Our weekend began with my reserved car not being available - screw you dollar rent-a-car! - but thankfully we fixed that rather quickly and left for Philly in a beautifuly sunny day. We hit some traffic when we hit I-95 but thankfully mi Cariño had me there to entertain her with my inappropriate questions as she drove. That's right, she drove - because she wanted to see me drive in a Parking Lot before she would let me drive. And I refuse to do that! If the State of New York thinks I'm a good driver everyone should think so! In any case I'm scared of driving so it all worked out.
After some scrambling around, switched theaters and some quick walking we made it to what was ostensibly the reason why we were going to Philly - Q Fest! A queer, week long movie fest, that would include the movie "Leading Ladies." We got there just in time to see the theater lights darken! It was perfect.
Wanna know what wasn't perfect? The movie. OMG I can't even list the amount of things that are wrong with this movie. Should I start with the horrible acting? The atrocious dialogue? The uninspiring storyline? The one good thing I can say about the movie is that it was well shot. As in, it looked pretty. So the money they saved on a writer and an acting coach went to their camera and editing budget, I suppose. At one point, the male lead dances with a random guy at a club - that was pretty. He's obviously a good dancer. The female lead? Not so much. For one, everyone kept going on and on about how she was the one that took care of her family and THAT didn't come across once for me. Oh well, moving on.
After the fiasco that Leading Ladies turned out to be, and after some change of mind on my part, we went to Campos to eat some Cheese Steaks.
These were very VERY good - just not life changing. I guess I'm not that big a fan of beef, unless it's fried. But then again, anything fried is good, no?
After the Steaks we crossed the street to Christ Church. It is a beautiful building, has been around since 1695 and the most interesting part is that the church itself serves as a burial ground - as in you're walking down the center aisle and you'll be stepping over 4 or 5 grave markers. We ran into a couple that was taking pictures of each others posing with bibles and what not. Mi Cariño did not, to my disappointment, suggest we did this too. ;-)
We did some more Old City walking and soon enough it was time to find dinner. Enter "Bar Fernando" otherwise known as Bar Ferdinand, a Tapas place. I had a Valenciana
And I had the Atlantic Cod with Potatoes and a green sauce made out of I don't remember what.
Bar Ferdinand was not very memorable - The croquetas were horrible, and the waitress was forgetful, but the cod and the mushrooms were simply delicious. As was the Valenciana drink.
Sunday we drove around to North 4th Street to Cafe Estelle. What a find! We had to wait 20 minutes to sit, but it was well worth it. Cafe Estelle sits in the ground floor of an apartment building in what looks like a very industrial area. But it held the most awesome pancakes I've EVER eaten. Seriously. Bar None. I mean like REALLY really really really good pancakes.
Shirred Eggs are baked eggs - these had spinach, mushrooms, truffle oil and cream. I went for a delicious omelette with red and green peppers, red onions, ham and cheddar, homefries and toast.
Cafe Estelle made this trip worth it, the food was so good. We made it back to the Old City to see "Oy Vey My Son Is Gay."
And so, that was Philly. It wasn't a very organized/structured trip, and I really enjoyed that aspect of it. It was certainly worth getting lost every other block and the traffic and what not. Except the Leading Ladies part. That wasn't worth it.
Next up: San Diego, CA!
