Philadelphia, PA through York, PA

Brian: Looking back, I would have to define Philadelphia primarily by its crazy delicious breakfasts. This morning’s destination was another hipster diner, Sabrina’s, this time located in the Italian Market. Our first parking spot was about 18 inches over a painted curb, and for some reason determining whether or not our car would be ticketed became a community event. To the disappointment of the small crowd gathered around our vehicle we decided to continue our streak of receiving no tickets and not risk it. I have no idea why our parking dilemma was so interesting, but thanks to this trip nothing seems weird anymore.

Nick: It was strange. Sabrina’s breakfasts have always been good, and October 10th was no exception. Brian and I each got something like a giant pancake sandwich with eggs, sausage, peppers, and a menagerie of southwest sauces. I don’t think we ate again until late at night, such was the pancake sandwich’s ability to fill and satisfy. After breakfast, it was time to say goodbye to some of my favorite people in the world. Our first stop was some historical battle sight an hour or so outside the city. We were looking for Valley Forge, and we thought that was where we were going, but it wasn’t. After exploring the sites museum, watching its video, and examining its artifacts, all we have concluded was that the Americans lost the war (I didn’t know that was something we’d ever done) and that the Quakers didn’t particularly care for current events at the time.

Brian: Not only did the site highlight a major defeat of the American (then Rebel) soldiers, but the loss was blamed on the stubbornness and impulsiveness of Gen. George Washington. It was quite a shock after the tear-jerking presentation at the Constitution Center in Philly. All’s well that ends well though. It was around this time that Nick opened up his birthday package and found, along with a set of car speakers, a vanilla cupcake flavored car freshener. It is currently hanging from the rear-view mirror along with a can of Moxie. If you will recall our gift from Amy Blunt (Pittsburgh…Craigslist…mansion) you will note that this is not the first time the car has smelled like vanilla cupcake this trip. It is a welcome scent in comparison to the stale laundry Lucy typically exudes. Our next stop was York, Pennsylvania, but our friend Matt did not end work until much later that evening so we had some time to kill. We celebrated Nick’s birthday at a local dive.

Nick: True. After some considerable time blogging in a Border’s café, we hit up what seemed like the best choice from not too many options of local drinkeries. The bar was in a bowling alley, which, if the readers will recall our journey to Scranton, has been historically gratifying for us. Though the crowd seemed pretty rugged and very local, the bartender generously treated me to several Yuengling’s on the house served in what can only be described as an enormous goblet. When Matt got off work, we hit up his apartment, caught up, then stayed up till around 3am watching awesome youtube videos.

Brian: I think we should each make an Intermet video recommendation of the night before closing out. For me it the front page video on stsanders.com. It’s an old Rolling Stones video with the sound and lyrics dubbed over to give it a badly translated Japanese pop music feel.

Nick: Coming to Alderon was pretty good. Sound bytes by James Earl Jones’s character in “Coming to America” are carefully dubbed over the opening scene from Star Wars Episode IV. It works. That about does it for October 10th. Tell your friends about the blog if you haven’t already, and comment when you feel so moved, we really appreciate them. That does it for today. B & N out.