Travels with Jen and Paul

Longwood Gardens, PA

teammathews — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 18:34:27 +0000

After looking back at our numerous visits to Longwood Gardens recently, we decided to save ourselves some money in the long run and purchase annual passes, which we did on Easter Sunday. The gardens weren’t too crowded, and we took advantage of our new passes by strolling more of the grounds than we had ever seen before. April, by the way, is the time of year to visit for the tulips alone.

Longwood Gardens, PA

teammathews — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 20:40:40 +0000

With about a week left of “Orchid Extravaganza” at Longwood Gardens, we headed up to Kennett Square on a Sunday for lunch and a stroll through the park – only to discover that Half Moon Restaurant was closed on Sunday. This was especially disappointing for Paul, who had been looking forward to a beer and a wild game burger much more than he was looking forward to Longwood Gardens. He was placated by the fact that Jen brought along the macro filter for the Nikon. Most of the pictures below are Paul’s, though Jen shot some through the viewfinder of a Brownie Starflex.

White Clay Creek State Park, Newark, DE

teammathews — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 19:55:33 +0000

Rather than spending a lazy Sunday morning at home as usual, we headed out early enough to grab breakfast at Bagelmania and then walk around White Clay Creek State Park. Jen shot some photos with her Yashica D, Nikkormat, and Brownie Starflex (someday, we’ll know whether those turned out) while Paul used the digital camera. Jen especially liked the photos Paul took of his finger.

Philadelphia Flower Show, Philadelphia, PA

teammathews — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 03:18:24 +0000

The Philadelphia Flower show was a first (and probably last) for both of us. It was very neat, and the displays were beautiful – but even on a weekday, the crowds were maddening. Jen did bribe Paul into attending by promising another trip to Monk’s Cafe for lunch. Paul tried the Abbot burger this time (boursin and sprouts), but Jen couldn’t vary from the Monk’s burger. We also tried the frog legs as an appetizer – they were delicious.

Magic Gardens, Philadelphia, PA

teammathews — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 02:48:43 +0000

On a rare free Saturday in February, we drove up to Philly to visit the Magic Gardens – a first for both of us. While Paul used the digital camera, Jen played with a few of her toy cameras – the Arrow (a clone of the Diana, probably from the ’60s, popular with photographers into lomography) and an ActionSampler, another lomography camera that takes four sequential shots in the same frame. If any of those photos turn out (which Jen might not know for months, since she will probably have to ship the 120 film she used in the Arrow to be developed) we will post them here. By all accounts, it was a worthwhile visit.

In addition, we finally tried Monk’s Cafe for lunch, and our burgers (Paul: Antwerp, sottocenare truffle cheese & shitake mushroom; Jen: Monk’s, caramelized leeks & bleu cheese) were the best we’ve ever had. Paul also enjoyed choosing a beer from the huge “Beer Bible” of available brews.

Clearwater Beach, Florida

teammathews — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 02:41:02 +0000

We traveled to Clearwater Beach, Florida in January because of our company’s annual sales meeting – Jen had to attend for work, and Paul came along for moral support (but not to participate). We did get to share one meal together at 400 Beach Seafood & Tap House in St. Petersburg, where we stopped to walk around Vinoy Park along Tampa Bay the day we flew in. For the next two days, we only saw each other late at night. Paul visited the Salvador Dali museum and saw several movies, while Jen participated in the sales meeting (and sang a parody of “Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better” in front of her coworkers with great gusto – it turns out that she still likes being on stage.)

Longwood Gardens, PA

teammathews — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 01:58:52 +0000

This year, we finally made it to the Christmas display at Longwood Gardens. It was a first for both of us, and it didn’t disappoint.

Spring Mountain, Schwenksville, PA

teammathews — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 00:23:52 +0000

As a surprise, Paul enrolled us on a ziplining course at Spring Mountain Ski Area in Schwenksville, Pennsylvania. Though he warned Jen ahead of time about the ziplining, he neglected to mention the series of “obstacles” between each line – which Jen immediately decided were worse than gym class in high school.

Despite the obstacles, we had a great time on the ziplining course and would certainly do it again – perhaps without the challenges in between.

Millennium Park, Chicago, Illinois

teammathews — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 22:00:45 +0000

Jen finished work early Friday afternoon, so we checked into our second hotel (the Doubletree, only two blocks from the Sheraton) and headed over to the Navy Pier. We stopped at the second lunch spot we found and, after an unsatisfying lunch, decided that places named “Charlie’s” need to be excluded from future consideration. Though Jen’s feet were killing her from standing in heels that morning and the day before, we walked around the Magnificent Mile for hours (which led to many blisters). Our favorite stop was in Millennium Park to photograph Cloud Gate, otherwise known as “The Bean.”

Around 5 p.m., we stopped at Buddy Guy’s Legends to have drinks (and gumbo!) and listen to an acoustic blues band. We ended the night with a tapas dinner at Emilio’s Sol Y Nieve that included artisan cheese and ham on fresh bread, lamb meatballs, calamari, stuffed mushrooms, and, of course, beer and wine. We fell asleep early (around 8:30!) in preparation for an early-morning departure the next day.

Architecture Cruise, Chicago, Illinois

teammathews — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 23:55:24 +0000

On Thursday, Jen woke up early and spent the day at the convention she was attending for work. She did steal away for an hour during lunch to try a Chicago-style hot dog, complete with poppy seed bun, mustard, onions, relish, cucumber, tomato, and celery salt (she opted against the sport peppers). Meanwhile, Paul ate an egg sandwich on a potato bagel for breakfast at Einstein Bros. Bagels, took an architecture cruise on the river and on Lake Michigan, visited the Museum of Contemporary Art, ate a hot Italian sandwich at Potbelly Sandwich Works, and saw “The Town” at the nearby AMC Theater. When we finally met for dinner many hours later, we sought out (at the recommendation of Jen’s coworkers) Gino’s East, where we shared the supreme deep-dish pizza with pepperoni, mushrooms, and peppers.