A "romantic" weekend getaway in Philly!

Peter and I were finally able to get away for a couple of days (okay, more like 30 hours) to see Philadelphia last weekend. Peter works so much and he was so tired Saturday morning, that I had to drag him out of bed at 9:00am. But we finally got on the road and three hours later in mega traffic, a very normal driving experience on the east coast, we arrived. We split an $11 cheese steak with nasty Cheez Whiz and no bell peppers. Apparently, REAL philly cheese steaks do not have bell peppers. We rode a big bus around to see the main sights, then had questionable chinese food and spent the evening relaxing in our hotel. Peter was in bed at 9:00pm. Not so much a night on the town. Good thing I had a good book to read! Next day, Peter found a tv channel that was featuring the history of rock bands and I had to tear him away from it just after the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Guns and Roses...whew! Peter just wanted some quality down time with the remote. Is that so wrong!? We toured Independence Hall and had an amazing tour guide. He had portions of Abraham Lincoln's speech memorized and we were mesmerized by the presentation and in awe of our founding fathers. Both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed there! We saw the Liberty Bell and the Betsy Ross House. Although by now we were feeling rather patriotic, we decided to skip the Constitution Center because it would have required a good two hours and we were getting anxious about getting back to NYC. It was only noon, but a practical New Yorker knows that to secure a free parking place, you really should be back by 4:00pm on a Sunday evening. We grabbed another philly cheese steak from Geno's (apparently there's a big rivalry between diagonally located Geno's and Pat's in south Philly on who's the best). It was a hard decision, but we chose the former and snarfed 'em down before hitting the road. Good luck was with us despite the fact that we were technically breaking the Sabbath - we made it back by 3:30 and secured a good parking space! We only spent about $30 in highway tolls [Its $11 to cross the Verrazzanno/ Narrows Bridge across Staten Island - one way!] A whirlwind trip indeed.

The Job Search

I thought I had a job... two months ago. I responded to an ad on craigslist to be trained as a Manhattan tour guide for Citysights NY. I attended the free, three hour training classes twice a week for two months. I read three big books. I studied and pumped the pavement, identifying buildings and landmarks all over Manhattan. I went on free day tours as often as possible. I took a big, fat test with 150 questions to prove that I knew the city. And what a cram class it was! So... I get my license and present myself to the company to begin my new job last month. Not so fast... they tell me they'll call me in a week. No call. I leave a voicemail. Then another, and another. No response. Turns out the tour guide manager is a $%#*! as are the owners. ? Great. Now I've got no job, no prospects, and no more optimistic attitude for throwing myself into another so-called great opportunity. What happened? The economy is down, especially tourism, and the company over-advertised to cover their bases in case they needed more guides. ??? This is my theory. The worst part is, that call could come in any day. Do I still want to work for this company? I've put in applications elsewhere - community colleges to teach Italian or History, and flyers about my Italian tutoring. I do tutor a gal once or twice a week in Italian. We meet at Starbucks and I charge $30/ hour. So, I make about $90 a week. Peter says its not enough. :) Oh well, things can only get better!

The Sights of NY

There's the Statue of Liberty, the skyscrapers, the Empire State Building, Central Park and hundreds more. Of all these attractions, I have to say that my favorite is the Manhattan Temple near Lincoln Center and Juliard. Its gorgeous! So white, so pure, standing unassumingly in the middle of a big, dirty, crazy city. Walking inside and experiencing the clean and quiet is calming and peaceful. Makes me thrilled to be Mormon. I just love the architecture inside and the Spirit there.