Friday, May 09, 2014

Philadelphia and Morocco

We had a wonderful time yesterday with brother Frank and his Marybeth.
Met Betty at the Absecon train station and we boarded the 9:02, arriving at Penn Station 90 minutes or so later.  Happily reunited with bro and sis shortly thereafter and set off for lunch.
Their son, Patrick,* a head and neck surgeon at Johns Hopkins, had recommended that we take a cab to a certain restaurant, and we did.  It was The White Dog, not far from U. of Penn, and in one of the trendy row house brownstones.
These nineteenth century former dwellings are all gutted and renovated, but retain, if all goes well, their Victorian charm.  This one was decorated in what might be called "whimsical," if you were a small-town interior decorator or a writer for Vanity Fair.  It featured portraits of dogs (not only white and of various breeds), in addition to dog heads, mounted and sticking out of the walls--well, not real ones, for Pete's sake!
I had an excellent hamburger and a flavorful beer from India, Betty pasta, and F. and MB. mushroom omelets.  We all had coffee and dessert, too, and Frank insisted on treating (okay, he didn't have to twist our arms).
After, we walked to the corner and discovered that the Penn campus is only a short distance away.  Went there and sat on one of the convenient benches, talking nonstop as we had since we met, of course.  We enjoyed being among all the students walking purposely here and there; Marybeth said she wouldn't want to be young again and I said I'd give an arm and a leg to be....
All too soon, it got to be time to go back to the station.  We hailed a cab, got there with a half hour to spare, said our goodbyes, and boarded our respective trains.
What a great day.  What a great family.
*Patrick is also in the MBA program at Penn, traveling there four times a week for classes.  Also, also, he's physician for a princess from Morocco.  I'm not sure what kind of medical problem she has, but her father has rented one entire floor of the Four Seasons Hotel in Baltimore and insists that Patrick visit her there five days a week. Patrick is extremely busy, being a much-in-demand surgeon, an MBA candidate, and the Dad of a family of five. He does it, though, regularly.  Hmm...why would that be?  I guess just because he's a good guy; it couldn't have anything to do with the fact her father recently donated 80 million smackers to erect a new building on the Hopkins campus.
Speaking of: the princess's factotum has asked that Patrick accompany the entourage back to Morocco on her private plane. Assured him it was an experience he'd never forget.  Patrick might or might not, but boy, oh brother, I wish they'd ask me!                  

3 comments:

iloveac said...

Rich and I went to the 'White Dog' about 15 yrs. ago. He'd read about it in the New Yorker. I wasn't impressed, but loved being back on campus.

iloveac said...

Rich and I went to the 'White Dog' about 15 yrs. ago. He'd read about it in the New Yorker. I wasn't impressed, but loved being back on campus.

Mimi said...

Pat, see e-mail.

Tuesday

Sent a welcome e-mail to my new tenants, mother and daughter, Laura and Prudence. I must remember to check to see if I need to send anything...