Hot Summer Treats
Little Anthony is in good spirits even in the hot and humid days of summer in Philadelphia. After his dinner, he often gets an old fashioned treat... half a popsicle! Boy does he enjoy these. Before he finishes, the last bit of popsicle start to drip down his little chest. This does not bother him at all.Right after popsicle comes "bath time". He's ususally all smiles and ready for a change of clothes and bed time. Night, night, Anthony.
Let's Swim!
Margie's parents were coming to visit the Eastcoast and were making a stop in the Philadelphia area and were going to spend the night at the Hilton in King of Prussia. Margie suggested that Anthony and her go to the hotel early so that they could enjoy the hotel pool for free.So with Grandpa as the chauffer and life guard, the three of them set off for a couple of hours of recreation. Margie's parents from Elkheart, Indiana would be arrving that night. No sense in letting some great facilities go unused!
Atlantic City
Atlantic City is only 75 miles from Galdwyne, so when Paul learned that Margie's parents were going there for the weekend, he asked if he could join them. It's a simple route. Just take Route 76 to route 42 to the Atlantic City Expressway and you end up right in the heart of Atlantic City. Ones first impression is that this is a mini Las Vegas, for indeed, many of the same hotel and casinos are there and line the beach... Caesar's, Balley's, Resorts, and of course that princess of the Boardwalk, the Taj Mahal of Donald Trump.To Paul the most interesting part of Atlantic City were: the beach, the ocean, and the Boardwalk. As a teenager, Paul had worked on the Boardwalk at Far Rockaway Beach on Long Island, so this brought back memories. The beach and the ocean were fun to watch, but the sand and the ocean water were actually not all that inviting we're sorry to say.
This was a weekend, and the weather was perfect, so the Boardwalk and the casinos and the hotels were all jammed with visitors. There's little doubt that gambling in Atlantic City is big time business. Paul looked for a $2 table. Then a $5 table... no luck. Finally he spotted a very few $10 tables and the rest started with $25 minimum bets and up. Too rich for his blood! But all the tables were full and the suckers were just loosing the money they couild ill afford to loose. Paul was content to loose $10 on the slots... it took less than 5 minutes to do this!
Atlantic City... worth a short visit if you are in the neighborhood.
Super Buffet
What a name? Yes, Super Buffet is the name of a Chinese super buffet restaurant in Framingham, a really super buffet! The hot and cold tables are as wide a selection of Chinese food items as any restaurant in the Boston area... no, a wider selection! Not only is the variety big, but the quality is pretty good too.How much does it cost? Lunches are priced at $6.95. Dinners are $13.95 except on Saturdays(the day we chose for dinner) when it's $14.95. That seems a bit high for a Chinese dinner, but it is indeed worth it.
Where? There Super Buffet is located on the east bound side of route 9 in Framingham, out by Framingham State College. 700 Worchester Road for you out of towners is the address. It's across the street from Wild Harvest and Staples. It's in a big new building, with a large seating capacity. However, on a Saturday night, our party still had to wait for 30 minutes for our table.
Memorable dishes: all you can eat lobster, Peking Duck, roast beef, Sashimi, Gin Dui, sweet watermelon, great soft ice cream, and about 50 other dishes.
Sesame Place
Sesame Place is a theme park built around the Children's Television Workshop program Sesame Street... the program that Anthony watches with his breakfast each morning. It is located about 30 minutes north of Philadelphia off the intersection of Route 1 and Route 95. It's a big and clean theme park similar to a Diseyland. There seem to be two themes. The first is of course the characters of the TV series. The second is water activites of all sorts and levels.Grandpa Paul looked up the programs, the admission costs, and the directions on the internet. He expected to pay about $100 for a day pass for Margie, Anthony and himself. It turned out that because Anthony is under two, he is free. Because GRandpa belongs to AAA, the other two adults get a 10% discount. So all 3 got into the park for a bit over $50. Anthony enjoyed the "Walk Around the Block Parade" and the dancing show at the Big Bird Theater. He also had a jolly good time playing in the sand areas... he always loves sand and water.
Elmo and Grover along with Bert and Ernie were great dancers and singers. Of course little Anthony's mouth just stayed in the open position as he watched his TV celebratives "live" for the first time
All of us had lunch at the park before sitting in some old time cars and watching the parade... then we departed about 2PM, 4 1/2 hours after we entered. Summer time hours are 9 am to 8 pm. There are no winter time hours. We'll certainly plan on bringing Anthony back there next summer.
