Staying Local This Weekend

 

With all the driving that I have done over the past two weeks going to Scranton and Erie, this weekend I wasn’t about to sit in the car and go on another long road trip. However, we still needed to get out of the apartment so we settled on one of our nearby stand by destinations… Harvest Books in Fort Washington. And it actually worked out well as we both needed to pick up a couple cheap books to read. So, the destination was decided but we had to do something a little different so I began searching for a new place to grab lunch. After a few minutes of searching online and reading reviews, I found a place that looked pretty darn good.

We drove into Fort Washington at about 12:30 and continued down the road listening to Siri send us in the completely opposite direction. As we turned around we reloaded the directions and began heading in the right direction. With no actual store front or sign along Bethlehem Pike, we circled around the block a couple of times before blindly turning into the parking lot with the matching street address. Finally, we arrived at Hungry Bear Café.

 

It is a really small little café in the old train station building tucked along the side of the tracks but the friendly and inviting atmosphere and tasty options listed on the brunch menu more than made up for less than desirable location. After enjoying an excellent cup of coffee the food arrived at our table looking better than the high expectations set by the ingredients. Not only was the Brioche Benedict a tasty combination accented with homemade sausage and sautéed mushrooms but the pancakes we ordered on the side are, hands down, the best that I have ever eaten.

 

However, the most impressive and kind of surprising discovery was the Au Poivre Burger that my wife reluctantly let me taste. With all of the burgers that we have had in our lives, we didn’t realize such an amazing example of burger precision could be found in Fort Washington of all places. I am not one who usually votes online for various contests but I will definitely make an exception this time and vote for Hungry Bear Café in Philadelphia Magazine’s Battle of the Burger. We will be back to try more.

After lunch we headed over to our favorite book shop right down the street from the café. While prices have increased slightly, Harvest Books is still one of the best deals for those of us that still enjoy our books in a non-digital format. And there are always a few things that I discover that I can’t pass up, especially at $2.50 apiece. And it should be no surprise that I found a number of books on Freemasonry that I had to take home with me and a few that I will be purchasing at a later date (if they are still there). Of course, my wife picked up a couple of books as well so we both headed back to the apartment with some books that we will eventually find the time to read.

While it may not have been the furthest that I have traveled recently, it was still a great local day of travel and one that I was able to enjoy with my wife. Things should be back to normal next weekend, the long holiday weekend, when we will head back out on the road and explore a new Pennsylvania destination. With that said, I still have no idea where we are going to go. I guess we will have to find out next weekend.

From Brunch To Dinner

Today was a good day. The original plan was that I was going to stay home during the afternoon and get a few things done for work. They never got done so, in that respect, it wasn’t that good but everything else was better than expected. But, with my schedule, I have learned that you can’t always plan everything because if you try to affix every moment on a calendar life is simply going to pass you by. In other words, heed the advice of Ferris Bueller (actually John Hughes to be precise).

Just before noon my dad gave me a call and asked if I wanted to have lunch. Any time I can get out and spend some time with my dad immediately makes my day a little better. Maybe it is the kid in me but I love spending time with my father and just talking about everything that is going on at the time (and other things that may be annoying us that particular day). What makes it even better is the fact that I now have something substantive to talk about (even though this blog doesn’t reflect that substance).  

These are the moments that I just enjoying being rather than thinking about all the other things that are going on or things that have to be done or projects that are fast approaching. Throughout lunch as well as our time chatting in the lounge at Tinderbox, it was just nice to spend time with him. I would have stayed longer and talked about a plethora of other topics with him and some of the people we happened to meet but I also had another commitment to keep.

So, from spending time with my dad, I rushed back to the apartment and got ready to have dinner with my father-in-law, someone who has a completely different demeanor and way about himself. Once my wife got back from her afternoon engagement, we headed eastbound for Philadelphia to have dinner at Zahav. Having made good time, it was good to have a few minutes with my wife before we were sitting at the table and talking about everything that has changed in the past several months.

Throughout the courses and conversation, it was interesting to hear how one thing led to another and how the conversation too on a life of its own. While interesting, it is still not the same as the broader topics that my dad and I discuss but it was unique and entertaining in its own way. I guess it is all about perspective and experience but nothing was going to overshadow the time I spent with my dad. That is what happens when you are as fortunate as I am and able to look up to your dad not just as your father but as someone you respect for who they are as a man and what they have accomplished in life.

Sometimes my wife tells me that I am slowly turning into my father and I am perfectly fine with that. I just hope I am lucky enough that her supposition becomes reality because I would be damn fortunate if that were the case. Let’s just hope my follicles remain in denial.