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Friday August 21, 2009
I wish I could say this trip started great, after all its what I needed but the start was far from good. I do have to say that I wasn’t in my normal excited mood for this adventure, having lost our beloved dog only 6 days before I was still very much grieving. Had this trip not already been booked I might have chosen to for go it. But as it was, I decided to take friend’s advise and looked at it as a needed get away.
However my flight was very delayed! It was first delayed leaving Toronto, when the plane before ours (at our gate) was delayed, then our plane was over fueled and because we couldn’t take off with the extra weight they had to de-fuel it, so we were about an hour and a half late. Once we took off we found out that we would be circling because they were backed up due to some bad whether. We ended up circling for about an hour, many more. When we first arrived the shies over Philly was pretty clear, but as we were circling the storm in the distance got closer and closer. Until we were flying through it. I have to say that was pretty scary and all I could think during that was “Please don’t tell the plane be hit by lighting! Please don’t tell the plane be hit by lighting! Please don’t tell the plane be hit by lighting! Please don’t tell the plane be hit by lighting!”
We finally touched down in Philly after midnight and it was raining so hard it was like a solid sheet of water. We were then told that because of the weather the airport was closed, so we had to stay aboard the plane until it re-opened.
Ummmmm… Hello people, open up and let us in!!! Ok I understand not letting anyone take off or not letting planes take off that were flying to Philly but when a plane has landed not letting people off. We sat on the plane over an hour until they finally let us out. Then we had to wait for our bags for a really long time, since they weren’t taking the bags off the planes either. The airport at 2:00am looked like it was rush hour with so many people waiting for their bags (we weren’t the only plane that arrived but wasn’t allowed to de-plane). After I got my bag, I found that my shuttle was already waiting for me (yeah finally something I didn’t have to wait for!).
I got to the hotel (Crowne Plaza Hotel in Cherry Hill, NJ.) just after 3:00am.
I felt so bad for waking poor Amy Sue (roommate / friend) and for worrying her. I have to say I was really, really, really ready for bed by then.
Saturday August 22, 2009
The 3 of us (Rosie, Amy Sue and me) had arranged to take turns lining up for the private Breakfast with James Marsters tickets. Since it was first come, first serve and only has 75 available. We started at 4:00am, Rosie went first and since she was still on UK time (it was 9:00am for her). Amy Sue went next at 6:00am and I went last at 8:00am until the tickets went on sale at 10:00am. So I didn’t get much sleep, though as I was finishing getting ready, Amy Sue came back and told me that Rosie had come back and was taking my turn in line (she felt bad for me because I had gotten in so late) Awwwwwww, thanks Rosie! That was so nice!
But I was already up, showered and semi-awake so I went down anyway, I did take a little longer getting dolled up though. Amy Sue was nice enough to show me where it was because if you didn’t know where you were going, I don’t know how you would find it!
They had James in a small room, that was upstairs away from the rest of the convention, down a hall and around a corner. As soon as I saw it, I said “hmmmm looks like we are all being punished!”.
For anyone who doesn’t know what happened, there were a lot of issues with the promoter of Monster Mania, who was in fact a real asshole and was responsible for shutting down the private party that had been scheduled for Saturday night and then attacked both James himself and his management on his public forum. In fact the entire event came very close to not happening.
Had it not been for the efforts of J&J collectables, who were sponsoring James Marsters, it wouldn’t have. And they even managed to get us a private breakfast with James, so THAT was wonderful!
But I guess the promoter was still upset about everything, so us in the most out of the way, hard to find, air conditioner wasn’t working room he could find. As it turns out we didn’t have to line up because there weren’t that many people waiting, but there was no way to know that and besides its better to be safe then James-less!
We all sat around and talked, then Scott one of the convention security let us in the room early so we wait in there, then was a little mix up or two with where we could wait in the room or not but we did finish out waiting in the James room. I call it that because everything James related was held there, the photos, the autographs and even the breakfast, everything but the Q&A which was in the main hall.
So when it came close to 10:00am Steve (Himber), came in and told us what was going to happen for the ticket sales and the remaining weekend. Then he started taking names for the names for the breakfast. Rosie, Amy Sue, Kyle and I all got one for ourselves and one for the another of us, so we ended up with 2 different sessions. Actually Rosie and Amy Sue got a 3rd session as well later on.
I was in the 9:30am and the 10:10am sessions (each session about 20 minutes). Once that was taking care of we rushed down to the main hall to get good seats for the Q&A which was scheduled for 11:00am.I ended up sitting in the front row but off to the right side, since there was a large table on stage and I wanted a better spot to take pictures from and once I had a good spot I found out where the mics would be, as it turned out they were going to be going around with them. So I confirmed I would be first in line to ask a question.
Steve (Himber) came out at 11:00am to introduce James, to a now full room. I found it interesting that despite all the trash talk on the Monster Mania broads about James appearance that James was (not surprising) very popular.
After the initial Hello to the room, James went right into answering questions. My question to him was “Having seen how talented Sullivan is with writing songs and playing the guitar. I was wondering if you will record one of his song and/or have him play on your next album?”
James replied that he was defiantly looking into having Sullivan play on his next CD and maybe even working with Charlie DeMars and Sullivan both. He also went on a little about how great Sullivan was and told a story about getting him a Les Paul guitar. I actually got both my question and Rosie (which was after mine) on video but the camera was around my neck and I wasn’t able to see what was being taped (I was actually just trying to get the sound recorded so I could remember what was said later). But since most of it turned out ok, I’ve posted it below.The Q&A was great and I wish I could remember everything that was asked and answered, but my memory is just not that good. I do remember James telling us he had just finished filming an episode of Lie To Me with Tim Roth and Jennifer Beals and he was all excited about it and said it went great! He also answered some Spike questions, some Torchwood questions and some Moonshot ones and he talked about High Plain Invaders.
Also I did find some videos on YouTube that were taken at the Q&A, So I have posted the links to those as well:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEw6x5mjNxc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaKqAEnXacc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vqan7NZkNSg&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6itxM_Cyak&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ-O0j52vm0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP3Q5UzdOwM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C47YB47vWsI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1ji0z_qh-8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDfEvjwebJA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhplPiQwYsg&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pAwjwi-qdk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxC0XGsgpso&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJKMPHVuT9I&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46_m7oaj6sw&feature=related
After the Q&A it was the Photo Ops which were schedule from 12:00pm to 1:00pm. Once we got back to the James room, we found a very long line already waiting for the photos, once again so much for the back slash about the cost of James Photo Ops since most of the regulars are use to having a photo included with the autographs (taken with their own camera’s). So when the line went around the corner, I was both surprised and then again not surprised because this after all James!
The 3 of us stayed at the back of the line and the wait was longish but not too bad. The photographer who was very nice, was having a lot of fun, this being his first convention (he does other kind of work) and once again Corey (from Froggy’s Photos) was great! He was so much fun!
When it was my turn, I went up to James got a hug and I think I hugged him a little tighter then normal since I REALLY needed a good James hug. There was the usual ‘Hi, how are you, nice to see you and so on’. Then it was down to business. I showed James the photos I wanted (I had 3 posses on a sheet of paper).
The first 2 were ones I had done before, your standard hug posse, another one of James kissing my nose and the last one a copy of one I found of Benicio del Toro at Comic Con, which I thought was funny.
I think they came out pretty good!After the photos, I thanked James and gave him another tight hug, then told him I really needed that hug, James asked why was that and even though I told myself I wouldn’t go all sappy on him, I ended up telling him that I had just lost my dog. James looked very upset and told me how sorry he was and that he knew how hard it was to lose a pet and completely understood how I was feeling.
I was really touched by this and I realized I had to get out of there fast before I started crying. Amy Sue told me after that James actually took a moment after I left and looked upset before he shook it off and went back to the photo ops.
I left the room and stood out almost in tears when Jean (GraySunrise) came up to me and asked if I was alright and then asked what was wrong since she had heard that something had happen in my life. After I told her she gave she a big hug and told me how sorry she was and how she understood how I was feeling. It really meant a lot to me to have her say that! So thank you Jean!
Actually a big thank you to everything for all the very kind words they had said to me over the last week! It really does help!
Once I got myself together, I was OK for the rest of the weekend (no more water works for me).
Once Amy Sue and Rosie were done there photo ops, we all decided to go and get some lunch. We weren’t what we were having but we found that they were selling some pizza and hot dogs in the lobby, so we grab a slice of pizza each and went up to the room to eat it (lobby was full and there wasn’t any place to sit).
We ate lunch hung out, I changed out of my “Proud member of James Marsters’ Family” T-shirt (it said we know how to have a good time” on the back. And that an inside joke, do to something Steve posted on James website when everything with the promoter was going down. I put on my red T-shirt, since I was going to try to get some pictures with some of the other guest.
After lunch, we went back downstairs to the main convention area so I could get some autographs/photo. I was able to meet Michael Biehn and get him to sign my Terminator Poster, Rosie was able to snap a picture of us, which was great (she an amazing photographer!).
Actual she didn’t know who he was unlike I started telling her some of the movie he did, once she found out he was Coffey in The Abyss and Hicks in Aliens, she got excited about seeing him. The funny thing that happen while we were waiting was that the guy in front of me, asked Michael if he would talk to his mom on the phone, Michael said sure and took the phone and started talking away to this guys mom who was a major fan, he talked to her so long the guy starting yelling in the background “get off the phone mom!” it was cute!
Michael was really nice, he signed my poster and was great in the picture and looked like he was having a blast. I didn’t say much to him because I always get so nervous in the autographs and never know what to say to stars that of I start to babble like an idiot! I managed not to babble with Michael, which means I didn’t say much, but as the saying goes, better to say nothing and have people think you’re a fool, then to open your mouth and prove them right!
Then as we were leaving that area I saw that Dee Wallace, was there and since she was in my favourite movie of all time “E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial” I just had to stop and get an autograph and picture with her. She was a major sweetheart! And still sooooo pretty! I told her how much I loved the movie and how I just loved her in it! (Here goes the babbling) and how one of my favourite part was at the end when the ship is taking off and she has the amazing look on her face and is crying and how it makes me cry each time I see it.
She was so sweet and told all about how that scene came about. She said that, she had stood around for like 3 weeks with nothing to do, when all of a sounded Steven (Spielberg) came to her and told her they had to get this shot right away. She wasn’t even sure what she was suppose to be looking at (because all the special effects were added later). But that she just thought, ok my son didn’t leave me. And that scene is what came out!
Then we went over the other area (convention was split into 3 major area, 2 of the guest and one for the dealers). To see about getting John Astin autograph and photo, but he had packed up for the day and would only be back on Sunday. I also saw that Katherine Isabelle was in fact there and signing, I had been told by the we-have-no–clue-what-is-happening convention people that she had cancelled. I was going to get her to sign my Supernatural poster and get a picture but she was wearing her sunglasses the entire time and wouldn’t take them off, so I figured what was the point and I could just skip it.We all then headed up to the James room to get in line for the autographs, the line was even longer then the photos line, the line continued into another room. The wait actually seemed longer then normal and we found out later then reason was because they were letting people in the back of the outside line and forgetting about the people waiting in the room. Grrrrrrrr…. But we all talked, we made plans with other fan to go out to dinner that night, having a James fan meet up! So it was cool.
When I finally got up to James, I was all excited, even more then before (had my crying spell, felt better about everything by then.) I first handed Steve his chocolate and thank you for all he did for us because if not because of not wanting to disappoint the fans who had already bought plane fair and tickets, he would have canceled the appearance and also because he fought to be able to give something special and worked out the breakfast for us! So he did deserve the chocolate! He said he was so looking forward to getting chocolate all weekend, that he didn’t expect any but he was hoping! He’s so funny!
I handed Steve my Fangoria Cocktail Party poster that I still don’t know how I ended up with (not that I complaining) to be signed. I did tell him, that we didn’t steal it, they gave it to us.James was personalizing once again, so he signed it “To Magie, Bite Me, James Marsters”. I wished him a happy belated birthday and he said he got to act with Tim Roth and Jennifer Beale for his birthday. After he signed it I gave James his Birthday gift, I got him 2 John Coltrane albums (The Blue Train Album and Giant Steps Album) actual vinyl not CD’s. James was a little blown away and he seemed to really like them, I told him I wasn’t sure if he had them or if he even had a recorded player, he said he would get one (guess he doesn’t then). I also told him, that I’m a big believer that someone should listen to music on the media it was first intended to be played on, (because it sounds so different). James said that it was Tom Petty who said, vinyl is like a warm rain, while cd’s are like a cold ice storm.
I did get it all on video and it even turned out pretty good, so enjoy!
After the autographs, Rosie went to the back of line to get another and a second chance to see and talk to James (smart girl!) and Amy Sue and I hung out and talked to other fans. We then found out that they were doing a second photo session, so we were all discussing if we should do one. I think I was the one who suggested we go a group shot, which Rosie and Amy Sue agreed with.
Then we had to figure out what to do, we all threw out ideas and decided on doing an all hands in pictures (hands one on top of the other) we were in line almost at our turn when (the very brilliant) Amy Sue suggested we do YMCA, both Rosie and I LOVED it! And since they would be 4 of us, it was perfect! We decided James would be the “M” for Marsters and I asked to be “Y”, Rosie didn’t want to do “C” because she always got it backyards. So Amy Sue got “C” and Rosie did “A”.
I think since we were a group we were at the end of the line (at least I don’t remember anyone behind us). So we had a little time to explain to James what we wanted to do (after we all got our hugs), he did ask how to do “M” because he hadn’t really been into the disc scene in the 70s (guess he doesn’t go to wedding either, because they always play it at the ones I go to).
We showed him how to do “M” then we all got in place, but because we were spread out, the photographer needed us to step back, so he asked us to shuffle back, this was hilarious because we all did it together in are letter posses without breaking them. It was really cute!
And I do need to send a shout out to Corey from Froggy’s Photos for all his hard work on the photo, it turns out that my right arm went off the back drop, so he had to cloned the back drop and put it around my hand and such so it looked right. Away, you can’t tell it was fixed at all, and it looks wonderful!Once it was done we asked the photographer if it was ok, but he seemed to not be that satisfied and asked if we could do something else because he wanted to try something. Hmmmm stay around and spend more time with James… guess we could do that! So he had us do a group shot with James and Rosie standing in front and Amy Sue and I (the 2 shortest people) on chairs in the back. The pictures didn’t turn out great but hey it was a freebie and it was fund to do.
The best part (for me) was after the picture was taken and I was standing on the chair considering how I was going to get down and not fall flat on my face, since a little earlier I tripped on the carpet and almost did just that when I went to talk to Steve. Steve actually said “Oh that was graceful!” And Amy Sue asked him if he would give me a “8.5”, Steve said he would have given me an “10” if I fell on my face (thanks Steve!).So I am standing up there, thinking how do I get down gracefully, when James noticed and put his hands around my waist and helped me down!!! OH MY GOD! Can you say, the nicest guy in the world! I was both touched and very grateful!!! We all got a hug goodbye and left (me floating on air!).
Then we all (James fans) went out for dinner. I had planned for us to go the Friendly’s (never been to one, since we don’t have them in Canada) which was just down the road about a 10 minute walk, only problem with that (and google maps does tell you this) there really is any way to walk there (no side walks along a very busy road) plus it was raining, lucky for us Kate (lady marinus) sister Mary was nice enough to give us a ride there and back, even hung out and had dinner with us crazy James fans!
We had:
Kate (lady marinus), Mary (her sister), Kyle and her mother, Jean, Charity, Jessie, Carol, Rob, their girls, Emily and Sarah, Newcj her son Alex.
Dinner was great! We even had standee James join us for dinner, though he didn’t eat much (takes after the real James!).
I had their Clamboat (fried clam strips, yummmm!) the only problem with it was I couldn’t finish it and I wanted to because it was so good! And I finished off the meal with a sundae! Yum, yum, yum!By the time dinner was over, myself, Amy Sue and Rosie were wiped! We all had been up early and/or gotten very little sleep, so it was back to our hotels and to bed!
Sunday August 23, 2009
Breakfast with James time!!! I decided to dress up a little a worn a dress (a simple one that was very comfortable and that hubby even helped pick out). Rosie met us at our room, while I was finishing getting ready and I do believe she told me to get my butt moving (or the English version of that). Once ready we left and got the elevator. As we stepped off it, the elevator in front of us opened up and James, Steve and Peg all got off. We said hi to James and crew. James turned around and smiled brightly and said “Hello!”
Rosie then turned to me and said, now if you hadn’t been just a little earlier we could have ridden down with James! Yup, my bad! Oh well, though a few people thought we had ridden down with him.
Amy Sue, Rosie and I were in the first session that started at 9:30am (each session was to last 20 minutes, though because not all of them sold out they extended all of the session so we likely got 30 minutes and only had 10 people.
Once we got into the room we found our seats and started into a discussion about books, books on tape and the iPod Brenda gave him. Steve serviced us coffee and we did get some pastries also (which were very good) and I also asked him a question about Moonshot. I was able to get some of it on Video about 10 minutes. However for some reason I wasn’t able to upload it to this blog (I tried for 5 days!) so I have it on YouTube and I have included the link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSF2TNeUI0c
Though I will say, that I was actually disappointed we didn’t get to talk about String Theory, I would have liked to discuss that.
After that we had about a 30 minute wait until are next session at which point Rosie was floating around all happy because she just found out James had read one of the books he gave her.
Then it was time for our second session. Kimberly brought in her guitar and told James he was welcome to play with it and James of course pick it up and was checking it out, as he was I told him that I had a request for whenever he play a concert next because I had been waiting to hear this song again, so would he please play ‘White Hot Girls’.
He then surprised us by saying I’ll play it right now! OH MY GOD, private concert for 10!!! I got video of this and the funniest thing was Steve in the background dancing when James sings “She loves to see herself dance”. Poor James had no idea what was happening behind him. But it was funny and you can see it in the video.After White Hot Girls, he did treat us to a little Hendrix as well, but not a full song.
This lend to a discussion about his music, the next CD, doing some covers. I told him that I thought he should do Chocolate Jesus because in my opinion he does it better then Tom Waits. He said maybe, since Tom might need some cash, so he might let him do it. Amy Sue got to ask her question about working with the monkey on Moon Shot and confirmed it wasn’t fun. Turns out that the monkey’s handler was a little off and was like 70 but had a 18 year old girl that dressed like a hooker and had the entire crew/cast looking at them both weird. Also the monkey itself was really wild and had attacked a crew member so everyone was really happy to see them leave the set.
Then it was over way to quickly and I had to leave, Amy Sue and Rosie stayed because they got a third session. But I went out and waited in line with Christine and even snapped a picture of us both sitting in line waiting for the Sunday photo to start.
Then in no time at all it was Photo ops time, I got to go first (even though I offered to let Christine go first) and when I walked in, I had headed straight to James but was directed to stand in line and wait in the room. I think they were still setting up but since James was just standing there he started talking to us and he made my weekend when he gestured to my dress and said “You look Fantastic!”. OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD. James Marsters just complimented me!I think I said thank you but to be honest I was just so floored, I do remember saying I wanted to try to look pretty for him and he said that I did. This lend into a talk about clothes and how he doesn’t buy any for himself, how the t-shirt was gift from a fan and the jeans were ones he worn on Buffy or had since then (they were about 10 years old). This also lend to a discussion on dieting, and he told us (it was then just me he was talking to) how he is forever on diet so he could look taller on screen.
As matter of fact when I did walk to James for my photo ops, I asked him what was with the diabetic ice cream and he said that he could have fat but it was the sugar and carbs he had to stay away from.
Then it was time for my photo ops, I had 2 photos this time, the first was first was a copy of a Spike and Harmony photo, it came good but not as sexy as theirs and the second was one where he dipped me like he was going to kiss me, it came out great and I even had my eyes closed (like I was suppose to, instead of half open).
After the photo ops, we had a break and we upstairs so I could change, went back to a even more comfortable Jeans and a t-shirt (this time a pink - “Proud member of James Marsters’ Family” T-shirt). It was also the time Rosie decided she would tackle me onto the bed kind of out of the blue, it had us both laughing our heads off and Amy Sue took a picture of it!
Once I was all comfy (in my T-shirt and jeans), we did make our way to the convention so I could see if I could get John Astin autograph and photo, he wasn’t there but would be back at 1:30pm, it was about 30 minutes away and since there wasn’t any line I decided to wait. Did finally get some picture with some of the horror costumes walking around. Michael Myers was not scary, but the IT clown on stillest had the creepiest laugh ever! That scared me much more!
John was a little late in getting back, but still was a very nice man. I got an autograph and Rosie played photographer again for me.
While we were still there Dee Wallace came over to say hello to John (they had worked together at some point). And Rosie was able to snap a picture of them together as well.
Then it was back to the important stuff, JAMES! It was his Sunday autograph session next. We knew there would be nothing else because he had to leave right at 4:00pm to catch a flight.While we waited in line we meant these really nice young guys, who were big Smallville fans and were meeting James for the first time, one of them was a very gifted artist and he showed us a drawing he did that he was going to give to James, it was so cool.
Then it was my turn to get my Sunday autograph, I of course gave Steve his chocolate again and then had my Torchwood Captain John Hart figure to be signed. James signed it “To Magie, Nice! James Marsters” and he was referring to the figure. Which we both agreed came out really good!
After he signed it I gave him his maple candy, which he said “Oh, I really like these!” (too cute, I know that, it why I get them for him!) And I also gave him a Frisbee and beach ball with the Canada on them for the kids, he joked with me about playing with them himself and asked if he really had to give it to them. I said no, but he really should.
Then came the really funny part. I was joking with James about something naughty (and told Steve to close his hears) and we got taking about masturbation. At which Steve said that if he wasn’t already red he should be, James turned around and said “It’s natural!” and Steve not missing a beat pulls out one of those small bottles of hand sanitizer liquid and says “Some one now needs to pour this over my entire body and cleanse me!” This made everyone who heard him laugh!That of course was the end of the all the James fun!... Sad then…
We were getting pretty hungry then so Amy Sue and I went down to the hotel restaurant and got some lunch, we ended up sharing a sandwich, since we weren’t super hungry and had plans for dinner that night. We were joined by Rosie after a while, since she had gone around and gotten a second autograph. Also Carol and her husband came by and well and a couple other fans, sat with us.
Once we finished lunch went by J&J Collectibles (http://www.jjcollectibles.com/) to say thank you to them for all they did all weekend they really did go above and beyond for us and are 2 of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet!
Then we headed back to the room to change into something for the night, since we where going into Philadelphia for dinner and a city tour. The hotel called us a Taxi and we got Dave the cab driver from hell, I had just spent all weekend at a horror convention and nothing there scared me as much as me. He was loud and started telling us how some guy had pulled a guy on him the night before and tried to rob him but he told the guy to F off and hadn’t even called the cops. Amy Sue was having a good conversation with him, since the guys played hockey with her cousin, but I so didn’t want anything to do with him. Once he got us to our distension he gave us his card and said if we need a ride back to call him. No thanks, I’d rather walk back to New Jerseys!
Amy Sue did have us take a picture with the nut! So if you see this guy RUN! And the smile on my face is one of pour terror!Anyway, we got off at the corner of 13th & Walnut Street in Philly, so we could walk up the street and check out the shops, turns out that they were all closed and there wasn’t that many of them. So we made it to the restaurant early. We had dinner at Maggiano's Little Italy at 12th & Filbert.
It was a nice place and dinner was great! I had the Linguine & Clams with White Clam Sauce (I know clams 2 night in a row, but they were so good!), then I had the Tiramisu for dessert! Yum!
Once dinner was over we went across the street to where the tour left from and got on the double decker bus. We sat on the open top area. The tour lasted about an hour and a half and was very interesting, we saw lost of sights and heard all kinds of interest facts, even Amy Sue who lives close by didn’t know all of them.
We finished the tour around 9:30pm and got a sane taxi back to the hotel and off to bed we went.Monday August 24, 2009
We had originally planned to take another tour of Philly (this one on a segway) but we couldn’t book it on the phone, so we decided to skip it and take it a little easier in morning and just walk around on our own. As it turns out, it was a good thing since Rosie had slept in (not like her at all) and therefore allowing me the chance to laugh at her!
We left just after she join us and headed to the Philadelphia Art Museum so we could do the Rocky stairs (its where in the first Rocky movie, he runs up the stairs to train). We actually had a very nice taxi driver Ken, who found the perfect stop to let us off and who was very nice!
We took some pictures both on top of the stairs and at the Rocky statue beside them (it was donated by Sylvester Stallone after the 3rd Rocky movie) and I think it was used in the movie, but I’m not sure.
Then we walked to restaurant we were having lunch at, it was about a 20 minute walk but we got a chance to see some more of Philly and it was a very nice day, if not a little too hot (and non of us thought to use sun block).
We arrive at Bistro St. Tropez, which is atop Marketplace Design Center and a little hard to find (unless you know what your looking for). It has a great view, so we got to enjoy it while we ate. I had the Poussin, which is chicken cheese steak with American cheese on grilled French bread. It was really good!
Then we walked along Market Street, checking at all the sights until we got to 18th Street where we turned on to Chestnut Street, so Rosie could go to Victoria Secret (they don’t have them in England, actually they don’t have them in Canada either) we did some shopping and then walked over the One Liberty Place about half a block away, stop at Dress Barn to do more shopping. Once we got to One Liberty Place, we did even more shopping, or I really should say Rosie did. Amy Sue didn’t buy anything and I came close to buying a dress at Dress Barn but didn’t, though I did but a sweater at one of the stores at One Liberty Place.
By then we had been out a while and we decided we should get a taxi back to the hotel. This taxi driver wasn’t crazy just greedy. He made us paid for his toll fee back and won’t leave without a tip. Jerk!Once we were back at the hotel we got our bags and waited for the car (Amy Sue was very generous and sweet and was having the car she hired drop off me and Rosie at the airport first).
We had a nice drive to the airport got there with plenty of time, drop Rosie off first, then me. It was really hard say good to both of them! Though Rosie I will be seeing again soon, but who know when I will see Amy Sue again! Oh, well maybe I’ll have to make at trip just to see her!
The trip back and both fast and easy, no drama what-so-ever. In fact, I flew through checking in and security. The plane was half empty (though the guys in the seat next to me never thought to move and give both me and him more room (I was in the window seat, so I couldn’t). I arrive early in Toronto, flew though customs and my bag was already waiting for me on the luggage carousel. I think Karma was trying to make up Friday flight to me.
Well that’s it, besides the flight there it was a great 3 days! A special thanks To Amy Sue and Rosie for not only putting up with me all weekend but for also allowing me to use some of their photos in this report! Thanks guys!
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