The PT Girls Visit Philadelphia

The PT girls (Becky Sexton, Sara Pigg Walker, Jennifer Kain Richardson, and Rachel - pictured above) came to visit us in March.

Becky arrived Thursday night. Rachel picked up Sara and Jennifer at the airport Friday morning, and Friday afternoon, they toured historic Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Flower Show was in town, and the girls were able to get tickets from our friend Meg. The Philly Flower Show is an annual event, and is apparently a very big deal because it significantly increases train traffic the week it is in town. Even the later trains leaving the city are full, when the Flower Show is in town.

The girls visited the Liberty Bell on Independence Mall. They also took a tour of Constitution Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed and the first Congress met. They went to the Constitution Center and saw "The Story of We The People" (if you ever visit Philadelphia, visit this multimedia show; it will make you proud to be an American).









They also visitd Ben Franklin's grave (pictured here). The grave is in a church graveyard near the Constitution Center. People throw pennies onto Ben's grave for good luck. The church actually uses the proceeds of the pennies to fund maintenance of the graveyard. You can see the feet and broom of one of the maintenance guys who collects the pennies. As he told us, "Ben used to say, 'A penny saved is a penny earned.' As we say here at the church, 'A penny tossed, is a penny lost.'"

Friday after I got out of work, we took the girls to Jim's Steaks for an authentic Philly Cheesesteak. The outside world all knows Pat's or Gino's as the king of the Philly Cheesesteak. Many locals would consider Jim's to be king. Rachel and I really like it (plus, they have a Veggie steak for Rachel). It is located on South Street.



The girls enjoying the first bite of their cheesesteak.






Me wolfing down my cheesesteak.





Saturday morning, we took the girls to Valley Forge National Park and looked around. We also had a picnic while we were there.



Saturday afternoon, it was time for a little Guitar Hero. Becky, Sara and Jennifer made up the band. Rachel and I were rotating members. We lacked a good drummer.

Sara "Hendrix" and Becky "Van Halen".



Sunday morning, before we took them back to the airport, we took the girls to the Art Museum so they could run up "the Rocky Steps". This photo is a view from the top of the Art Museum steps.








REFLECTION - The Before and After - Locks of Love Public Service Announcement

Ironically, Bill Langston commented after my last blog on how long Rachel's hair had grown. It was a very timely comment, as Rachel got a haircut the following Friday. When I say haircut, I am not talking about a "trim" or a "shape-up", but a full-fledged cut. To the right is the "Before" picture, taken Friday morning before Rachel went to work.

The "After" picture (to the left) was taken the same Friday evening, after Rachel visited her hair dresser, who removed 11 inches of her hair. We celebrated the event by going out for Asian Fusion food at a new restaurant to us - Fuzion (it is about 1 mile down the road and is excellent).


The "casualty" went to a good cause, too. Part of the reason Rachel had grown her hair out so long was so she could donate it to "Locks of Love". Locks of Love (locksoflove.org) is a non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children suffering from long-term hair loss from any medical diagnosis. Volunteers can donate at least 10 inches of hair, which is then used to make wigs for these children. So, Rach's hair went to a good cause. For more information, visit locksoflove.org.

Commercial Meeting and R&R in Arizona

The first week of March, I was in Scottsdale, AZ for my company's annual sales meeting. Rachel flew in Thursday evening, and we took a long weekend of R&R. Late March/early April is the perfect time to be in the Phoenix area, as the weather was sunny and mid to high 70's all week.


We stayed at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort, which is absolutely beautiful. The lawns were very well manicured, and the flowers were already in bloom.






Our sales meeting ended early on Thursday. I caught a ride with my coworkers (who were flying back to Philadelphia) to the airport, where I picked up our rental car for the weekend. I then drove to Phoenix Municipal Stadium for an afternoon Cactus League Spring Training game.


I chose to see the Oakland A's, for no other reasons than: 1) their spring training location was between the Phoenix Airport and Scottsdale and 2) the Oakland A's are an easy spring training ticket to obtain. My planning was not perfect, as the A's were playing the hometown Diamondbacks, so the stadium was pretty much full. Luckily, because I was a single, I was able to get a ticket in the shade behind home plate.




It was an extremely relaxing afternoon. Perfect weather, baseball and good food - three of my favorite things. I sat next to a family from Chicago, who had retired to Phoenix (the grown daughter was visiting for the week from Chicago). They were very nice, loved baseball, and were a fun group to sit with.

On Friday, I sent Rachel to the resort spa for a massage and pedicure, as part of her birthday. It also allowed me to catch up on work email and get a few things done. I was surprised how much more enjoyable it is to do work from beautiful, sunny surroundings, than it is from an office (don't worry folks, I did take a day of vacation. I just took this opportunity to make up for my detour to the spring training game on Thursday.)


After her spa pampering, Rachel and I caught lunch at one of the resort restaurants. We then headed to the pool for the afternoon. The weather was warm enough to get into the water. However, with the low humidity, you quickly dried off once you got out of the pool.



I took Rachel to dinner at my favorite restaurant in the world - Element at the Sanctuary. I ate there twice last year with customers. The food is awesome, and the views are spectacular, especially at dusk. Chef Beau MacMillan cooks the best steaks I have ever eaten (he beat Bobby Flay on a Kobe Steak challenge on Iron Chef America). Unfortunately, Rachel was suffering from a sinus and ear infection and couldn't really taste her food.
Although she was unable to taste the food, Rachel was able to enjoy the scenery and views from Element. Positioned on the side of a hill, Element at the Sanctuary, sits over the resort pool and overlooks Paradise Valley, which is adjacent to Scottsdale.



After dinner, Rachel and I met up with some of her friends from high school back at the resort. David Latimer and his wife, Dani, and Jason Payne and his sister, Samantha, met us at the resort restaurant. We had a really nice time catching up with them (David, Dani and Jason all live in Phoenix now; Samantha was in visiting Jason for the weekend).




Saturday, Rachel and I headed into Phoenix, where we visited the the Arizona Biltmore. Owned and managed by Waldorf Astoria, the Arizona Biltmore was inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright, who served as a consultant on the project for several months during construction in the 1920's. His trademark style architectural is obviously displayed throughout the resort.
The inside of the resort is also obviously inspired by Wright, as most of the structures display his horizontalism design. The furniture is also obviously Wright designed and matches much of the furniture at Falling Water, just outside of Pittsburgh.


Passing through the lobby from the front of the hotel, you enter a courtyard in the rear. This courtyard has beautiful gardens and a multitude of restaurants and shops. It is a very nice area to relax and enjoy the beautiful scenery.


Rachel on the lawn chess / checkers grounds. Apparently, this was an extremely popular pastime for the rich in the 1930's and 1940's. Several old photos in the hotel showed guests playing lawn chess.
The pool area at the Arizona Biltmore was spectacular. It was large, well maintained, and on this particular Saturday... crowded.
The most awesome aspect of the pool was the large waterslide.
Adjacent to the pool area were more flower gardens. The Arizona Biltmore is certainly an oasis in the desert.
Saturday afternoon, Rachel and I headed two hours south of Phoenix to Tucson, to visit Jeremy and Ginny Graves (pictured with us in this blog's title picture). Jeremy is one of my best friends from college. His wife Ginny is also one of our favorite people (like many of my other friends, he definitely married up). We spent Saturday afternoon and evening with the Graves family eating pizza, playing Wii and socializing.

Jeremy's and Ginny's daughters, Olivia and Madison, are absolutely adorable and extremely well-behaved. They let us Wii bowl with them. We also enjoyed watching the Graves family establish their Wii sports ages.

After Olivia and Madison turned in for the evening, Rachel and Ginny humiliated Jeremy and me by beating us in a round of Tiger Woods Golf on the Wii. Rachel and I then had to head back to Scottsdale to turn in for our early flight on Sunday morning.

The rest and relaxation was much needed, and catching up with old friends is always an enjoyable event.

Due to the length of this blog, there will be no Reflection. You are probably tired of reading by now anyway.

The Polar Bear Plunge

Being the romantic that I am, I decided to take Rachel away for a romantic getaway for Valentine's weekend. Where would I go, you might ask... to Sea Isle, NJ for the annual Polar Bear Plunge. Rachel and I, accompanying our friends Tim and Nicole, joined a few thousand other people with questionable judgement in jumping into the Atlantic Ocean on February 14th.

The temperature was in the mid-40's, and the water temperature was not so comfortable. The team pictured here (yes, that is a guy in a Penguin Suit), and led by Tim's uncle Richie, assembled at Tim's parents' condo at noon for a 2:00 PM dive.





At 1:40 PM, we marched down to the beach, where thousands of other "Polar Bears" and observers were waiting to jump. Sea Isle hosts a parade before the plunge, an enormous tent with bands and food afterwards, and a 5K race the following morning. The weekend is a large event, and the proceeds go to charity.



This is a good shot of Rachel and I only moments after exiting the ocean from our plunge. The rule is that you must dive in and get your head wet. Notice the nice red color that I display from the coldness.




Most people ran in, ran out, and threw on their clothes. However, Rachel and I both jumped twice, thanks to Tim's Uncle Richie. (Richie leads the charge each year with his patented, "Alright men, stay close together, but don't bunch up.") Others quickly donned their sweatshirts and pants, but I like to air dry.




CHEST BUMP!!!

















I love Capri Sun! Just had to include this picture because my editor (Rachel) thinks it is funny.











REFLECTIONS - Costumes



Perhaps the most entertaining portion of the weekend was attending the post plunge parties. Several participants were in costume. The Polar Bear King, pictured above, was my favorite. In addition to his Coors Light Trident, cape, crown and crab necklace, he was also sporting a nice set of Homer Simpson Valentine's Day swim trunks. The Polar Bear Queen was also in attendance.

Philly Lobster Guy was another costume wearer. There was also a girl with HUGE orange house shoes. One of the better ones that we saw was a guy wearing a U.S. Swimming jumpsuits, a "Phelps" swim cap, and carrying a 4 foot long bong.

Rachel and I had a great time over the weekend, and we owe it to Tim and Nicole (and Mathias, one of Tim's college roommates) for being such good hosts.

Dayton vs. LaSalle

Several of our friends in Philadelphia are "transplants", like ourselves. Many of them attended the University of Dayton for college (it is a R&H target school for recruiting engineers). Meg Edwards, one of our good friends (and the mother of three pictured above), is "the main squeeze" in their local alumni association chapter. The Flyers came to town a few weeks ago to play LaSalle (one of the Philadelphia Big 5) in an important Atlantic 10 Conference match-up. Having the in with Meg, Rachel and I donned our red and headed to Tom Gola arena for the game. *** Please note that Brian Albright, the guy in the snazzy yellow sweater is a Dayton grad. Also note, that yellow is La Salle's color.***

Pictured above L-R: Brian Albright, Kate Edwards, Meg Edwards,(Me in back), Olivia Edwards (baby), Keith Edwards, and Abby Edwards, who serenaded us with her rendition of James Blunt's "You're Beautiful" on the way to the game.

The Flyers built a significant lead by half time on some hot shooting from the perimeter. In the second half, they cooled off a bit, and La Salle made a run on them to tie the game with just a few seconds left. Dayton held the ball for the last shot. One of the Dayton forwards missed a 17 footer from the lane elbow with 3 seconds left. Their most athletic guard shot down the lane, caught the rebound off of the rim and jammed it home for the win as time expired. WHAT AN AMAZING FINISH!!!

Dayton has a very athletic team but are streaky shooters (sounds a lot like my Vols). They also run the same offense as Tennessee, where the guards circle around the top of the key meaninglessly, without looking to pass the ball inside.

In this photo, Rachel with Brian "I Wear the Opponents Colors" Albright.


REFLECTIONS - The Palestra

For my birthday, our friends Tim and Nicole Callahan, invited us to a Big 5 game at The Palestra. St. Joseph's was playing Temple. The Palestra is the gymnasium for the University of Penn, but many of the Big 5 games are still played there. It is "The Cathedral of College Basketball" and opened in 1927.

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera. I tried to take pictures with my Blackberry, but they were blurry. Rachel commented that it was the best arena she has ever been in for watching basketball. I agree. It holds about 8,500 fans, and the seats run down to the court. The atmosphere is awesome!!! The Hawk mascot for St. Joe's flaps his wings for the entire game. I imagine it takes an aggressive training regimen for a person to be able to repeatedly lift his/her arms above his/her head repeatedly for over 90 minutes straight.

Unfortunately, Temple defeated St. Joe's. It was another night to watch Dionte Christmas light up a team, as he did my Vols in December.

If you ever have the chance... go to the Palestra, even if you don't get to attend a game.

Spring Mountain - Skiing Locally

Sorry for the long absence, folks. I don't have a good excuse, as Rachel and I were not up to much in January. I just haven't sat down and written in a while. I hope to do better, as I now have a few items to blog about.


One Sunday in January, Rachel and I went skiing at Spring Mountain resort.



Rachel did some research and found that there is a place to ski only 15-20 minutes from our house. Although smaller than the resorts in the Poconos, you can't beat Spring Mountain for convenience. With a very short drive and no traffic, you can be at a ski slope that is not overly crowded for the most part. Since it is 50 minutes to an hour outside of Philadelphia, the center-city crowd will likely opt to continue on to the Poconos, leaving Spring Mountain to the locals.

With 3 lifts, and a beginners area on a separate slope than the intermediate area, Spring Mountain does not feel crowded. Although the slope ratings are a bit elevated (a black diamond is really more like an intermediate slope), it has a decent run or two and a terrain park for snowboarding and/or ski jumping. Spring Mountain would be a great place to take a first time skier to learn.

(View from near the top of the intermediate slope)
(Rachel skiing down the intermediate slope)










REFLECTIONS - Congrats to Rachel - One Race Per Month for One Year

Last year, Rachel set a goal to run one race per month for an entire year. She has now accomplished that goal. This reflection contains a few pictures from some of her most recent races. Sadly, professional photographers took the pictures from the past two races, as I am not getting up early on a Saturday morning when it is less than 30 degrees to go run.

All of these races ranged from 5K to 10 K in length. In 2009, she is kicking it up a notch, as we are running the Cooper River Bridge Run in Charleston, which is a 10K in April. She also wants to run the Broad Street run in Philadelphia, which is a 10-miler. While her example as rubbed off on me slightly (I did run several races in 2008), I cannot say that I am committed to a 10 mile run.