Full of Hot Air

Jean mentioned awhile back that he wanted to check out a Hot Air Balloon Festival. I figured it was an Ok idea, and since I’m always making him do stuff that I want to do (ikea, brunch, ikea, endless walking, Fairway, ikea) I didn’t say anything as we got up at 4:30am to head to New Jersey (without coffee). We parked in a giant field and walked over to the other field to watch the inflating which started at 6:30am. Even though I was lukewarm about the balloon fest at the beginning, it was SO MUCH COOLER THAN I EVER THOUGHT IT WOULD BE- and way more visually stimulating.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My favorite balloons were the Spiderpig and the Penguin. After watching the take off we went to Quick Check for coffee (finally) and sat to watch a 5k run.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We visited all these sponsored booths and tried every type of beverage, snack bar, candy bar, and other random product available and I filled my grab bag of goodies. We ate a funnel cake while both Jean and I tried to convince the other one to go on one of the kiddie rides. I think they’re death traps operated by weed-smoking teenagers, Jean thinks they’re somewhat safe- and an excellent photo op. Needless to say, we both declined.

two rooftops and some dragons

Its amazing how spending the weekend with Rebekkah has become second nature.  I dont know how it has happened, but we can easily pick out a few activities and have agreat time, even when the weather isnt the most desirable.

Friday evening, Rebekkah came to Queens(looking really hot I must say), and we ventured over to Ravel Hotel for their rooftop lounge.  We got a great view of the 59th street bridge, Roosevelt Island, and yes, yet another view of Manhattan.(we are obsessed) The place was nice, and we are definitely going back.  We fell in love with their cocktails after the view.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We made our way over to Jade eatery and lounge in Forrest Hills.  This place is also very please to the eye between its food, art gallery, large Buddah statues, and private lounge in the back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day was the Dragon Boat festival.  It was amazing how many kites were in the air that day.  The boats were beautiful and the races were great. One team got disqualified for having a fiberglass boat(try again).

That night we went to a rooftop restaurant in Red Hook called Alma.  I could not believe that I had finished this large rack of ribs without exploding.  This time we had a view of lower Manhattan and Governor’s Island(slacked on the pics).

The next morning, before an Ikea run, I dodge rain drops to grab the Sunday paper.  We read the paper together and ate quiche that Rebekkah had made(yummy).  later that evening, we went to Tea Lounge to partake in some teas and dominoes.  We felt like an old Jamaican couple.

Philly Part 2: Brotherly Love

Just adding some pictures of Jean’s friends the happy bride and groom and some more of us at the wedding reception. I had this great champagne cocktail that came with a sugar cube that made for extra bubbles- very cool. Jean put on a suit and looked so grown up and official, like Colonel Sanders. After the reception we went by this wine bar on Sansom st and inhaled this banana and nutella panini along with some wine.

The next day we had crepes for breakfast at Reading Terminal and spent the day at the Mummy exhibit at the Franklin Institute. They wouldn’t let us take any pictures of the mummies- you know being human remains and all. We braved the packs of smelly children and went throughout the institute playing with all the physics experiments, the most fun of which was setting up an elaborate dominoes chain reaction- but some little girl kept trying to knock it over.

All in all it was a great weekend- and in my mind’s eye, it’s always sunny in Philadelphia.