We headed out at around 11. This time, I called for Uber to get us there quicker. The pleasant gentleman picked us up in less than five minutes and pulled into the parking lot at the pizza parlor across from the Wal Mart in Somerdale in less than 10, hitting no traffic on the way.
Turns out it was too early for the pizza parlor to be open. We ended up at Applebee's instead. Lauren had two gift cards she wanted to get rid of. She had a sweet and spicy crispy chicken sandwich, while I went with a tasty grilled bacon ranch. We both had iced tea and perfectly seasoned skin-on fries.
The other reason we ate at Applebee's is it's right next to the Cinemark movie theater. I had that free pass leftover from a few weeks ago after my first attempt at seeing The Garfield Movie got cut short due to a fire alarm. There were no such problems this time. We slid in just as the commercials began.
Incidentally, The Wild Robot and Moana 2 win for the most interesting ads. Certainly, there's room for more of Moana's discoveries across the Pacific, while Wild Robot looks like a charming parable about connecting with nature. I'm not as sold on Mufasa: The Lion King after that photorealistic Lion King remake from 2019 turned out to be more boring than majestic.
I'm not going into details on The Garfield Movie because of spoilers, but both of us ended up enjoying it a lot. It plays like a feature-length episode of Garfield & Friends or The Garfield Show, which tended to be more action-oriented than the slice-of-life comics. Chris Pratt is a delight as the fabulous feline, while Samuel L Jackson is hilarious as his con-artist father. Hannah Waddingham also has a marvelous turn as the Persian whose desire for revenge spurs the plot. The stretchy animation adds to the fun, especially the utterly darling kitten Garfield.
My one big complaint is I wish they'd done more with Jon. Garfield's relationship with Jon is a big part of the comics. It's barely explored here. I also wish there'd been less focus on characters we barely know. Critics have come down hard on this for not following the comics better. I say they have followed the source material. The more action-oriented cartoons often featured one-off characters who would never be seen again after the episode and heavier slapstick and violence than turned up in the comics.
I say, if you're a fan of the Garfield TV shows who doesn't expect this to be exactly like the comics, this is worth checking out for the funny voice actors and animation alone.
We hiked up the hill to WalMart next. As we headed past the crafts and pet items section, Lauren spied a display with t-shirts and other memorabilia from The Garfield Movie. She bought two t-shirts with Garfield and kitten Garfield on them. I couldn't find any shirts my size, but I did pick up the soundtrack. I also grabbed a Coke Zero, more of those Junkless granola bars and the raspberry lemonade Propel, and a five dollar copy of the Easter/springtime set for that French Peanuts show.
After we got out, we went down the hill to the White Horse Pike and waited for the bus. And waited. And waited some more. The bus took over a half-hour to arrive and was 15 minutes late. We figured out why when, in addition to rush-hour traffic on the White Horse Pike, it kept stopping every two blocks to pick up or drop off commuters.
Finally got off at Haddon Heights around 4 PM. Stopped at Local Links again for a drink. She got the Revolution Cold Brew again. I went with The Purity smoothie - oats, apples, vanilla, almond milk, and cinnamon. Oddly, I tasted more banana than apple, but it was still pretty good.
There was still a little time before Anthony's Fine Italian Cuisine opened, so we returned to Station Avenue Antiques. I didn't buy anything this time, but Lauren got another necklace with a purple stone, stickers, and another mushroom pin.
We arrived at the door to Anthony's promptly at 5. Good thing, too. The place started filling up not 10 minutes after we arrived. Anthony's is an elegant, expensive Italian restaurant, with two kinds of forks in the cloth napkins and a glass for water and a glass for wine. I wanted to take Lauren out somewhere nice to celebrate her having gotten a promotion at the bank.
Lauren ate the pepper salad - I don't like olives or jalapenos - and I had crusty bread and olive oil. She had the orecchiette (saucer-shaped) pasta with sausage, broccoli rabe, and olive oil. I had house-made gnocchi in marinara sauce with fresh mozzarella. Both were topped with greens. Oh wow, yum! The gnocchi was perfect, and the cheese was better. I ate all but three, and Lauren demolished hers. Lauren equally enjoyed her lemon-raspberry cheesecake. My chocolate cake gelato - ice cream - was sweet and yummy, with lots of big cake pieces.
Neither of us were up to a long walk or another bus ride after the last one. I ended up calling Uber for a ride home. He arrived in 10 minutes, and got us home in a little over 5.
Watched Match Game Syndicated when we got in. They celebrated Charles' birthday in the end of the first episode, complete with cake. Brett laments him going away for a few weeks to appear in a Broadway show in the second.
Finished the night at Netflix with The Prom. I go further into bright, shiny musical about four stage celebrities who try to help a lesbian teen take her girlfriend to her prom at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.
And...today was Lauren's last day. She goes home early tomorrow. I have two more days left after today, including Saturday. I'll run a few errands, but it's going to be too hot to do much.
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