6/5/16,
“Rocky”
New York,
New York
If I were to
advise a first-time visitor to Philadelphia on the three top must-do
activities, they would be eat a cheesesteak at Pat’s, see Independence Hall and
the Liberty Bell, and run up the iconic Rocky Steps. Yesterday, we did the first two (and not much
else). Today, our main event was the
last of the three. There is no bigger
tourist trap in the city than those famed Rocky Steps, but to reenact the most
famous scene of one of the ten greatest movies ever made is something that is
always worth doing. Other than that, the
day mostly consisted of a “rocky” (pun very much intended) drive home.
We, of course, did not go out last night, and
I fell asleep as soon as I published, before I was even ready for bed. I was woken up by a text, and I finished
getting ready as soon as the conversation had ended. I slept for at least eight hours, but I had
no appetite, still full from dinner.
Connor had left early in the morning, and Roberto went to get breakfast
while I started to get ready. Before I
was ready to leave, my appetite returned, and went back for breakfast after
Roberto got back. I got myself a big
plate of protein: an omelet, bacon, sausage, and scrapple.
I was quite full from it, but I couldn’t not
go to Federal Donuts. We finished
getting ready and headed down, leaving our bags with the valet as we walked to
Federal Donuts. I got some coffee and
ordered us two donuts to share: chocolate churro and vanilla spice.
From there, it was straight to the Rocky
Steps. We took pictures, and I then
queued up the iconic theme as I gave Roberto my phone to take videos for
Facebook and Snapchat. They were perfect
and had the desired effect. We took some
more ceremonial photos there and at the statue before heading back to the
car. I thought then that Rocky might
make my top five list of movies of all time, but now I’m thinking it’s number
six. My order would be Godfather,
Casablanca, Lawrence of Arabia, Gone with the Wind, Gran Torino, Rocky,
Braveheart, Wizard of Oz, Forest Gump, Titanic.
I asked Roberto if there was anything else he wanted to do before we
left Philly.
He did not, so I put in
Steamtown NHS into the GPS and lit up a Joya de Nicaragua and played the theme
from Rocky as we drove. (I should also
note that last yesterday I forgot to record my second cigar of the initial
drive, a Cabaiguan.) I realized that,
since we were driving to Scranton, I might as well play something from The
Office. I set up Netflix, and we
listened to the first four episodes during the drive. We soon passed “Mifflin Avenue” on the way to
the NHS. I also realized that this was
the last NPS in Pennyslvania for me to visit, in fact, the last one in the
Northeast. Oh, did I mention about the
rain? It was really starting to come
down hard, but it seemed to let up by the time we arrived at the site.
I got my stamps and pin, and then we headed
out to the tracks to take our ceremonial pictures. I lit up a Partagas and made a prolific
announcement. “Pennsylvania
Complete. Northeast Complete.” I listed off every state in the Northeast:
Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New
York, New Jersey, and, now, Pennsylvania.
I had visited every National Park Site and State Capitol in the region,
and I was rightly proud. As we finished
the ceremonial pictures, the rain started up again. We had “caught a window”, a new expression I
taught Roberto.
It was a brutal drive
back to Scarsdale, the rain almost blinding for most of the drive. I had to stop for gas, and the overhang didn’t
protect me from the rain. I got
soaked. I used the hot air from the AC
system to dry myself, and, before long, we were crossing the Tappan Zee
Bridge. I was surprised to see they were
building a new bridge. I didn’t realize
they had found the funding for that. We
got home, and my mother was starting to prepare the BBQ. I will not go into details of that, but that
turned out to be a near disaster, the grill almost setting on fire, though all
the food turned out great.
My cousin,
who was living with my parents for the summer, but whom I hadn’t seen since my
brother’s wedding 10 months ago, joined us for cocktail hour, and it was great
reconnecting with her. Most of what we
discussed over the evening is beyond the scope of this Travelogue and will be
covered in my personal entry. We
(Robert, my father, and I) had some scotch, while my cousin had a Diet
Coke. Dinner was soon ready, after much
adversity, as mentioned. It was a great
feast, and I had a big plate of protein: a hamburger, hot dogs, and even some
chicken.
After dinner, we (my mother and
I) watched Game of Thrones. I then
packed, and Roberto and I dropped off the car before taking a train back to the
city. Meanwhile, I was messaging back
and forth with my friend about Game of Thrones almost nonstop. I lit up an OpusX as soon as we left Grand
central, and we walked to my place. I
sat down in my chair, where, once the conversation with my friend about Game of
Thrones died down, I proceeded to write this entry, which I will now close so
that I can publish, write my personal entry, and get to sleep.
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