Thursday, June 02, 2022

Rhythm of the Rain

We kicked off the morning while getting organized watching Match Game '77 on YouTube. Star pitcher Don Sutton of the Los Angels Dodgers watches Gene order the stagehands to turn off the fan over Richard so he won't be too cold. Meanwhile, the others have the devil of a time figuring out "Acid __" in the Audience Match. 

Headed out shortly after the episode ended. It was sunny, breezy, and humid at that point, but I still decided to save us a walk to the bus stop and just take Uber. The driver was there in less than five minutes and pulled up in front of Nordstrom at 10. Instead of heading straight into the mall, we made our way over the pedestrian bridge to the Hillview Shopping Center across the way to start there before the weather got to bad to walk in.

First stop was lunch at the Silver Diner. This charming little chrome Maryland-based restaurant sits on the edge of the hill, across the way from Kohl's. Lauren and I enjoyed the view of the mall as she had fish tacos and a fruit and spinach salad and I had the same tarragon crab cake, slender fries dusted with Old Bay, and tasty cole slaw I've gotten there the last two years Lauren visited. That crab cake is always yummy, and this year's was no exception. Lauren really enjoyed her fish tacos, too, and she loved the fruit and spinach salad!

Though it remained sunny, dark clouds had already begun to build up behind the One Cherry Hill office building next to the mall. We kept our runs to Kohl's and Target fairly brief. Lauren bought shirts at Kohl's, but they were such a mess, I couldn't find anything. (I heard one worker say they were severely short on help, which explained a lot.) Lauren didn't get anything at Target, but I found a stuffed unicorn for Finley's birthday next month, a bag of blueberry trail mix, and boxes of date bars in flavors they didn't have at the smaller Target in Westmont. Went with Blueberry Muffin and Banana Chocolate Chip, plus the Larabar Pineapple Upside Down Cake flavor was on clearance for about the same price.

Those heavy, threatening clouds finally rumbled overhead as we hurried back to the Mall. We didn't get lucky this time. The elevator on the pedestrian walkway took too long coming back for us. Just as we started down the steep concrete steps, the rain finally broke. We dashed back to the Mall as fast as we could go and got inside rather damp.

Were in and out of several stores for the next couple of hours. Lauren bought a few shirts at Macy's. I didn't see anything I wanted and used the bathroom there instead. Found nothing we wanted at Build-a-Bear or Bath and Body Works. The toy store is gone, but their FYE finally re-opened. They have a slightly better selection of DVDs and records than the smaller store in Deptford, but it's still mainly pop culture knick-knacks. Lauren picked up two t-shirts and a Funko Pop of Gruffi Gummi from The Adventures of the Gummi Bears. I found a new set of headphones and the DVD of Brighton Beach Memoirs for $7 (I already have the soundtrack on record). 

I made my best finds at JC Penney. They're always good to me. All of my shorts but my jean shorts are worn out, too big for me, or both. Found a pair of black Bermudas and brown cargo shorts, the latter not far removed from my old brown cargo shorts. Listed as $22 each, they came up to $14 each. Lauren had no luck. They were remodeling the upstairs, and not only were the regular women's clothes closed off, but the bathroom was, too.

Decided to check out one more store. Nordstrom is the third anchor. It's between JC Penney and Macy's on the side across from the pedestrian bridge. They're supposed to be really high-end clothing...but not only were they a bit too high-end and expensive for our budgets, but their clothes weren't all that different from what we saw at Macy's and JC Penney. We considered eating at their in-store cafĂ©, but it was already 4:30 by that point, and they close at 5. 

Ended up back at the food court next-door to JC Penney's instead. Lauren had two huge slices of pepperoni and mushroom pizza. I figured I did my junk food yesterday and will probably have the Pop Shop tomorrow. I went with a tasty, earthy Market Salad and half of a cranberry and pecan chicken salad from Saladworks.

We were originally going to take the bus home, but the clouds rapidly returned as we ate. I figured we'd be safer calling Uber. Faster too, as it turned out. Took the gentleman less than two minutes to pick us up at the entrance across from the food court. He did get stuck in some traffic going over the Cooper River Bridge and into Westmont, but other than that, it was a fairly fast ride. 

(And I'm glad we did take Uber home. It started raining again even as he inched along with the traffic on Cuthbert. The rain stopped temporarily as he pulled up at home, but it returned again, this time in full-on thunder storm, not more than a half-hour after we got in. It's been off and on ever since.)

Threw on Match Game '79 as we put away our finds. We came in just as the panel helped the contestant with "It Ain't __" in the Audience Match. Her challenger was a nervous lady with a big smile who had a hard time figuring out what Harry uses to wash his tiny economy car. 

Relaxed and had a small dinner as Match Game '74 ran. Everyone wishes Charles Nelson Reilly luck on the opening of the Broadway play God's Favorite in the opening. Later, they helped a young man figure out "Smith __" in the Audience Match. 

The next episode brought in dancer and musician Bobby Van, Gary Burghoff, and Adrienne Barbeau to make jokes about Fannie Flagg's "Mystery Guest" t-shirt. Considering we plan on going into Philly tomorrow, it's rather interesting that the Audience Match was "Philadelphia __." (Hint - the top answer was a brand you often see in your dairy section at the grocery store, but bless the contestant, he said "Eagles.") 

The Match Game PM episode was Richard Dawson's last. It's no wonder. He obviously wasn't happy to be there, barely doing much more than holding up the card. Even so, it's fitting that one of his final Super Match answers was for "Thanks for the __." 

Finished the night online. Watched Junior Prom on Tubi. I go further into the first entry in the Monogram Pictures B-movie series The Teen-Agers at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog. 


Moved to The Roku Channel for a first season episode of Charlie's Angels. They get involved in "The Big Tap-Out" to lure in a gambler and thief who is suspected of stealing loot from a security company. The ladies and Bosley trick him into gambling away his money, so he'll have to rob a bank...and they can catch him in the act. 

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