It was even lovelier when I opened my eyes this morning around 8:30, sunny and breezy. I once again read Star Wars in bed, then peeked online until Lauren was ready to go. Just grabbed a banana and a granola bar on the way out this time.
The walk to Collingswood was really beautiful. We stopped by the bridge going over Newton Lake while Lauren texted her dad about something and I blew my nose. The sun sparkled off the green lake as Canadian geese lazily swam back and forth along the ripples.
I didn't have a big breakfast because our first stop of the day was The Pop Shop in Collingswood for lunch. It was past 11:30 by the time we got there, and they were just starting to fill up with their usual college students and families with young children. Lauren had a "Green River" soda fountain soda (sprite with lime syrup) and a big plate of mozzarella sticks; I had "Cherries and Cream" (cherry and vanilla syrups in Coke - tasted like an ordinary Cherry Coke), a chicken cheese steak, and Pop Fries (with the skins on). I ate the tasty cheese steak, but couldn't close to finish the fries.
Went straight to the Collingswood PATCO train station after lunch. We learned our lesson last year. The King of Prussia Mall is too far for a bus ride, is too big for a day trip stroll, and has far too complex of a layout for tourists to figure out. Not to mention, they have little that can't be found in other malls in the South Jersey area. Lauren has a great sense of direction, and she couldn't figure it out. We dodged people enjoying lunch on the sidewalk at the many cafes, making our way to the historic Wanamaker Macy's on Market Street in Philly.
When we arrived, I took an escalator that worked and climbed up one that didn't to the third floor. I needed bras rather badly. One of my underwire bras broke; another has a hole, and the wire keeps poking out. Neither is what you'd call comfortable. There were a lot of good sales on underthings at Macy's today. I got two bras, one a pinkish-mauve lace, one stretchy white, for 28 dollars. Lauren thought the sale sounded so good, she went upstairs later and got a few, too.
As is a time-honored tradition in downtown Philadelphia, we met at the big bronze Eagle statue in the center court at Macy's, between the shoes and the accessories. We considered getting drinks at Starbucks, but decided anything in South Jersey would probably be cheaper. We headed out, dodged early rush-hour traffic to the PATCO station at 13th and Locust, and took a half-full bus back to Collingswood.
We headed to Phillies Yummies when we got back into Oaklyn. While it was a lovely and sunny day, it was also hot, in the mid-80's, and I was thirsty. Lauren bought a strawberry lemonade water ice. I went with orange cream. It was smooth and creamy...and more to the point, cold and wet. It tasted sooo good going down!
Tried playing video games when we got in, but Lego Clone Wars didn't go well. "The Hidden Enemy" took so long loading, we reset the system. We couldn't figure out "Shadow of Malevolence," and "Battle of Geonosis" was one of the war rounds that was so chaotic, I was the only one who knew to use one of their own vehicles to blow up the generators.
Gave up after "Geonosis" and decided we were hungry enough for dinner. Ran two episodes of She-Ra while I chopped fresh spinach and scallions and pan-fried bacon until crispy. "The Sea Hawk" is a pirate who'll work for anyone, even the Horde. Adora and his first mate convince him that doing the right thing is more important than his wallet, or even his freedom. "The Red Knight" is a masked warrior who can seemingly do anything, even defeat Bow in a foot race. Humiliated, Bow is ready to leave, until She-Ra and Kowl tell him that Hordak has kidnapped Queen Angelica and the Knight!
Cooked the bacon until crispy, then crumbled it over bowls of chopped spinach, scallions, and tomatoes. Added Parmesan cheese and my own home-made balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Yum! Everything complimented each other well, including the dressing, and it was a nice low-fat change after the junk-food lunch. Next time, though, I'll leave out the scallions. They tasted good, but being farm market scallions, they were very strong. I can still taste them a little, even after brushing my teeth.
We finished the night with more video games. This time, we returned to Angry Birds Star Wars. Did quite well on the first half of the Death Star rounds, even surpassing some of my original high scores. Clouds had moved in shortly after we left. It rained a little bit while we played video games, once hard, but it doesn't seem to be doing anything right now.
Tomorrow, we'll return to Collingswood, this time to check out the Saturday farm market and explore the town and the next town over, Westmont.
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