Philadelphia Trip - 09/08/24

Philadelphia, "The City of Brotherly Love".  I'd never have coined that phrase for this city, but it is what it is. The last time I was here, it felt like New York City would have been had the Erie Canal not been built. Now, the city seems to be growing up with quite a few tall skyscrapers being built.  And this would be our destination for the next few days.

If we didn't have non-refundable Amtrak tickets, we would have postponed this trip.  What we didn't know at the time of booking was that the second presidential debate would be held during our visit, and that our plans to visit Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, the Constitution Center, and the US Mint would be scotched for the day we planned to visit.  However, there were enough other things to do, that RQS and I would likely be busy for the 3 days we would be here.

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Our day started by getting showered and dressed, and out the door to Penn Station, NYC.  Although this was a weekend, the subway's weekend schedule didn't make it overly hard for us to reach Penn Station in a reasonable amount of time.  (Often, the weekend schedules might force us to make multiple unneeded transfers to reach some parts of Manhattan, as some routes are shortened and don't facilitate the transfers we need to make.)  By 2:30 pm, we were on the train and off to Philly.

Once we reached Philly, it was off to our hotel.  I was surprised to find that the hotel was on a narrow street that was too narrow for a cab to drop off passengers without blocking traffic.  Yet, the hotel was in a busy an relatively safe neighborhood.  So it appeared that I again had a made a good choice in places to stay.

After having a chance to rest, it was off to a Japanese place for Sushi, and then off for Ice Cream before trying to take an Uber home.  And this is where the first glitch in or trip occurred - I entered in the hotel's address, 130 S. Juniper Street, and accidentally got 130 N. Juniper Street filled in for our destination. Our Uber driver could not speak any English - he was effectively a deaf mute to us.  We ended up walking several blocks with our melting ice cream to our hotel room.  At least the ice cream was still enjoyable when we settled in for the night.

YouTube diversions

 

I have been bored by most broadcast TV for years now.  Most of the so-called comedy shows are quite boring, as the quality of script has gone down over the years. (Yes, I am biased here, as my late uncle was an Emmy-winning script writer.)  So-called news shows often consist of 99% opinion and 1% news.  One can quickly get bored by commentators on a network all saying the same basic thing, only with different faces saying those things.

For the past few years, I have found YouTube to be a refreshing diversion from broadcast TV, although the quality of the videos are not up to those on traditional TV networks. It seems that there is a little bit of something for everyone here, albeit with productions of random quality.  Often, I find that I am watching shows which were once shown on broadcast TV, as well as regularly scheduled podcasts I find interesting. Yet, I stumble at times into purely amateur videos that I may watch because the creator is interested in the same things in which I am interested.

Lately, I've been watching videos by restaurant reviewers (UA Eats), Cruise Industry Newscasters (La Lido Loca), and Auto Industry people (Car Questions Answered). Please note that I watch a lot more channels than these ones, I just didn't want to list them all.  If anything, these days I find that I could go all evening switching between YouTube videos without going back to the traditional broadcasters.

But this leads me to one question:

If I am finding traditional TV boring, what is happening with the rest of us?

Last minute packing

 

In a couple of days, RQS and I will be heading down to Philadelphia for a few days. If it weren't for the fact that we would be seeing RQS's cousin, I'd be in Marian mode for this trip.  But to be safe, when in doubt, don't come out (of the closet).  So, I'll be leaving my wig, falsies, and dresses at home for this trip.

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I expect that soon, RQS will enjoy the comfort of staying home - as we have 4 days in Philly and 2 7-day cruises to Bermuda coming up.  By the time Thanksgiving comes, we'll both be tired of eating rich food.  And yet, we'll both do our best when Hudson Valley Restaurant Week comes in November.

We're looking forward to our upcoming trips.  I've never had the chance to explore Philly that much, as I was there with Ex-GF-M on one of her business trips, with another ex on an overnight stay, and with XGFJ on a visit to the Barnes Foundation museum.  Seeing the Mutter museum is on top of my list of things to do, as well as seeing the 30th Street Amtrak station when we get off the train.  Of course, we'll visit all the traditional tourist sites such as the Liberty Bell and the US Mint.  Yet, I'll be looking for some of the more interesting sites, such as the Eastern State Penitentiary.

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But first, I have to get my bags packed, so we can head down to RQS's place for the night.

More later....

I did nothing I needed to do, save for going to the dentist

 

Although I used to go to the dentist as Mario, I now usually appear at the dentist's office as Marian. I don't remember how this started, but I'm glad I could do so. I only wish I could do so with more people in my life. But, sadly, this is not yet possible.

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This morning, I woke up after not getting enough sleep.  I thought I'd be tired throughout the day, but I was wrong.  Around 1 pm, I got showered, dressed, and made up to go out for the day - just in time to make it to my 2 pm appointment at the dentist's office for my 3x yearly teeth cleaning.  after a little chit chat, I was out the door by 2:45, and off to get something to eat.

My next stop was in Peekskill, where I stopped for pizza.  After that, it was off to the supermarket to pick up tonight's dinner, and some ribs RQS and I could eat tomorrow night.  Once I got home, I put my goodies in the ice box, then rested.  Did I do laundry?  No.  Did I pack for my upcoming trip?  No.  As I said in the title of this entry, I did nothing except for going to the dentist - and I feel good about this.

We've just booked another cruise! (a short post)

 

RQS and I have booked another cruise!  Yes, we must be gluttons for punishment, as we will be sailing into the Bermuda Triangle twice in a little over a month. 😀

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Being serious, the idea of taking this cruise came about because RQS saw some cheap prices, and wanted to jump on one.  One problem - she might be biting off more than she can chew, and I'll end up helping her out more than I might have planned.  (We already have another Autumn cruise booked and an Alaskan cruise booked for next year.)  I guess that I'll have to be the voice of reason for our choices of vacations in the future.

I like the idea of taking this cruise, as it will allow me to compare apples to apples when evaluating two Bermuda cruises. (I have another blog, SlowTravel101, in which I post entries about cruising and other "slow" methods of getting from place to place while vacationing.)  The comparison between the two cruises should be published sometime in the next two or three months.  If all goes right, I will likely go on the second of these cruises as Marian - the way I prefer to travel.

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On other matters, I just got off of a co-op board meeting, and none of us are happy.  Our managing agent's site representative didn't show up again, and we were more than just disappointed by this. We haven't been happy with the quality of services being provided lately, and we needed to discuss this now.  Additionally, there are other issues that may cause us grief, and it looks like we'll soon be going back to twice monthly meetings until we get some of our issues resolved.

Hopefully, my duties to the co-op board won't interfere with the cruises RQS and I will be taking.

Lingerie - a short post

 

The other day, RQS needed to go to the store to buy some plain underwear, as she didn't have any clean pairs at my apartment.  Instead of going to Walmart as she might have done, I suggested that we drive to Lane Bryant, so that she could take advantage of a 10 for $39 sale, and I could examine the slip in the above photo.

So, after getting showered and dressed, we got in the car and headed to Paramus, NJ to do some shopping.  RQS bought both underwear and a pair of trousers, while I escaped and bought nothing.  (She said that I should have bought the above garment as well as some sexy undies I could wear with it.)  This morning, I placed an order for these items, and will wear them one day when I feel it's the right time to do so.

While in bed, we chatted about things, and she never thought that she'd be comfortable with someone like me, someone who prefers to be out in the world as a female and enjoys all of the pretty things that women can wear.  Of course, she doesn't understand it.  But she accepts it.  And I'm grateful for that.

The end of a long weekend

 

It's the end of the summer, and both RQS and I have the itch to cruise again.  Neither of us want to wait for our late autumn cruise to Bermuda to get away again.  So, over the past week or two, I've been looking for cruises we could take on a small budget.

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I dropped RQS off at the train today, then went back to the apartment to chill a bit.  But I never ended up leaving the apartment again like I intended to do.  Instead, I started doing things like paying bills (Ouch!) and again searching for cheap cruises we could take..  If we had known about our future plans, we would never have scheduled an NCL cruise to Bermuda.  Instead, we'd have taken the opportunity to schedule an MSC cruise to Bermuda, and taken either a Princess or NCL cruise to New England / Eastern Canada.  This way, I could present as Marian when sailing on the East Coast, and still get a cheap way to visit Bermuda as Marian.  But this did not happen.

Tonight, I presented RQS with an option: We take both the MSC and NCL cruises to Bermuda and compare both of them.  On MSC, we will have a balcony cabin, drink package, Wi-Fi package (maybe, I had one last time as part of the fare), and probably buy a 4 meal specialty dining package.  On NCL, we will have a balcony cabin, a drink package, 150 minutes of Wi-Fi, 4 specialty restaurant meals. I'll be able to do a true apples to apples comparison of both lines, as we will be doing virtually the same route from 2 different NYC cruise terminals.

Is this the best thing for us to do?  Maybe.  But I will be able to ask the security people at the Bermuda pier whether I could travel there presenting as a female and not get hassled when I return to the ship.  And that might be the best benefit of all for doing 2 Bermuda cruises so close together.