was a quick one.  We got situated and took a recon

 mission into Atlantic City.  Luckily,we took route 30 and ended up at the newly opened Revel.  Parking was $5.00 and we had access to the boardwalk and the beach.  We decided that  in light of the 99 degree temps forecasted we should have a day at the beach.

 June 20,2012

 

We had our plan and all went well.  Take route 30 to the Revel, park on level five and after an hour's walk on the boardwalk get our beach equipment and head to the beach.  We got a "primo" beach umbrella last night which did not disappoint.  We packed our picnic lunch and lots of drinks and enjoyed the cool ocean breeze while those in the city sweltered.  When we left the beach to return to Egg Harbor it was 83 degrees.  When we got back to Egg Harbor it was 99 degrees.  It is predicted to be 94 degrees for the first pitch of the Philly's game tonight at 7:00 PM.  Another beach day tomorrow.

June 21, 2012

The beach with bikes today.  You can ride bikes on the six mile boardwalk until 10:00 AM.  At 10:00 we hooked our bikes back up to the car  in the shady Revel parking garage, got our beach stuff and went the the beach with our picnic lunch.  It's hot, but nothing like Philadelphia.  The temp at the beach was 89 degrees.  We packed up and returned home at 2:30 PM with a stop at McDonalds to do my first post.  When we got back to Egg Harbor it was 101 degrees.

June 22, 2012

Today is supposed to be the last day of the really hot weather, so after our bike ride we spent some hotel time looking around.  Our big find of the day was the Revel card which makes our $5.00 per day parking free!  We stopped at air conditioned Olive Garden for lunch and spent some air conditioned mall hours before returning to our camper.  It's pouring down rain now and behind the rain should be some cooler weather.  The storm knocked out our cable so I guess we'll have to wait until tomorrow to see about the weather.

June 23, 2012

We didn't bring our lunch as we were going to take advantage of this five dollar lunch at the Revel.  We rode our bikes and we saw the Tuna and Buddy twins above.  No dogs on the beach at all during the season and so these guys got in double trouble for being on the beach and being unleased.  The five dollar great lunch deal turned out to be a five dollar PER ITEM lunch.  So the Revel got back some of that money we saved on parking.  We walked over to the downtown outlets and then headed home via the grocery store.

June 24, 2012

Last day for Atlantic City for a while.  We headed in with bikes, beach equipment and lunch to enjoy the cooler weather and sunny skies.  The boardwalk was like I-95 with walkers, bikers, roller bladers and skate boarders.  The temp is 80 and much less humid.  This is a very beautiful place.  Talked to some folks who were regular visitors and they said that they reclaimed the beach since their last visit.  Tomorrrow we are headed to Cape May and we plan to visit different beach community each day making our way back to AC.

PHILADELPHIA

I'm a little ahead of myself with the picture, but food shots are a favorite for us and here we are in The City Tavern, a favorite of the founding fathers.  We had Thomas Jefferson's favorite rolls here.  We left State College at 9:30 AM and stopped off at Lerch's to check the refrigerator...ummm, no gas-a lesson learned and we're hardly underway.  We're staying at a KOA in Coatesville.

JUNE 15, 2012

Into Philly we go.  We're seven miles from the train station and today we are taking the 9:10 AM train into the city.  Fun, fun, fun and very convenient.  Tom is excited that he gets to ride free while I have to pay $12.00 for a round trip.  The trip into town takes about an hour and drops us at East Market Station which is five blocks from Independence Memorial Park.  We walked by Betsy Ross's house, through Franklin Square with its carousel and fountain.  Franklin Square is part of a 9200 acre park system.  Today we had lunch at City Tavern and although we didn't have George Washington's beer, we did have Thomas's rolls.  We had water in chilled pewter glasses and corn chowder in hot pewter bowls.  In the afternoon we toured Independence Hall and saw where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed.  We got the 4:06 PM train home. 

JUNE 16, 2012

Not so many trains running today and we want an early start to see the Liberty Bell before the crowds arrive.  Interestly, it has been broken nearly as long as we have had it.  From there we walked to Philly's South Side to the Italian Market where we purchsed fresh vegetables for dinner and checked out the two competing places for the best Philly Cheese Steaks - Pat's and Geno's.  We shared one of each - I liked Pat's and Tom liked Geno's.  We walked back to Penn's Landing on the Delaware River and that just about did us in so we headed for the train.  We ate our fresh vegetables and Chicken marinated in Italian dressing - a la Tommy - grilled by chef Tom.

JUNE 17, 2012

We started out the day thinking we were going to the West Oak Lane Jazz Festival, but it turned out to be in Northwest and 1 1/2 hours away from us.  We decided to take a drive over to check out Longwood Gardens as we are meeting Barb and Bill there tomorrow.  What we learned is that Longwood Gardens is easily a two-day mission.  And...they had a Father's Day Bunch, so we decided to stay and are so glad we did.  What an incredible place and thank-you Mr. Dupont for saving this wonderful place for us to enjoy.  Topiaries and water fountains and water gardens and all meticulously maintained for us all.  And then there was brunch on the patio among the trees.  We started with Longwoods special mushroom soup and then I had the asparagus omelet and Tom had the French toast.  Between courses we had Earl Grey ice tea with a tiny, tiny scone and their desserts defy description.  We spent the afternoon in the Conservatory - water lily ponds, orchid rooms, banana palm room,  the melon room, the grape room and on and on.  Lastly, we visited Pierre Dupont's house which features his very first conservatory.  We are anxious to return tomorrow with Barb and Bill who have been in Philadephia for the wedding of Bobby and Joanne Wills' son.

JUNE 18. 2012

Met Barb and Bill and with them we revisited the Conservatory which for us was just as interesting as yesterday.  We walked through the flower gardens and visited one of three treehouses and Dupont's house.  We had lunch at the Cafe.  I had the mushrrom soup - again.  After lunch B and B headed back to Vienna.  We visited the last two treehouses and headed home just as the rain started