We would be staying for five days to visit with Stephanie and to see additional friends and family. Stephanie came aboard when she got out of work and we had a casual dinner of leftover curry while discussing the plans for our stay.
The next day, while Stephanie was at work, we walked all over Philly, so historical and interesting with lots of wonderful neighborhoods.
We had lunch at a great falafel restaurant called Goldie’s that she had recommended to us. It had amazing tahini milkshakes. The place is one of several restaurants owned by Michael Solomonov who also owns Zahav (more about that later). There was a line going out the door of this little hole in the wall place. The food was delicious! We followed lunch with a visit to the Mutter Museaum, a most unique and rather macabre collection of medical artifacts. Founded by a local doctor with an incredible collection of anatomical specimens and medical instruments, it was very interesting but not for the faint of heart. When we left the museum, we passed a cute little cinema that was playing Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, a movie we’d been wanting to see. So beause we are footloose and fancy free, we bought tickets and spent the rest of the afternoon watching a very enjoyable show. It was sprinkling a little when we left but we were very close to Stephanie’s apartment near Rittenhouse Square so we grabbed some takeout and met her at her apartment where we had an early dinner. Lynn was intent on getting back to Zendo in time to watch the Democratic debates which we did.
On Friday we walked to Reading Terminal Market for lunch and split the great pulled pork sandwich that comes with broccoli raab (one of Lynn’s favorites) at a lunch counter there. Lynn wanted to get a new jacket so we went to a flagship Macy’s where she found one that was perfect. Macy’s has an amazing atrium with the Wanamaker Grand Court Organ, the largest fully functioning organ in the world! It was breathtaking! Unfortunately we didn’t get to hear it being played.
Later that evening, we met Stephanie and Nicky Brayer at a favorite restaurant of Stephanie’s called Res Ipsa where we shared the tasting menu, a wonderful collection of Italian dishes. It was great seeing Nicky who is working on his MBA at Penn. He lives right around the corner from Stephanie on a charming cobblestoned street or mews on which no cars are allowed. He brought us by to see his comfortable home.
Now that the weekend had arrived, Stephanie was free to spend all day with us and the first thing she did was to take us to see where she is now working. Still with Aramark, she was just promoted to a general manager role in a different line of business. She is now running the entire food service program at LaSalle University where she has a staff of almost 300 people! She is enjoying her new challenge and we are very proud of her.
Afterwards we drove through an absolutely charming area called Chestnut Hill where we had lunch at a lovely restaurant called Cake. We had to get back to Zendo by mid afternoon because Lynn’s cousin Taylor Lynn and her family were coming for a visit. Taylor and Stu are the parents of Evie, an adorable toddler and a new baby boy named Otto (after Taylor’s grandfather and Lynn’s favorite uncle) who was born in May. We had a wonderful visit with them. Taylor and Stu are delightful and their kids are a joy.
But Saturday wasn’t over yet because later that evening our little threesome met a bunch of Jonny’s cousins at yet another Italian restaurant for dinner. After a little mix-up with locations (the restaurant had two locations across the street from each other), we finally connected and had a lively dinner outside. Steve Katzen and his wife, Ann, Steve’s sister Abby and her husband Rich, and their nephew Jeremy who lives in Philly were all there. Steven and Abby live in Connecticut but were in Philly to pick up Abby’s daughter’s dog for whom they are pet sitting while she is on vacation. So we had a
totally fun-filled evening. They were staying very close to Zendo so we visited their “digs “ afterwards and had some local ice cream. It was a late night!
Sunday was another big day. We took six of Stephanie’s friends out on Zendo for the afternoon. They had a blast and so did we as we cruised up the Delaware River. We dropped anchor at one point and the kids went swimming and paddle boarding. It was a beautiful day and everyone really enjoyed themselves. This looks like it’s going to be a tradition as we did the same thing last year which is absolutely fine with us!
But wait, the day wasn’t over. After we returned to dock, we got a ride with Stephanie back to Rittenhouse Square where we met another of Jonny’s cousins, this time it was Emma Bergman who also lives in Philly. We saw her last time we were in town and she rode her bike to meet us at a cute restaurant near Stephanie where we had a drink and a light bite and caught up on each other’s lives.
We spent Monday in a much more relaxed mode. Stephanie was back at work and so we took it easy, our daytime outing was to walk to beautiful Rittenhouse Square to pick up some prescriptions and to get our annual flu shots.
The evening activity was a very special one as Stephanie’s boss had scored us reservations at Zahav, winner of the 2019 James Beard Award for Best Restaurant! It takes months to get a reservation but we had one for 5:00. What a fantastic meal it was, an amazing combination of Israeli tapas-style items, each one more flavorful than the last. We chose the special chef’s tasting menu with an incredible roast lamb as the crowning touch. It was quite an experience - very special, indeed!
Tuesday was our last day in Philly and we spent most of it outdoors. Jonny got up early to drive Stephanie to work so we could have her car for the day. We took it, along with a picnic lunch, to the lovely Bartram Gardens, an historic garden in Philly. The garden was the home of John Bartram and his son William who were instrumental in the study of botany in America. In fact, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and others like them were frequent guests at the beautiful stone homestead there. We strolled the riverfront property on a perfect weather day.
Later we stopped at an Italian market that Emma had recommended. We bought some goodies for that evening and some for Zendo’s pantry. We picked up Stephanie from work and brought her home where we ate leftovers from our various dinners. It was our last night with our little girl with whom we had such a wonderful week. Lucky Lynn will see her in just a few weeks when they are going to Phoenix together - story to follow!
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