Road Trip...Part One!

As I left off on the last post, J and I took a road trip to South Carolina and Georgia. We got on the road at 12:30 am right after the fireworks and drove straight through to Hilton Head Island, SC. I stocked up on Mountain Dew and J stocked up on energy shots. I took the first leg and then J took over. I finished up the 11 hour drive and we made it to the Westin Resort around 12 pm.


We spent 3 nights at the resort and did a lot of relaxing, which included eating, laying on the beach and sitting by the pool. Although I usually enjoy the more action filled vacations, it was perfect. J could sit on a beach for days upon days, so he definitely enjoyed Hilton Head.

When we arrived they had an all you can eat barbecue set up with chicken, shrimp, burgers, veggies, chips and dessert.

The view from our beach towel

One lunch we decided to get full on junk food and drinks. This included chips and dip, onion rings and margaritas.

We enjoyed watching the birds dive into the ocean to catch fish.

J and I had a shell collecting contest. I have a sharp eye and collected all of them, except for 1.

Recently I've been teaching J to play soccer. He's been really into it and decided to bring the soccer ball to the beach.

After dinner on 2 nights we decided to walk on the beach at night. It was high tide and very peaceful.

On the flip side, J has been teaching me how to play tennis. There was a racquet club near the resort, so we rented a court for an hour and played.

On the 4th day we re-packed the car and headed 45 minutes south to Savannah, Georgia....

Party on the Parkway

Happy Birthday America! Well we got to celebrate the 4th of July in America's birthplace. We had plans to attend a parade and a few other events, but sleep felt so good and we slept in that morning. Luckily we managed to make it to the big celebration. The day included a concert by The Roots and Sheryl Crow, followed by fireworks. We arrived around 3 and the fireworks ended around 11. It was a long day, but fun.

The stage was set up near the Art Musuem, in front of the infamous Rocky steps.

One of the highlights of the day - I auditioned for Deal or No Deal! I never really watch the show, but we had several hours to pass the time, so I thought why not? Although I doubt I'll ever get a call back, something good did come out of the audition. I happened to be standing next to a female plastic and reconstructive surgeon that graduated from the medical school 'll be attending. She happily gave me her card and said if I was ever interested in a rotation in plastic surgery to give her a call.

J and I can rarely pass up a funnel cake. So warm, greasy and good.

I couldn't help but take a picture of this man...he was covered everywhere in coins. From a distance I thought it was all pennies, but upon closer inspection I realized they were coins from anywhere and everywhere.

J and I opted to try and have a better view of the fireworks, which meant we were farther from the stage. We got there so early we could've been right up front, but that would've meant we would have a lovely view of the trees for the fireworks. Our plan didn't work as wonderfully as we would've thought because as you can see in the picture below, there was a huge tree in our way for fireworks. Oh well, you live and learn.

The Roots

Sheryl Crow

Immediately after fireworks J and I packed up the car and headed on vacation. We got on the road at 12:30 am and took our adventures to South Carolina....

June 28, 2008

J and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary this year. We originally didn't think we would be able to spend the day together, but things worked out and we got to spend the entire day together. J surprised me and made reservations at the Chart House Restaurant. Seafood is one of our favorite cuisines, so this place was perfect. It's located in Penn's Landing, right on the Delaware River.

The views from our table

J ordered the pan seared jumbo lump crab cakes, served with broccoli. He was pleased with them.

I ordered the mixed grill which included a jumbo lump crab cake, salmon and grilled shrimp. The shrimp was slightly overcooked, but nothing too major and I enjoyed the meal.

We couldn't pass up dessert and had to order their famous Hot Chocolate Lava Cake. J, who isn't a big chocolate person, even enjoyed it. It had warm Godiva Chocolate and vanilla ice cream coated in a Heath Bar Crunch. We ate every last bite.

I would recommend Chart House to anyone looking for good seafood and relaxing views. The service was also good and you can't go wrong with the Lava Cake for dessert.

We ended the night by reminiscing over our wedding night. We absolutely loved our photographer Jen Lowe and decided to view our online wedding slideshow. Here's to many more years together!

First Celebrity Sighting

J and I decided to pick up some produce and seafood at the Market today. I'll write more about Reading Terminal in another post, but today's post is dedicated to our first celebrity sighting in our neighborhood! He's not an A list celebrity, more like D list, but it was still pretty cool.

While walking around we ran into an episode of Man vs. Food being taped. I've only seen a couple of episodes (my parents turned me on to the show), but who doesn't love a show dedicated to food. Basically Adam Richman travels around the country and tries to eat incredible amounts of food. He attempts to eats pounds and pounds and pounds of food. Sometimes he succeeds and sometimes he doesn't.
The episode was being filmed at one of the Amish merchants, Miller's Twist, which specializes in soft pretzels. We watched Adam attempt to roll his own pretzel. I wonder what challenge he will be working on next?

Unfortunately, as I began to take out my camera (which I now take with me everywhere), a man standing next to Adam jumped out and put his hand over my camera. At least I tried!

Apparently someone was able to take a picture of an episode being filmed, as I found this picture on someone else's blog.

In West Philadelphia born and raised, On a playground where I spent most of my days...

Well we don't exactly live in West Philadelphia, but who doesn't love Fresh Prince? So we made it to our apartment in the city. I was brave enough to drive the 24 foot Uhaul from Richmond to Philadelphia, while J drove our car. It was definitely an adventure. The Uhaul and our belongings arrived in 1 piece.

We woke up at 5 am in Richmond and left an hour or so later. We made a stop at Ikea in Philly to pick up a kitchen table, chairs, bookshelf, desk and filing cabinet. After several incidents of stop and go traffic on 95 North, we made it to the apartment around 2 to begin unloading the truck.

My parents met us to help, along with my 93 year old grandmother, who was there for moral support. Although the weather didn't exactly cooperate and it rained on and off, unloading wasn't too bad.


We cleaned ourselves up and met my parents for dinner at Devon Seafood Grill. Our first dinner in Philly was definitely memorable - the food was delicious.

We started the meal off with Point Judith Calamari. My parents love to try the calamari at any new restaurants. The calamari was unique as it included bits of fried jalapenos and carrots. As none of us had eaten for most of the day we finished the calamari so quickly I didn't even have a chance to take a picture.

I ordered the Maryland Jumbo Lump Crabcakes. It came with a creole remoulade mango tarter sauce, whipped potatoes and fresh asparagus. I lived in Maryland for several years and I would say these crabcakes were up to par.

My Dad and J both ordered the Seafood Mixed Grill. It came with shrimp, scallops, a jumbo lump crab cake, salmon, whipped potatoes and sauteed spinach. I would say the scallops were my favorite off of this dish.

My mom ordered the Lobster Cobb Salad. It included field greens, lobster meat, avocado, red onion, corn, hard boiled egg and applewood bacon.


So this officially commences our Philadelphia adventures....